Matthew Davis writes about the Shakopee boys’ hockey team.

This story was originally published in the MHM February 2025 HDM Shakopee Recap.

The post Shakopee Boys: On The Map appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Fish took on the head coaching job for the St. Michael-Albertville boys’ hockey team this year, and he has the Knights off to a 4-1 start after a victory Dec. 14. That’s almost to the win total for each of the past two seasons for the Knights, which play in the stacked Lake Conference.

“I don’t think there’s a better conference in the entire country, right, like Edina and Wayzata and Eden Prairie and all these really good teams that you have to play every night,” Fish said. “So I said, ‘hey, I’m gonna give this one a shot.’ They’re obviously struggling, and I want to get that program back up to where it should be, because it’s a great community, like that community over there is growing.

“It’s a lot of younger families. The youth program is strong, and everything is looking good. But for whatever reason, we’re losing kids at the high school level, whether it be to Rogers or (St. Cloud) Cathedral or Benilde (St. Margaret’s) or wherever else. And so for me, it was wanting to get that program back to where it should be, which is to be in a state, state-contending team, right? Like, we (St. Michael-Albertville) beat Moorhead that year in 2018, and it was unbelievable, like it was one of the coolest things ever to watch that group and how hard they worked.”

Fish returns after leading Orono programs to state
STMA went to state in 2018, but after that section-final win over Moorhead, the Knights haven’t enjoyed the same level of success. An assistant with the Knights from 2014 to 2018, Fish left for Orono where he turned the girls’ program into a state power, though it took time, and then led the boys’ program to state the past two seasons.

“And for me, coaching girls’ hockey was maybe, probably, the best thing in my coaching career, even with all the stuff that I’ve already done early in my coaching career, but teaching the why behind the game is huge, and the girls just wanted to know why I was telling him to do that,” Fish said.

“So I obviously knew my stuff wasn’t one of those things where they didn’t trust that, but they didn’t trust why I was teaching it. So … after we figured that part out, it was just like, ‘OK, let’s go.’ So, then we just turned that thing into an absolute powerhouse, like, they’re still really good.”

Now, he’s taking those lessons back to STMA, where the Knights opened the season in style — a wild 6-5 overtime win over Spring Lake Park/Coon Rapids on Nov. 26 where the Knights blew a 5-1 lead at one point, allowing four third-period goals.

“The first game was full of ups and downs and many firsts for a lot of our team, not only the players but also a couple of our coaches’ first games also,” said Knights senior defenseman Jack Johnson said. “We showed how skilled we can be and how hard we can play in the first two periods. But in the third we also showed we have a young team that is learning everyday. In the end we pulled out the win with a couple of those younger players’ help but the biggest swing in our play came with the speech Fish gave us before the overtime period.”

New coach, raised expectations
Johnson and junior forward Tanner Esterberg see the Knights program turning already with a team that has only four seniors. Esterberg noted that the expectations are different now, too, as a team and individuals.

“The rest of the season expect many more wins to come, but not every game is gonna be our best and obviously we play hard teams, but we aren’t focused on winning every game, we are focused on the section games that matter as long as we play the best we can the other games that’s all that matters,” Esterberg said. “Fish has made me much better as a player because right away he got to know me and realized that yelling at me isn’t going to help, and he just lets me be me while still teaching me things, and it’s given me a lot of confidence to go out and put the puck in the net the way I like to play.”

Besides Fish teaching the game, he backs up his experience from his playing days, which included time at Anoka between 2001-03 where he won a state title in 2003. He followed that up with a two-season stint in the NAHL with the Minnesota Blizzard where he put up 64 points between 2003 and 2005. Fish then played Division III hockey at Wisconsin-Stevens Point where he tallied 90 points in four seasons from 2005 to 2009.

The post Fish In New Waters appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Matthew Davis writes about all of the family connections within Luverne girls’ hockey.

This story was originally published in the MHM 2024-25 High School Preview issue.

The post A Family Affair appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Matthew Davis writes about coach Mike Randolph netting his 708th career victory behind the bench.

This story was originally published in the MHM 2024-25 High School Preview issue.

The post All-Time Winner appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Warroad Girls Take down Dodge County 5-2 to take 3rd Straight 1A title.

The post Girls Class 1A Champs – Warroad 3-Peats appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Edina Girls shutout No. 2 seed Hill-Murray 2-0 to take 2A title.

The post Girls Class 2A Champs – Hornet’s Buzzsaw appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

“It’s fun to watch yourself up there,” Bertram said, after a 2-1 win over Chanhassen for the Class 2A boys’ state hockey title on March 9.

Bertram delivered 33 saves and had a .971 save percentage as he helped the Hornets bounce back from a 2023 state championship loss against Minnetonka by the same 2-1 score. In addition, he matched the achievement of his father, Matt Bertram, who helped Edina win it all in 1988.

“He’s always had that one up on me with the state championship, and now I’ve got it, so I’m right there with him,” the younger Bertram said.

Edina goalie Joe Bertram made 33 saves in net during the state championship game. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Hornets coach Curt Giles liked how Bertram withstood a flurry of shots for Chanhassen in the final minutes. The Storm skaters, down a goal, couldn’t find a way past Bertram to knot the game up.

“I’m glad he saw [the puck] like a beach ball because that looked like a peanut to me,” Giles said.

Bertram felt locked in. The Storm had 10 third-period shots and outshot Edina 34-23 for the game.

“You know, it actually went by pretty quick,” Bertram said, of the final minutes. “When the game is happening so fast and with them putting pressure on, I wasn’t looking at the clock too much. It’s just worrying about the puck.”

Bertram kept Chanhassen from writing a perfect finish to a storybook state tournament appearance. The Storm captured the state’s attention with a 2-1 upset of once-unbeaten Minnetonka in the Section 2 title game on Feb. 29 to reach the program’s first-ever state tournament.

“From the first game they played, two or three years ago now, they competed,” said Chanhassen coach Sean Bloomfield. “A passion allowed them to learn the game really well. They embraced how to become a better hockey player on and off the ice. That’s why they got to where they did.”

Chanhassen looked poised to finish the story with a perfect ending after a defensive first period. The Storm broke through for a goal by Tyler Smith in the second period. Chanhassen outshot Edina 24-14 through two periods, sparked mainly by a 14-5 second period.

Edina committed penalties in the first two periods, but the Hornets killed both power plays. Bertram had his hands full in net with numerous close calls, but his teammates helped prevent another puck going in.

Chanhassen’s Tyler Smith celebrates scoring a goal for a 1-0 lead in the state title game against Edina. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Chanhassen’s Gavin Uhlenkamp gave the Hornets defense trouble in the first two periods with five shots on goal, and Andy Earl had eight shots on goal. Mason West had the most success attacking the net for the Hornets with four shots on goal.

Edina broke through early in the third period as Robby Hoch found a seam to fire the puck through. The Hornets sniped a second goal with Bobby Cowan firing a power-play goal with 6:55 remaining.

“I always shoot the puck. If you don’t shoot it’s not going to go in,” Cowan said. “This one got the better of him, but props to him. He played great, too.”

Chanhassen didn’t have an answer after that point. Edina players really wanted to put the sting of last year’s title game loss behind them in the process.

“This group of kids that we had this year was one of the easiest groups we’ve ever had to get prepared to play hockey. They wanted to win today,” Giles said. “They wanted to do it today. They had a desire. We could tell they wanted to win this very, very badly.”

The post Class 2A: Hornets Weather The Storm appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Crusaders players cherished the Paw Patrol character Rubble plush dog for their “Dawg of the Game” award so much that senior goalie Nick Hansen brought it to the Class 1A state tournament championship postgame press conference. The dog and the state championship trophy adorned the Crusaders’ table as they talked about their 3-1 win over the Hermantown Hawks in the Class 1A boys’ state hockey title game on March 9.

“I think the whole team was dawgs today,” Hansen said.

Otherwise, the award “scattered” throughout the team, as Stocker said.

Cathedral goaltender Nick Hansen made 28 saves in the Class 1A championship game. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

St. Cloud Cathedral needed a full team effort against the Hawks, the last team to beat the Crusaders this season. It started with Andrew Dwinnell scoring at 3:48 of the game, assisted by John Hirschfeld and Joey Gillespie.

The Crusaders survived a defensive battle in the second period, which spilled into the first half of the third period before Dwinnell turned a behind-the-back pass into a goal for a 2-0 lead. Dwinnell said that they practiced that one.

“It’s a play we always work on in practice,” Dwinnell said. “We do lots of zone entry drills, and my linemates are usually the first ones on the puck and the first ones in the zone, so I feel like I’m trailing play a lot.”

Gillespie extended the lead, putting the Crusaders up 3-0 at the 12:18 mark of the third period. It marked the 10th straight game with three or more goals for the Crusaders and the 14th in the final 15 games of the season.

“They’re sneaky good. They don’t really overpower you, it’s just all of a sudden they have a three-on-two or a two-on-one from inside the dots,” said Hermantown coach Patrick Andrews.

Hermantown tried to chip away with an empty net late in the game, but the Hawks couldn’t muster more than a goal, which came from Alexander Francisco. That’s despite the fact that the Hawks outshot the Crusaders 29-21.

“Obviously, they have a good goalie and against any good goalie, you have to get to the paint,” Hawks forward William Esterbrooks said. “They kept us outside pretty much the whole game.

“We weren’t able to get inside in front of his eyes very well. We did end up scoring one, and it was in the paint. I would have liked to have done that a little more.”

Andrew Dwinnell fires a puck over Hermantown goaltender Dane Callaway. Dwinnell scored twice in the title game. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Hansen simply dominated in goal with 28 saves and a .966 save percentage. He didn’t play in the previous meeting against Hermantown due to a shoulder injury, a time he called the most challenging in his young hockey career.

“It’s the longest break I took from being on the ice, probably since I started playing 10-12 years ago now,” Hansen said. “So it was really hard for me, but the guys around me made sure to keep my confidence up and get ready to go back in.”

That first Hermantown game back on Jan. 11 marked the turning point of the season. The Hawks beat the Crusaders 3-1 on that date, snapped a three-game winning streak for the Crusaders at the time. Hansen returned to goal after that loss, and the Crusaders never lost again.

“That set the tone, when he came back, what this group was going to be,” Stocker said. “I can’t speak highly enough of him as a leader on what he was able to do for this group.”

Cathedral bounced back quickly with a 13-1 rout of Mankato East followed by a 9-1 blowout of Princeton and a 7-1 win over Little Falls. The Crusaders kept winning and capped a Section 5 title run with a 4-1 win over Monticello.

A 5-1 win over Northfield to open the state tournament on March 6 had the Crusaders looking all the more confident, but No. 2-seed Warroad gave the No. 3-seed Crusaders everything they could handle in the state semifinals. Cathedral squeaked out a 4-3 overtime win over the Warriors to advance to the title game. Warroad took third place at the state tournament; Orono won the consolation bracket.

Top-seeded Hermantown had a similar path to the final with a 6-0 blowout of Alexandria followed by a 7-6 overtime win over defending champion Mahtomedi. Andrews acknowledged that it impacted his team for the championship game.

Vince Gebhardt and goaltender Nick Hansen embrace as the Crusaders celebrate their state championship. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

“I thought we got better and better as the game went on,” Andrews said. “We started to outshoot them. I really liked our second period, and the third period was fine. Yeah, they got those two goals, and it was kind of weird because I felt like we had the better go of it, honestly.”

In the end, the Crusaders won the Class 1A title for the second time since 2019.

“I think that it’s really good for our area,” Hansen said. “I know that sometimes we can struggle getting numbers out for the team, and to be able to attract more players to play hockey because of what we’re able to do right now, and being able to have more options makes better hockey teams, and better hockey teams win championships.”

The post Class 1A: Crusaders Are The Champs appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Delano hasn’t won a quarterfinal game at state, going 0-4 all-time amid regular section-final appearances since 2015. All of the Tigers’ state tournament success came after quarterfinal heartbreak with three consolation titles. The only time the Tigers didn’t win the consolation bracket crown occurred when the MSHSL didn’t offer it in 2021, returning to play out of the pandemic.

That said, Delano is a “program that has been on the rise for the last 10 years or so,” as senior defenseman Brayden Coppin put it. A fourth-year varsity player, Coppin knows well that “it means a lot to the community to see us doing well and making it” to The Tourney.

“I think it makes a big impact on the youth teams especially,” Coppin said. “It pushes them more and more to be able to do what we are trying to do.”

Delano skaters this season wanted more than a state appearance and to flip the program’s narrative of reaching state, losing in the quarterfinals, shining in the consolation bracket and wondering “what if” the puck bounced their way in the quarterfinal.

Delano forward Andrew Bruett (23) works the puck toward the Southwest Christian/Richfield goal in the first period Feb. 13, 2024, at the Chaska Community Center. (Photo courtesy of Jason Wachter)

Unfortunately for the Tigers, flipping the script will have to wait at least one more season. After defeating Hutchinson 5-2 in the Class 1A, Section 2 quarterfinals, No. 2-seed Delano lost 6-3 to Minneapolis, the 3 seed, in the section semifinals.

Delano’s first trip to state was in 2017, when it lost 3-2 to Monticello. Delano lost 6-4 to Greenway/Nash-Kee in 2019, 5-2 to Mahtomedi in 2020 and 2-1 to Little Falls in 2021, all in the state quarterfinals.

“Making it past Wednesday into Friday and Saturday at the X would be a huge accomplishment for Delano hockey,” senior forward Teague Collings said. “There is so much tradition and success with our program and to finally get over the hump into the final weekend would be incredible.

“To not only do it for ourselves but the people who have come before us, brothers, fathers, uncles [and] all the alumni that have worked so hard for this program to get to see us succeed with their constant support would be surreal.”

Coppin said being “the first Delano team to do it” was “more than enough motivation” this year. Both Collings and Coppin played as freshmen on that Tigers squad that last fell to Little Falls at the X. Delano fell in the Class 1A, Section 2 final the past two years by scores of 3-1 to Minneapolis in 2022 and Orono 4-1 in 2023.

“My expectations are very high for this team,” Tigers senior defenseman Vincent Cappelleri said. “This is a very close team and we know we can go far into state but need to take it one game at a time.”

Delano did well one game at a time in the regular season amid a 16-8-1 record and a Wright County Conference title. The Tigers ranked No. 7 in Class 1A as of Feb. 21.

“We have made strides to getting better every week and I feel we have grown as a team over the length of this season,” Collings said.

Delano had a fast team but a young team with eight sophomores and 11 juniors. Junior forward Mason Hargarten led the Tigers in scoring with 32 points (16 goals, 16 assists). Collings was right behind with 11 goals and 17 assists.

“We play at a high tempo and compete all over the ice,” Collings said. “Our weakness as a team is a lack of experience as we are a young team with a small senior class and lack some of the playoff experience.”

Delano defenseman Eddie Lins (24) fires the puck at the Southwest Christian/Richfield goal in the first period Feb. 13, 2024, at the Chaska Community Center. (Photo courtesy of Jason Wachter)

Delano took some early lumps with a 6-3 loss at Warroad 9-0 at East Grand Forks in November. The Tigers went on a seven-game winning streak afterward before a 5-1 loss to perennial power Hermantown in December. Since, the Tigers went 10-6-1, and only two of those were blowout losses, against Class 2A foes Chanhassen and Holy Family.

“A few ups and downs, and a few growing pains, but that is to be expected with a young team like this,” Coppin said.

The Tigers found a groove in February with a 6-0 win over Hutchinson, a 7-0 rout of Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato, and 4-1 win over Southwest Christian/Richfield. Delano allowed 2.78 goals per game and had a 88.5% penalty kill, and Tigers skaters averaged 3.78 goals per contest.

Delano goaltenders Evan Geyen and Ethan Engelmann have been equally solid. Geyen had an 10-7-1 record amid 2.94 goals allowed and an .889 save percentage. Engelman allowed 2.46- goals per game with a .912 save percentage amid his 6-2 mark.

“We are a defensively sound team and are very, very tight-knit, for sure the closest I have ever felt to a group of boys,” Coppin said. “We do anything and everything together, and I think that makes us a tough team to play against because we would do anything for one another.”

Delano players believed they are a tough out for anyone when the postseason arrives, too.

“Everyone knows that Delano always plays a tough game and hardworking game. It just adds to the drive to do great things and work hard,” Cappelleri said.

The post Down Goes Delano appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

South St. Paul, which fell 5-3 at home on Saturday in Doug Woog Arena, hosted the Mirage (6-5-1) for a pizza party after the game. That’s 10 months removed from when the Packers won 3-2 in overtime last season at the Xcel Energy Center.

South St. Paul (6-5-0) hosting a northern Minnesota team for pizza after regular-season games has been the norm for years, except for during the COVID-19 pandemic. Packers head coach Dave Palmquist, who has been coaching for 30 years since high school girls hockey’s beginnings in Minnesota, said he appreciates northern squads such as the Mirage coming down to compete.

“Yeah, we’re going to feed them upstairs and send them home with their stomachs full and try to be as first class as we can be as a program and do it for them,” Palmquist said. ”I know they would do the same for us.”

Packers sophomore forward Sidney Thompson said the hospitality works out. Thompson played for the Packers as a freshman last season.

The Mirage never trailed in Saturday’s game against South St. Paul. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

“Everyone’s pretty nice after the game, and it usually goes well,” Thompson said.

Proctor/Hermantown head coach Emma Stauber, who faced Palmquist’s squads many times as a player and coach, can appreciate the hospitality amid one of six trips to the metro area this season. The Mirage have another four to go, and possibly a fifth, if the team gets back to Xcel Energy Center in February.

“He’s a very thoughtful coach, very well-disciplined teams,” Stauber said about Palmquist and the Packers. “They’re always good. They always work hard. So, regardless of who he’s got talent-wise, he’s always going to give us a game, so that’s why it’s so fun to play him and his program.”

Proctor/Hermantown junior forward Jane Eckstrom said her team got on the bus at 7 a.m. Saturday morning to get to South St. Paul for the 1 p.m. game. Eckstrom earned the team’s hard-hat award after the game when the Mirage already had an eight-hour day with a trip home ahead. Eckstrom scored and assisted on a goal.

“I think as a team, we love the team trips and the bus ride,” Eckstrom said. “It’s always a great time to get to know everyone better. We enjoy every moment we can get together. All the trips this season really mean a lot to us, and we make the best of it that we can.”

Mirage maintained the lead
Junior forward Ella Rothe most of it for the Mirage early with a first period goal on assists from Hailey Jussila and Morgan LaValley. South St. Paul responded in less than a minute when junior forward Alida Ahern tied the game 1-1 on an assist from junior defenseman Lily Pachl.

The Mirage then built a two-goal, 3-1 lead in the second period on goals from Eckstrom and senior Izy Fairchild as Anika Burke assisted on both scores. Eckstrom and Fairchild notably assisted on each other’s goals.

South St. Paul’s Lily Pachl scored a pair of goals on Saturday. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

South St. Paul closed the gap to 3-2 early in the third period when Pachl scored unassisted, but the Mirage made 4-2 less than three minutes later. Pachl gave her team another chance in the final two minutes when she scored for a 4-3 deficit on Eva Beck’s assist as the Packers left an empty net.

The Packers couldn’t tie it up after the ensuing faceoff as Burke put the Mirage up 5-3 with an empty-net goal in the final second of regulation. The Mirage finished with a 34-20 shots-on-goal advantage.

Mirage goalie Suri Langley stopped 17 shots for a .850 save percentage. Packers goalie Molly Jeffrey had 29 saves and an .879 save percentage.

Proctor/Hermantown won a third-straight contest after a 3-5-1 start to the season. For South St. Paul, the loss ended its three-game winning streak.

Gallery: Proctor/Hermantown vs. South St. Paul, Dec. 16, 2023.

The post Packers Host Mirage appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.