“I beelined it for my dad’s and (with) my brother to go to the hockey rink,” said Natalie Darwitz. “I kind of grew up as a rink rat.”

Good choice, young Darwitz.

Her exposure to the rink, and continued requests to play hockey, paid off when her parents granted her wish on her 5th birthday. She was going to play hockey.

“For me, it was my passion,” Darwitz said. “I always had a stick in my hand.

“There were pictures of me in My Little Pony roller skates with a Christian hockey stick in my hand playing in the driveway or trying on my brother’s equipment.”

Natalie Darwitz set numerous state tournament records during her time with the Eagan High School girls’ team. In the 1998 consolation final, a 5-3 Eagan victory over Anoka, Darwitz scored two goals 11 seconds apart, a state tournament record for the least amount of time between goals scored by the same player. (Photo courtesy of Natalie Darwitz)

Jump ahead 30-plus years later, and that rink rat from Eagan, Minn. is getting inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto on Nov. 11. The Hall of Fame induction weekend is Nov. 8-11. Darwitz, 41, is one of the most successful and notable hockey players to hail from Minnesota, with a lengthy list of hockey accomplishments spanning from her youth to the Olympics.

Not an uncommon story, Darwitz played on boys’ teams until she was in seventh grade. She credits a lot of her success to those early years playing with the boys, who she said were great and treated her like any other teammate.

Topping out at her 5-foot-3 height, she switched to girls’ hockey and played for Eagan High School, coached by her dad, Scott, from seventh grade until her sophomore year, racking up 468 points across four seasons. She led Eagan to three state tournaments where she scored plenty of goals and set a few records.

Skating backward, sort of
Beyond her high school career, Darwitz skated a path somewhat in reverse: She became an Olympian first, and then played college hockey. That’s how things were set up at the time, as momentum for girls and women’s hockey really took off after the 1998 Olympics, the first Olympic Games which included women’s hockey.

Darwitz was the youngest to make the U.S. national team at 15 years old, and she competed at her first Olympics at 18 years old in 2002, winning a silver medal.

Following her first Olympics, Darwitz played three seasons with the University of Minnesota Gophers, winning back-to-back national championships in 2004 and 2005. Darwitz, who racked up scoring records and awards, skated on a line with U.S. national teammate Krissy Wendell-Pohl and Kelly Stephens.

Wendell-Pohl, who is getting inducted into the Hall of Fame with Darwitz, describes her former teammate and friend as a quiet leader with a skillset that speaks for itself, “but her will to win and her will and determination is just unmatched to anybody I ever played with or against.”

“She just had this compete level that she made those players around her that much better,” Wendell-Pohl said. “Even more so just her IQ of being able to break down a team. She was almost like the second coach for me. I would learn from just playing with her and around her.”

Playing for the Gophers was also a full-circle moment for Darwitz. She’d watched plenty of Gophers hockey games over the years before lacing up her skates at the college rink.

“I remember growing up, every Friday, my family would order pizza and we’d watch the men Gopher hockey team play,” Darwitz said. “So, it just kind of was in your blood that that’s what you’re going to do.”

Years later, Darwitz was also behind the bench as an assistant coach for the Gopher women’s program.

Hall of Fame friends
Darwitz, and Wendell-Pohl, are two well-known women’s hockey players, and that reach goes beyond the boundaries of Minnesota. Only two other U.S.-born women are in the Hockey Hall of Fame: Cammi Granato (2010) and Angela Ruggiero (2015). Darwitz and Wendell-Pohl will go into the Hall as the third and fourth on that list, and representing Minnesota makes it that much more special for them.

Krissy Wendell-Pohl and Natalie Darwitz played hockey together for Team USA and the University of Minnesota Gophers. Now, they’re going into the Hall of Fame together. (Photo courtesy of Natalie Darwitz)

“We saw a lot of things together and experienced a lot together,” Darwitz said. “It just makes it more memorable.”

Of the seven members of this year’s Hockey Hall of Fame class, Darwitz and Krissy Wendell-Pohl are the first two women since 2010 to enter the Hall in the same year. They’re already in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, inducted in 2018 (Darwitz) and 2019 (Wendell-Pohl).

While they were teammates on various hockey stages, their connection runs much deeper than sharing a locker room or space on a line. Besides growing up in the Twin Cities metro area, they each left home as teenagers to pursue their Olympic aspirations.

“We kind of got thrown into the fire together,” Darwitz said. “We kind of saw each other grow up.

“So, I think it’s a really unique, fun situation that not only were we teammates, but we really saw each other in the growth phase. We went through stressful situations. Going through an Olympic process isn’t rainbows and butterflies. You’re going through seeing teammates get cut. You’re going through that process, too, yourself. So, we really experienced a lot of memorable moments.”

Being a couple of years apart in age, the first time they played together was at the U.S. national program. Darwitz, the younger of the duo by two years, was a constant, supportive presence for Wendell-Pohl, someone she could lean on. It brought about confidence for Wendell-Pohl, having Darwitz by her side as someone who navigated a similar hockey journey.

Natalie Darwitz is a three-time Olympic medalist, three-time IIHF women’s World Championship gold medalist and five-time IIHF women’s World Championship silver medalist. (Photo courtesy of Natalie Darwitz)

“It would almost feel weird if I was going to this weekend without her,” Wendell-Pohl said. “Just because I do feel like any time I went into battle, whether it was with the U.S. team or college, I always had Natalie.”

As far as memories go, little snippets from each phase of her hockey career stand out to Darwitz, including skating on outdoor rinks with her older brother and his friends, to having her dad coach her in high school. She took pride in playing for her community and seeing the “good luck at the state tournament” wishes around Eagan.

Leaving home to play hockey at such a young age, it also made Darwitz appreciate home a lot more. Home is where her parents are. Every time her mom and dad attended a game – whether in Minnesota or further away – Darwitz always found them in the crowd from her on-ice view after warm-ups and gave them a wave.

“That’s an emotional thing for me,” Darwitz said. “Because they let me play hockey number one, when it wasn’t a norm to have a girl play hockey. So, I have to give them credit for going against the grain and allowing their daughter to follow her passion even though it wasn’t normal at the time.”

Darwitz is grateful for her hockey career, which includes all the people she’s met along the way, too. “Hockey’s funny,” she added, in that she’s receiving an individual award even though it’s a team sport. She credits the great teammates and coaches on her career path, too, whether they helped in a big or small way.

“All walks of life, it’s just coming full circle, and I’m super grateful for all that,” Darwitz said.

The post Hockey Hall Of Fame: Darwitz appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

No. 2 Centennial vs. Eagan

Minnesota Ms. Hockey finalists, and Minnesota Duluth recruits Gabbie Hughes and Anneke Linser combined for nine points to lead second seeded Centennial to a 6-1 win over Eagan in their Class AA semifinal matchup on Friday night.

“They’ve been playing really good hockey all year long and stepping up in big games,” Centennial coach Kristina King said. “I didn’t doubt their abilities but I didn’t know they’d put so many goals up on the board tonight. It was fun to see.”

Hughes registered a natural hat trick by the 12:29 mark of the first period, with Linser assisting on all three goals, and added a fourth tally in the third. Hughes assisted on Allison Pitlick’s third-period goal to complete her 5-point night while Linser’s second period goal was her fourth point of the night.

Cougar goaltender MacKenna Stoterau saw her shoutout bid thwarted by Eagan’s Lauryn Roszak with 3:09 to play but finished with 22 saves. Maddie Nickell had 17 saves for the Wildcats.

“I think we were just in the right spots at the right times and we knew what to do,” Linser said. “We just kept doing it.”

What the Cougars  kept doing was coming through the slot with speed and open space, a recipe for disaster any time, but especially when facing Centennial’s lethal top line of Hughes, Linser and Emily Nadeau. 

“We knew that that first line had a lot of scoring power so we ended up, obviously, behind and then trying to work our way back,” Eagan coach Dan Wilson said. “When you give players like that that space they and take advantage of that so, more often than not, you’re going to see them put the puck in the net when you give them that space and those shots in the slot area.”

Nadeau appeared to get the Cougars on the board first when Nickell batted Hughes’ backhand shot up in the air with her blocker and the puck dropped down in front of her at the left post. Nadeau whacked at it but, despite heavy scrutiny by the replay officials, it was ruled to be Hughes’ goal.

“I personally think she got the goal,” Hughes said. “It was sitting there on the goal line and she was the one that crashed the net and banged it home and I think she deserves the credit for that one.”

While Centennial (25-3-1) has been to the state tournament three times, the last appearance coming in 2008, the trip to the title game is a historic one for the program.

“It’s the first one in Centennial history for us,” Hughes said. “I think it’s a huge honor to do it for our community and to do it for all the little kids that we see up in the stands. It’s just an unbelievable feeling.”

The Cougars beat both of the remaining semifinal contenders back-to-back in December (3-1 over Eden Prairie and 3-2 over Edina) but King isn’t counting on getting an advantage from those wins.

“It obviously gives us some confidence, and it gave us some confidence, but we forgot that,” King said. “It’s a whole different playing field.”

No. 1 Edina vs. No. 5 Eden Prairie

Top-seeded Edina earned a chance to repeat as Class AA state champions on Friday night with a hard-fought win over Eden Prairie. The Hornets outshot the Eagles 47-15 for the game but goaltender Alexa Dobchuck nearly stole the game for Eden Prairie (19-10-1) stopping 43 of those shots in Edina’s 4-2 win.

“I’d like to say it would be the first time I’ve seen it but I think I’ve seen it every day in practice and every game we’ve played for five years,” Eden Prairie coach Jaime Grossman said. “I’m definitely going to miss seeing that on a regular basis.”

Dobchuk’s remarkable performance included 22 second period saves, as state tournament record for saves in a single period. Edina needed a couple of deflections and balanced scoring to beat the Senior Goalie of the Year finalist as eight Hornets picked up points in the game.

“Edina’s a really good team and they always seem to play their best in the big spotlight,” Dobchuk said. “To be perfectly honest, those are the best games for me because I love taking shots and so I love playing Edina.”

Olivia Swaim, Brooke Tucker, Aliyah Lance and CC Bowlby scored for Edina while goaltender Megan Smith stopped 13 of Eden Prairie’s 15 shots. Crystalyn Hengler and Ava Wagner scored for the Eagles. 

“She always plays well against us, she always plays well in general,” Lance said of Dobchuck. “So to have 30 shots on her and not have one go in in a while, it’s definitely frustrating but it’s still motivating that we know we have to bear down and get one in there.”

Swaim opened the scoring with her 10th of the season on a deflection of a Evelyn Adams shot that eluded Dobchuk at 8:23 of the first period. The Hornets appeared to be heading to the dressing room for the first intermission clinging to that one-goal lead but Thursday night’s scoring hero for the Eagles, Crystalyn Hengler, would have none of that.

Smith was unable to control the rebound on a shot from Eden Prairie’s Sydney Langseth and Hengler pounced on it to score her 20th of the season with just 13.8 seconds remaining in the period. 

That did not sit well with the top-seeded Hornets as the defending state champions exploded out of the gate in the second period, dominating the Eagles to the tune of a 22-2 shots advantage. But Edina had nothing to show for it as Dobchuk was there time and again to deny the Hornets and keep her team in the game.

“You give up a goal with a few seconds left in a period, it’s never easy but we were tied,” Reber said. “We had dominated most of that period so we just wanted to keep the momentum going in our favor. We knew Dobchuk was hot tonight and so we just wanted to keep peppering her.”

All that peppering finally paid off for Edina just 2:20 into the third when Turner’s shot from the left point glanced off Eden Prairie defenseman Claire Kuipers and behind Dobchuk for a 2-1 Hornets lead. Six minutes later, Tucker set up Lance to give Edina some breathing room.

But just 10 seconds later, Smith struggled to control another Langseth shot and Wagner was there to pull the Eagles back within one. Eden Prairie made a push but came up short and Bowlby sealed it with an empty net goal in the final seconds. 

Grossman said he expected a closer, more back-and-forth game and feels like the spotlight may have been a bit to big for some of Eden Prairie’s younger players.

“You’ve got to give credit to Edina too because they’re good at taking you off your game,” Grossman said. “I think they did a good job of taking us off our game tonight and making us earn every inch. I think they were really physical with us and I think that got some of our kids off their game.”

Waiting for the Hornets (27-2-1) in the championship game is second seeded Centennial (25-3-1), one of just two teams to have beaten Edina this season. That 3-2 December loss only serves to motivate a determined Edina team.

“I love it,” Reber said. They’re one of two teams that beat us this year so we’re ready for then and we’re excited . I think if we could have picked the opponent we wanted to play in the state championship game, it would be them.”

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No. 2 Centennial vs. Lakeville South 

Class 2A began with a battle of two felines as the No. 2 Centennial Cougars took on the unseeded Lakeville South Cougars. Although Centennial averaged nearly five goals per game, it was their defense and timely play that lifted them to a 2-0 win and a birth to the semi-finals.

“I mean I was kind of expecting this,” said Centennial head coach Kristi King. “Their goalie’s incredibly good and hats off to her, she made a lot of good saves. I thought we did a great job of creating offense. Our first period wasn’t great but second period we doubled our time on attack and we did everything we needed to and outshot them. So kind of feeling it out in the first period and figure out what we do well and execute that in the second and third. We knew if we kept shooting and crashing the net hard, the goals will come.”

Centennial spent the majority of the first period on its heels. Lakeville South came out the gate with a solid forecheck and was able to put seven shots on net in first 10 minutes of play.

But the momentum began to swing Centennial’s way after they drew a power play. Shortly after the advantage expired, sophomore Allison Pitlick netted the game’s first goal, with assists to senior Anneke Linser and junior Maija Almich. Despite being outshot 11-6, Centennial led 1-0 heading into the first intermission.

“First period period I think for everyone but especially me, it was like, taking it all in and the atmosphere was incredible,” said Linser after the win. “You couldn’t even hear yourself think in the roaring of the fans and seeing your whole community out there, you wanted to do it for them and I think getting the nerves out of the first period and coming back and regrouping with the team was a huge part of our success in the second and third.”

Centennial got off to a much better showing in the second period firing 18 shots on net. However, Lakeville South goalie Lexi Baker didn’t skip a beat. She stopped all 18 shots that came her way and kept it a one-goal game.

Lakeville South came out for the final period of regulation the way they did in the first: with speed, an aggressive forecheck and plenty of rubber on net. Yet, they could not crack goalie Mackenna Storteau who was absorbing every opposing blast and pitched a 15-save shutout. In the closing the minutes, Centennial would get an insurance goal from Linser with assists from senior Gabbie Hughes and Almich.

“That’s a powerful team,” said Lakeville South head coach Mark Johnson. “They do a lot of misdirection and changing the puck around they control it very well. They’re a hard-working team. Those two girls: Linser and Hughes are backed with a couple good players also and they played well. I look forward to seeing them going far.”

No. 3 Hill-Murray vs. Eagan 

The Eagan Wildcats returned to the state tournament for the first time in six years but faced a tournament juggernaut in the Hill-Murray Pioneers. It was the seventh consecutive year Hill-Murray has made the Tourney, with the team capturing championships in 2014 and 2015.

But there won’t be any banner for the power house this season, as the Wildcats knocked off the Pioneers 2-1 and advanced to the semi-finals.

After a scoreless first period, Eagan was able to strike first with a pair of goals in the second period. While on the power play, sophomore Jenna Ruiz dangled through the slot and put a puck top shelf giving her team a 1-0 lead. As time winded down, the Pioneers tried to clear the zone but they threw it right on the tape of Eagan’s Taylor Anderson and the senior capitalized and scored, giving her team the 2-0 heading into the second intermission.

“I’m thinking first of all ‘shoot the puck, Taylor’ as I always am,” said Eagan head coach Dan Wilson “As she always wants to get a little bit closer to the net. Obviously it worked out in our favor at that point.”

However, Hill-Murray came out swinging in the final period of play and it appeared they cut the deficit to one goal. However, upon video review – which is only allowed in state tournament play – junior Katie Kaufman clearly kicked the puck in and the goal was waved off. But the Pioneers would get one shortly after when freshman Kennedy Morris blasted a puck from the top of the point.

“Sometimes it’s difficult to cling to that type of lead against a team like that,” said Wilson “Obviously going into the third period we just talked a lot about taking care of puck and get the puck down deep, don’t take any big time risks and chances. We obviously knew that they got some high-scoring power. So we really talked about kind of packing our house and packing in front of our net to keep everything to the outside. I actually think we did a pretty good job with that and it really obviously helped us.”

Eagan continued to weather the storm as Hill’s offense wouldn’t let up. At one point, the Pioneers were outshooting the Wildcats 11-0, with Eagan not registering their first shot of the period until the 11-minute mark. Despite being heavily outshot, the Wildcats prevailed with goaltender Maddie Nickel making 26 saves in the contest.

Meanwhile for Hill-Murray, they’re in unfamiliar territory.

“You know it’s tough to know what to say. For one, it’s never happened before so I never had to have that speech before,” said Pioneers head coach Bill Schafhauser. “If we could’ve played the first two periods like we played in the third, we might’ve had a different outcome.”

No 1 Edina vs. Brainerd

Defending Class 2A champion Edina with a large cast of returnees from 2017’s title run welcomed Brainerd to its first-ever state tournament in the opening game of Thursday night’s evening session. The welcome was short lived, however, as the Hornets treated the Warriors to 4-0 defeat to snap Brainerds seven-game winning streak.

Emily Oden led a balanced Edina attack featuring four different goal scorers as Tella Jungels, CC Bowlby and Olivia Swaim chipped in. With two assists, Edina’s Brooke Tucker was the only Hornet with more than one point.

Edina goaltender Megan Smith stopped all 10 shots she faced for the shutout while Brainerd’s Nicole Schulz stopped 28 of the Hornets’ 32 shots.

“To beat a team like that you have to play close to a perfect game because they’re going to capitalize on anything and everything,” Brainerd coach Jim Ernster said. “We weren’t able to do that but that’s a credit to them. The one thing that they were was consistent throughout, whether it was their first line, second line or third line. They were consistent in their skill, they were consistent in their patience and they were really good finding that player without the puck.”

Oden opened the scoring just 2:02 into the game with her 32nd of the year. Later in the period a pair of Brainerd penalties 28 seconds apart gave Edina a 1:32 5-on-3 advantage.

Even down two players, though, the Warriors threatened when Cheyenne Abear and Gabbie Smith nearly connected on a 2-on-1 with the puck just out of Smith’s reach at the right post. 

Shortly thereafter, Jungels scored her fifth of the year to make it 2-0 with just five seconds remaining in the two-player advantage. The Hornets picked up another power-play goal midway through the second when Bowlby notched her 28th of the season for a three-goal Edina cushion.

Swaim’s goal with 53 seconds left in the second, her ninth of the year, preceded a scoreless third period.

Edina coach Sami Reber expressed relief at advancing despite the heavy odds in her team’s favor entering the game.

“I think when you have quite a few players coming back to the state tournament who were here last year it definitely helps, there isn’t as many nerves throughout the entire team,” Edina coach Sami Reber said. “But you never know what your going to get at the state tournament … so the first game’s always a tough one and I’m proud of the way we came out of that.”

— By Brian Halverson

No. 4 Andover vs. No. 5 Eden Prairie

The Huskies and Eagles played up to their seeding in a tightly-contested game in the quarterfinal nightcap. 

The game was scoreless through two periods but Eden Prairie’s Crystalyn Hengler broke the tie just 1:15 into the final period, firing a wrist shot through traffic that Andover goaltender Cassidy Stumo said she couldn’t see.

“I thought I was out far enough but maybe, because of my size, I should have been out a little further,” Stumo said.

“Pretty big goal for us at a time where I was thinking we might be here until one, two in the morning,”Eden Prairie coach Jaime Grossman said. “So it was nice to see that go through.”

Hengler scored her 19th goal of the season using a brand new limited edition stick which replaced an identical one she had recently broken.

“She had like three goals in eight games with it and it broke at practice the day after a game. The new one that they ordered came today. Looks like that stick’s a good stick for her.”

Eden Prairie’s Becca Kniss capped the scoring with an empty-net goal with 1:22 to play. 

The story of the game was the stellar goaltending battle between Stumo and Eden Prairie’s Alexa Dobchuck who each finished with 29 saves.

“I think we could have done a little better job of getting on pucks a little bit harder,” Andover coach Melissa Volk said. “We did a good job the first 10 minutes of the game and, after that, kind of let off.”

The Huskies came out flying to start the game, applying intense pressure on Eden Prairie early on. But Dobchuk withstood the barrage and the Eagles weathered the storm.

“We’ve been a team that’s been a little slow out of the gates at times most of the year but it’s always nice knowing Alexa’s back there because we have confidence,” Grossman said. “Our kids have confidence that no matter they do those first few minutes, she’s got our back until we calm down.”

Eden Prairie (19-9-1) and top-seeded Edina (26-2-1) will play Friday night’s second Class 2A semifinal for the right to play for a state championship. Andover moves to the consolation bracket for a semifinal meeting with Brainerd.

— By Brian Halverson

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SAINT PAUL—The last matchup at the Xcel Energy Center on Friday night had all the ingredients for a great game, and possibly a great upset. The No. 1 seeded Edina Hornets are the defending Class AA state champions, while the no. 5 seeded Eagan Wildcats flew under the radar this year before knocking off AA newcomer St. Thomas Academy for a trip to St. Paul.

In what was a game that came all the way down to the wire, the Hornets were able to tame the Wildcats, and move on to the Class AA state championship game tomorrow night.

Edina got on the board first just 1:52 in the game on a goal Eagan would surely like to have back. After Wildcat goaltender Andrew Lindgren shut the door on a Dylan Malmquist scoring opportunity, an Eagan defender appeared to try and clear the puck to the corner, but only got a piece of the puck, and swatted it into his own net. Malmquist would be credited with the goal.

Though Edina controlled much of the play in the period, the Wildcats had their opportunities to knot the game at one. Eagan managed to hit two posts on the power play in the first period before Edina was able to clear the puck.

Edina controlled the play for most of the contest, but Eagan held them scoreless for nearly 32 minutes after Malmquist’s goal, keeping the game at 1-0. Then, late in the second period, Lindgren would come up big, making an incredible glove save on Malmquist, who seemingly had a wide open net. Lindgren could only hold the Hornets off the board for so long, though, and with 11 seconds remaining in the second, Edina triggered one.

Hornet forward Casey Dornbach made a nice drop pass to Garrett Wait while on an odd man rush, and Wait wristed a shot from the high slot over the glove of Lindgren for a 2-0 lead to close out the second.

“It was crazy in the locker room after that,” Wait said. “We we’re going crazy.”

The Hornets would go on to control play most of the third, but the Wildcats were still clawing their way to get back in this one.

With Lindgren pulled in favor of the extra attacker, Eagan closed the gap to 2-1 when senior forward Jack Jenson threw a puck on net from a bad angle and it trickled just over the line for the goal with just 46 seconds remaining. On the ensuing faceoff, Lindgren would again head to the bench in hopes of the Wildcats being able to pump another one past the Hornets, but Malmquist would strike again, this time with an empty net goal with 15 seconds remaining to seal the deal for Edina.

“We wanted to spend as little time in our own zone and get that thing out as fast as we could so we could get it down to the other end,” Edina coach Curt Giles said about the Hornets’ successful game plan. “We wanted to put pressure on them as much as we possibly could, get them to work as hard as they possibly could just to make the long trip into the offensive zone.”

With Lakeville North’s double overtime victory over Eden Prairie, the Hornets will face the Panthers in the Class AA state championship tomorrow night. With the way these two teams played tonight, I don’t think there is any doubt they are the two best teams in AA this season, which should make for an outstanding final game.

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SCOREBOARD | GAME LIVE

SAINT PAUL—A fraction more than a second was all that separated fourth-seeded Duluth East from a scoreless tie with No. 5 Eagan entering the final period of their Thursday night Class AA quarterfinal clash. But Eagan’s Nick Wolff picked off an errant Greyhounds’ clearing attempt and fired a shot off teammate Max Elsenheimer’s right knee for 1-0 Wildcats lead with 1.1 seconds showing on the clock.

The goal stood up as the game winner in Eagan’s 3-0 win over Duluth East setting up a rematch of Eagan’s early-season 2-1 win over Edina in the state semifinals. Elsenheimer scored a second goal early in the third period to give the Wildcats some breathing room and goaltender Andrew Lindgren shut out the Greyhounds on 28 saves.

Duluth East coach Mike Randolph said the difference-making sequence was avoidable.

“We could have taken [the puck] into the corner and let the clock run out but we kind of panicked and threw it around the wall, a soft throw on the wall, and the wrong guy had the puck,” Randolph said. “He buried it.”

“But that’s been out Achilles heel all year, getting scored on at the beginning of periods and being scored on at the end of periods.”

To that point, the game was a tightly contested, evenly played matchup fitting of the team’s seedings. In fact, the game-winning shot left the combatants tied with 17 shots each after two periods.

While the Greyhounds were making their sixth consecutive state tournament appearance, the Wildcats came into the weekend with only two players with tournament experience. But Eagan played like veterans, particularly over the final two periods, and pulled away for the win.

“I would never say this, but I was going to be real happy if it was close after the first,” Eagan coach Mike Taylor said. “Because then I knew our kids would get they’d be over the shock and awe when you go out in that crowd. I think you saw more how we have been playing in the second and third, that’s how this team’s been performing.”

Duluth East had the better of the play in the first period when they had the better of the offensive chances. But Lindgren’s back-to-back saves off the sticks of Duluth East’s Nick Altmann and Joey Marinac midway through the period was indicative of the Greyhounds’ frustrating night.

Randolph thought the Greyhounds luck was about to change in the middle of the second when, with Wolff still off for roughing at 9:48, Eagan’s Kyle Stebbing tripped East’s Ash Altmann setting up a two-man-advantage for 48 seconds. But that was negated when Altmann was tagged with an embellishment penalty on the play.

“The only call that bothered me all night and still bothers me is that embellishment,” said Randolph who used the term a total of 12 times both during and immediately after his press conference. “Are you kidding me? He’s a 10th grader; he doesn’t even know what embellishment is … he’s the last guy that would embellish.

“I would have liked our chances at two men up at that point.”

But the Wildcats put the clamps on Duluth East the rest of the way as, although the Greyhounds got their shots, few attempts were of the threatening variety.

“At the end of the day, we are who we are,” Randolph said. “We’ve got four seniors and have one of the seniors playing on one leg (Jack Kolar), so we’ve been really proud of this group and they pushed Eagan. I tell you what; they knew they were in a hockey game.”

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Lakeville North Panthers (23-4-1, 15-2-1)
Head Coach:  Trent Eigner (2nd season, 48-36-2)
Section:  1AA
Conference:  South Suburban, 1st place
State Tournament appearances:  (8) 2002, 03, 04, as North:  06, 10, 11, 13, 14
State Titles: None

Road to State:
Dodge County 11-1
Owantonna 7-1
Lakeville North 6-0

Top 5 Scoring Leaders:
Player                       GP    G    A    Pts

Jack Poehling             28    28    23    51
Nick Poehling             28    12    29    41
Tristen Hazlett           28    12    26    38
Ryan Poehling            27    11    22    33
Max Johnson              27    12    19    31
Jack McNeely             28    4    26    30

Goaltending Leaders:
Player                    W    L    T    GAA        Sv%        Sho

Will Dupont             14    1    0      1.87          .904           2
Jake Oettinger          9    2    1      1.62          .937            3

What to expect:  
The Panthers head to the state tournament for the second straight year, but this year as the No. 2 seed — and the Panthers are a legitimate contender for the title.  There is plenty of offensive balance on this team and they keep the puck out of the net as well with one of the best goaltending tandems in the league.  Senior Tristen Hazlett erupted for 9 points (3g-6a-9pts) as they decimated their Section 1AA opponents by a 24-2 margin in three games.  After starting the season 2-3-0, the Panthers are 21-1-1 in the past 23 games and have a solid chance to build on their performance of two losses in last year’s tournament.

Edina Hornets  (22-4-1, 7-0-1)
Head Coach:  Curt Giles (14th season, 301-102-15)
Section:  2AA
Conference:  Lake Conference, 1st place
State Tournament appearances:  (36) as Edina 1955, 56, 57, 60, 62, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, as Edina East 73, 74, 77, 78, 79, as Edina West 81, as Edina 82, 83, 84, 87, 88, 89, 95, 96, 97, 98, 2000, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
State Titles: (11) 1969, 71, 74, 78, 79, 82, 84, 88, 97, 2010, 13

Road to State:
Prior Lake 8-2
Bloomington Jefferson 5-1

Top 5 Scoring Leaders:
Player                       GP    G    A    Pts

Miguel Fidler                27    18    27    45
Dylan Malmquist        25    14    25    39
Cullen Munson           27    18    19    37
Tyler Nanne                27    8    22    30
Kieffer Bellows           25    11    18    29

Goaltending Leaders:
Player                         W    L    T    GAA        Sv%        Sho

Andrew Rohkohl        20    4    1        1.90         .920          3
Kobi Boe                        2    0    0        1.00         .944          0

What to expect:  
This season is the eighth straight trip to the state tournament for the Edina Hornets and 36th overall.  Head coach Curt Giles quietly picked up win No. 300 with Edina’s 8-2 section semifinal win over Prior Lake.  It is the work of the Hornets’ skipper that positions his team for success each year.  The Hornets are 10-0-0 in their last 10 games and have been defensively solid, allowing less than two goals against per game this year.  Goaltender Andrew Rohkohl is seldom talked about yet has put up a stellar season for the Hornets.  His team is the No. 1 overall seed and is the favorite to capture back-to-back championships, which would be the first time a team has done that in Class AA since Bloomington Jefferson’s three-peat from 1992-94.

Eagan Wildcats  (18-9-1, 9-8-0)
Head Coach:  Mike Taylor (11th season, 202-95-11)
Section:  3AA
Conference:  South Suburban Conference, 5th place
State Tournament appearances:  (4) 2006, 11, 12, 14
State Titles: None

Road to State:
East Ridge  5-1
Cretin-Derham Hall 2-1
St. Thomas Academy  4-2

Top 5 Scoring Leaders:
Player                      GP    G    A    Pts

Jack Jenson               28    20    36    56
Kyle Stebbing            26    18    18    36
Tommy Muck            28    9    21    30
Nick Wolff                  26    10    15    25
Max Elsenheimer      28    9    12    21

Goaltending Leaders:
Player                         W    L    T    GAA        Sv%        Sho

Andrew Lindgren        18    9    1       1.73          .934           5

What to expect:
The Wildcats experienced pockets of struggles this year, especially early in the season.  At one point they sported an ordinary 9-7-1 record.  Since then, the Wildcats are 8-2-0 and have won five straight.  Mike Taylor’s Wildcats have been to the tournament three of the last four seasons and looked the part taking out top seeded Cretin-Derham Hall and highly regarded St. Thomas Academy in the Section 3AA tournament.  The Wildcats’ power play is tough and they have the goaltending to shut anyone down in Andrew Lindgren.  Eagan defeated the Edina Hornets earlier in the year and are capable of putting together three more wins to earn a potential first state tournament championship.

Stillwater Area Ponies  (16-10-2 , 11-5-2)
Head Coach:  Matt Doman (1st season, 16-10-2)
Section:  4AA
Conference:  Suburban East Conference, 4th place
State Tournament appearances:  (1) 2014
State Titles: None

Road to State:
Tartan 6-3
White Bear Lake 2-1
Hill-Murray 2-1

Top 5 Scoring Leaders:
Player                            Gp    G    A    Pts

John Heddle                   26    17    17    34
Devin Cates                    25    9    14    23
Sam Sagissor                 28    12    11    23
Brandon Jungmann     25    9    12    21
Mitch Reinke                 26    5    14    19

Goaltending Leaders:
Player                      W    L    T    GAA        Sv%        Sho

Josh Benson              11    8    1      2.59          .892           1
Scotty Finberg            2    0    0     2.50          .844          0
Daniel Ahrendt          3    2    1       3.79         .809           1

What to expect:  
For the first time since 2004 — and just the second since 1981 — a team other than Hill-Murray and White Bear Lake will be representing their section. The Ponies knocked off White Bear Lake and Hill-Murray with back-to-back 2-1 wins in the Section 4AA semifinals and finals.  They adhered to coach Matt Doman’s plan and shut down a pair of teams that were prolific offensive teams.  The Ponies believe in their game plan, and goalie Josh Benson was lights out in back-to-back efforts.  The Ponies have a tall order in the tournament-tested and top-seeded Edina Hornets in the quarterfinals.  If they execute like they did in the section playoffs and convert on their scoring chances like they can, the Ponies can be a potential bracket buster.

Centennial Cougars (16-10-2 , 8-7-2)
Head Coach:  Ritch Menne (3rd season, 51-26-4)
Section:  5AA
Conference:  Northwest Suburban Conference, 5th place
State Tournament appearances:  (3) 2004, 2013, 2014
State Titles: (1) 2004

Road to State:
Champlin Park 5-1
Maple Grove 4-0
Blaine 2-1

Top 5 Scoring Leaders:
Player                      GP    G    A    Pts

Ryner Gorowsky        27    25    16    41
Connor Lovick           28    18    16    34
Adam Anderson        28    7    21    28
Collin Hughes            28    11    12    23
Colton Berg                27    7    13    20

Goaltending Leaders:
Player                   W    L    T    GAA        Sv%        Sho

Blake Miller            12    10    1    2.49         .897            4
Jon Albers            4    0    1    2.13        .892        1

What to expect:
The Centennial Cougars make their second straight appearance to the tournament this year and third overall.  A spirited section final win over the Blaine Bengals illustrated that the Cougars can beat any team in this field.  They bring a solid blend of skill and grit led by Ryner Gorowsky, the cousin of Tom who led the 2004 team to the title that year.  Last year, the Cougars lost a heart-breaking overtime quarterfinal round game to the Wayzata Trojans and will look to build from that experience as they open with the Eden Prairie Eagles.  The Cougars are 5-0-1 in their last six games.

Eden Prairie Eagles  (17-8-3, 3-4-1)
Head Coach:  Lee Smith  (21st season, 394-143-30)
Section:  6AA
Conference:  Lake Conference, 3rd place
State Tournament appearances:  (7) 1992, 99, 2001, 03, 09, 11, 14
State Titles: (2) 2009, 11

Road to State:
Robbinsdale Armstrong 8-0
Holy Family Catholic 6-2
Benilde-St. Margaret’s 3-2 (ot)

Top 5 Scoring Leaders:
Player                          GP    G    A    Pts

Steven Spinner            28    20    27    47
Luc Snuggerud           28    9    37    46
Michael Graham        28    18    20    38
Colton Schmidt          17    12    11    23
Riley Argetsinger       28    10    10    20

Goaltending Leaders:
Player                   W    L    T    GAA        Sv%        Sho

Jake Gerdes            11    7    2       2.75        .897            1
Erik Evers                3    1    1        2.35        .898           0

What to expect:  
Lee Smith’s team has two Mr. Hockey finalists on the roster in Steven Spinner and Luc Snuggerud.  They rank No. 1 and 2, respectively, in scoring on the team and lead the Eagles in more than just points with veteran leadership and a thirst to win.   After stumbling through the difficult Lake Conference (3-4-1), the Eagles turned up their game in the section playoffs and defeated the highly regarded Holy Family Catholic Fire by a score of 6-2.  The Eagles followed that up with a well played defensive tussle, a 3-2 overtime win over Benilde-St. Margaret’s, to advance to the state tournament.  Smith is just six wins shy of 400 in his 21-year coaching career and his teams have been productive in recent years.  When in St. Paul, the Eagles earned state titles in each of their last two appearances.  Eden Prairie opens the tournament against Centennial in what should prove to be a defensive chess match from the opening face-off.

Duluth East Greyhounds  (21-6-1)
Head Coach:  Mike Randolph  (26th season, 544-149-20)
Section:  7AA
Conference:  Independent
State Tournament appearances:  (21) 1958, 60, 61, 64, 75, 91, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 2000, 03, 04, 05, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
State Titles: (3) 1960, 95, 98

Road to State:
St. Francis 6-0
Grand Rapids 5-2
Elk River 3-2 (ot)

Top 5 Scoring Leaders:
Player                       GP    G    A    Pts

Nick Altmann            28    20    26    46
Phil Beaulieu             28    18    24    42
Alex Trapp                 28    7    26    33
Jack Kolar                 26    19    9    28
Brian Bunten            28    8    17    25

Goaltending Leaders:
Player                       W    L    T    GAA        Sv%        Sho

Gunnar Howg            16    5    1       1.85        .912             4
Lucas Hedin                2    1    0       2.29        .879            0

What to expect:  
The ‘Hounds have become regulars at the state tournament as they make their sixth straight appearance this season.  A state title has been elusive in that span, though, as East has suffered its share of heartbreak over the years with the last championship coming in 1998.  Since that time, the ‘Hounds have come up empty nine times in the new millennium.  They own a Mr. Hockey finalist in Phil Beaulieu who has the ability to control a game and will play significant minutes.  The key to the ‘Hounds over the years has been a puck possession flowing style that is fun to watch with a devastating power play — this year at 43 percent.  The ‘Hounds are on a seven game winning streak and have outscored their opponents 36-10 in those games.

Roseau Rams  (20-7-1, 5-5-1)
Head Coach:  Andy Lundbohm (5th season, 88-47-3)
Section:  8AA
Conference:  Mariucci Conference, 3rd place
State Tournament appearances:  (34) 1946, 47, 53, 55, 57, 58, 59, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 71, 75, 77, 78, 79, 81, 83, 84, 90, 91, 98, 99, 2000, 06, 07, 08, 10, 14
State Titles: (7) 1946, 58, 59, 61, 90, 99, 07

Road to State:
River Lakes 4-3
Bemidji 4-1
Moorhead 7-4

Top 5 Scoring Leaders:
Player                    GP    G    A    Pts

Zach Yon                  28    39    41    80
Alex Strand              28    29    48    77
Cole Bjugson            22    9    36    45
Alex Halstengard     28    19    23    42
Brady Castle            28    11    10    21

Goaltending Leaders:
Player                      W    L    T    GAA        Sv%        Sho

Ryan Anderson         20    7    1    2.25            .901           8

What to expect:  
The No. 1 seed in Section 8AA, the Roseau Rams mustered a .500 record and third place finish in the Mariucci Conference behind Class A clubs East Grand Forks and Warroad.  That is nothing to be ashamed of as all three teams could have made a claim for a Class AA title.  There is some major high end talent on the Rams led by Mr. Hockey finalist Zach Yon.  Alex Strand is not far behind for consideration and Cole Bjugson is a Reed Larson award finalist for the top senior defenseman this year.  Roseau averages about five goals scored per game and will bring its high flying offensive game to the tournament and have to ability to go deep in the field with its talent.  The Rams have a difficult task in the Lakeville North Panthers, but as usual, the Rams effort will be unquestioned and they always have a chance to win.

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