Thunderhawks claim first title in 37 years with win over Moorhead

Grand Rapids forward Gavin Hain scored three times and added an assist to lead his school to its first state championship in 27 years.

In the battle of each team’s top lines, the Thunderhawks’ unit of Hain, Micah Miller and Blake McLaughlin combined for eight points (6-3–9) in a 6-3 Class 2A state championship game win over Moorhead in the first all-northern final since Roseau beat the Thunderhawks 5-1 in 2007.

Gavin Hain (8) and Blake McLaughlin celebrate Grand Rapids winning a state championship. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

“Pucks were bouncing on my stick and, obviously, I couldn’t do it without my teammates,” Hain said. “They were doing the work and the pucks just laid there for me and I was lucky enough to bear down and bury them.”

Grand Rapids coach Trent Klatt found it hard to put his feelings into words.

“I’m just so excited to see the excitement in the kids’ eyes,” Klatt said. “They played hard all year, they sacrificed a lot and they were rewarded tonight.”

Moorhead (24-4-3) suffered its first loss since Dec. 29 and its first loss by more than one goal all season.

“We didn’t have an answer for their top line and our kids did their best,” Moorhead coach John Ammerman said. “We made plenty of plays, just not enough to win.

Grand Rapids (23-7-1) outshot the Spuds 30-27 with Michael Heitkamp adding a pair of assists and goaltender Zach Stejskal stopping 24 Moorhead shots for the win.

The Class 2A title is the first for the Thunderhawks and the first state championship for Grand Rapids since beating Hill-Murray 2-1 in 1980 when it was a single-class tournament. Moorhead is still in search of its first state championship having now lost in the title game for the eighth time.

The Spuds visited Grand Rapids on Feb. 11 and came away with a 4-0 victory. It was the first of two straight late-season losses for the the Thunderhawks who lost 4-1 to Cloquet three days later.

“Anytime you go through the course of a whole season a team’s gonna go through spurts where they’re playing really well and times when they’re not playing so well,” Klatt said.

“We were just in one of our kind of  funks when Moorhead came through,” Klatt said. “We got what we deserved, they spanked us pretty good because they’re a great hockey team. 

“We took that difficult week or two and learned from it and I give the guys a lot of credit to look themselves in the mirror and figure out exactly what each and every one of them had to do to change to get to where we are today.”

Hain got the scoring started with a power play goal 7:26 into the game when his blast from the top of the right circle squeezed between Moorhead goalie Lance Leonard’s pads. McLaughlin’s wrister from nearly the same spot three minutes later made it 2-0 Grand Rapids after one. 

It remained that way until Hain scored twice in a 2:56 span, including the eventual game winner at the 11:48 mark to complete his hat trick.

“It’s a great experience playing with those two guys,” Miller said of his linemates. “I think we all have the same goal and we just worked really hard together and we got some good chemistry and we just built off that.”

Moorhead’s Cole O’Connell and Grand Rapids’ Jack Burnson battle for a puck in the Class 2A state championship game. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

With the Thunderhawks leading 4-0 in the waning moments of the second period, junior Carter Randklev breathed new life into the Spuds with a snipe from the top of the right circle with 1:15 to go. But Moorhead wasn’t done as its top line of Cole O’Connell, Randklev and Jack Stetz combined on a pretty tic-tac-toe play with Stetz finishing Randklev’s backdoor feed with 16 seconds left to make it 4-2 after two.

But Miler’s goal from between the circles 7:08 into the third boosted Grand Rapids’ lead back to three. Moorhead, however, wasn’t done yet as Jacob Holtgrewe scored two minutes later to make it 5-3. 

The Spuds pressed hard over the game’s final seven minutes but McLaughlin’s empty-net goal with 1:15 remaining put the game out of reach.

“I’m not much of an emotional guy but tonight was going to be sad either way because either we lost or they were done,”a visibly emotional Ammerman said. “I’m not a hugger and I’m not a cryer and I did a lot of both today and that’s what sports can do.”

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Grand Rapids win sets up all-northern Class 2A final against Moorhead

To his credit, Grand Rapids forward Keaghan Graeber was honest when asked about his role in the pretty play that set up the deciding goal in the Thunderhawks’ 3-2 Class 2A state semifinal win over Eden Prairie on Friday night at Xcel Energy Center.

Graeber’s pass from his rear end after he was spun to the ice by an Eagles defender in the right circle found linemate Connor Stefan barreling up the slot. Stefan slammed the puck behind Eden Prairie goaltender Nick Wiencek with 9:04 left in the third period and Grand Rapids held on to eliminate the top-seeded Eagles.

Did he see Stefan? No, Graeber says.

“I just knew that I needed to get the puck to the net because that’s what we’ve been working on all year,” Graeber said. “Luckily he was coming in hard.”

Eden Prairie’s Casey Mittelstadt skates away as Grand Rapids’ Jack Burnson celebrates linemate Keaghan Graeber’s second period goal in front of Eagles’ goaltender Nick Wiencek. (MHM Photo / Jonny Watkins)

The loss ended the championship hopes of a senior-laden Eden Prairie team set on redemption after losing to Wayzata in the final a year ago. Much of the attention this season was centered on Eagles’ star forward Casey Mittelstadt and his decision to return for his senior year to make one more run at a title with his childhood friends. 

“That’s a great hockey team that we beat tonight and we’re very fortunate to be on this side of the ledger,” Grand Rapids coach Trent Klatt said. “They’ve got a lot of great hockey players and there was not a lot of space. They were prepared for us.”

But the Thunderhawks had a bit of redemption on their minds too as the memory of last season’s 6-2 state semifinal loss to Eden Prairie remained fresh.

“I definitely think that the second-year players and the players that were on that team last year definitely had a little more extra drive than the upcoming kids because we lost to them last year,” Graeber said.

Eden Prairie jumped out to an early lead when  Ryan Lesko batted home the rebound of his shot from the right faceoff dot. Stjeskal stopped the initial shot but the puck bounced straight up in the air and Lesko was there when it came down to backhand it in at 5:15 of the first period.

John Stampohar tied it for Grand Rapids with a 5-on-3 power-play goal late in the first period when his backdoor pass from the left circle intended for Blake McLaughlin was inadvertently redirected behind Wiencek by Mittelstadt with 1:09 to go.   

The Thunderhawks grabbed the lead early in the second when Stefan’s pass through the neutral zone missed its target and went right to Eden Prairie’s Nicky Lievermann. But the Eagles’ star defenseman whiffed on the puck and it found Graeber who beat Wiencek at 6:29. 

“I think I was talking to Lou Nanne earlier today and he was asking us for the keys (to the game),” Klatt said. “Goaltending was one and we needed some additional scoring and boy did we get it tonight, it really paid off. Keaghan and Connor and [Jack Burnson] played excellent.”

Eden Prairie’s Jack Jensen nearly tied it twice in a 1:11 span on a pair of glorious opportunities midway through the second but was thwarted each time by Stejskal. He was rewarded, however just minutes later when a blocked shot off the stick of Mittelstadt found Jensen below the right circle and he buried it for a 2-2 game at the second intermission.

Grand Rapids goaltender Zach Stejskal with one of his 47 saves on the night. (MHM Photo / Jonny Watkins)

The Eagles staged a furious rally in the final period, firing 24 of their game total of 49 shots in the third period alone. But Grand Rapids goaltender Zach Stejskal was stellar in the Thunderhawks’ crease, frustrating Eden Prairie more and more as the game went on.

“Zach has had a wonderful season and been a backstop for us all year,” Klatt said. “I’m just happy he got this opportunity to show what he’s capable of doing and he really rose to the occasion tonight.”

The Grand Rapids win, combined with Moorhead beating Lakeville South earlier in the evening, sets up the first all-northern final since Roseau beat the Thunderhawks 5-1 in 2007. Klatt admitted the matchup has special meaning.

“Us northern hockey people stick together so it’ll be a fun day tomorrow. They’re a great hockey team and it’s gonna be another game just like tonight.”

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After a day of upsets and a near miss in Class 1A, another high seed fell to open the Class 2A tournament when unseeded Lakeville South stormed back from a one-goal deficit to knock off St. Thomas Academy. Moorhead, on the other hand, became the first seeded team to take care of business in regulation with its win over Hill-Murray.

No. 1 Eden Prairie survived a scare in the evening session from unseeded defending champion Wayzata with a late rally. Goals came in bunches in the late game in a Grand Rapids comeback win over Maple Grove. See below for more.

No. 2 St. Thomas Academy vs. Lakeville South

Emotions ran high, especially early on in the Class 2A tournament’s opening quarterfinal clash between the Cadets and the Cougars. Having last qualified for the state tournament in 2012, Lakeville South brought no tournament experience to the contest while St. Thomas Academy returned four players from its inaugural Class 2A entry in 2015.

Lakeville South’s William Moore celebrates his third period goal to put St. Thomas Academy away. (Photo by Tim Kolehmainen/Breakdown Sports USA)

Whether that experience edge was a factor or not, the Cadets (23-5-1) jumped all over the Cougars in the opening moments, scored the game’s first goal and outhsot Lakeville South 17-4 in the first period. But the Cougars (19-9-1) rebounded for a 5-2 win, their first in the state tournament since Justin Kloos led them to a 2-1 third-place game win over Moorhead in 2012.

Lakeville South’s Cory Checco, William Moore and Bradley Golant each had a goal and an assist and goaltender Isaiah DiLaura weathered that first-period St. Thomas Academy barrage to finish with 31 saves.

 “We knew they were gonna come out strong and everyone was gonna have big emotions,” DiLaura said. “I just tried to channel my emotions and just stop every first shot and make every save that I could.”

Ray Christy, one of the Cadets’ four tournament returnees, got STA on the board first just past the halfway point of the opening period at a time when the Cougars were playing firmly on their heels.

“We started out nervous because none of us had been there before and it’s kind of a glorious experience, I want to say,” Checco said. “Once we kept getting the puck down deep and forechecking their forwards the way that we usually do when we play, I think we took over the game.”

Checco’s goal at the 12-minute mark of the first drew Lakeville South even on the scoreboard but, more importantly, it gave the Cougars a much-needed confidence boost.

“From there we just took it and ran with it because we just wanted it more,” Checco said. “I felt like after we got that first one, we got the first jitters out of the way.”

Despite the huge disadvantage in shots, Lakeville South coach A.J. Bucchino felt like his team was in good position tied 1-1 after the first period.

“It was a great situation, it was a two-period hockey game after that,” Bucchino said. “As a coach we just try to keep our composure and remind these guys to keep it simple and keep moving and, as you know, in sports anything can happen.”

What happened was Jack Olsen gave Lakeville South the lead 4:55 into the second and Checco set up Dawson Klein for the eventual game winner just 47 seconds later. It took STA’s Brenden McFadden only 26 seconds to pull the Cadets back within a goal at 3-2 but that’s as close as St. Thomas Academy would get.

Moore’s goal with 3:26 to play sealed it for the Cougars and Golant added an empty netter in the final minute.

No. 3 Moorhead vs. Hill-Murray

Moorhead’s Matt Herbranson celebrates what would be his game-winning goal in the Spuds’ 4-2 win over Hill-Murray. (Photo by Tim Kolehmainen/Breakdown Sports USA)

Moorhead scored three times in the last half of the second period to create the separation it needed in a tight battle with the Hill-Murray as the Spuds advance to the state semifinals with a 4-2 Class 2A quarterfinal win over the Pioneers.

Moorhead (23-3-3) will face Lakeville South in the early game on Friday night in a rematch of the 2012 state tournament third place game, the last time each school played in a state semifinal.

Jacob Holtgrewe scored the game’s first goal and added an assist, Kyler Kleven notched a pair of assists and Matt Herbranson potted the eventual game winner at 10:31 of the second period. Moorhead goaltender Lance Leonard outdueled Frank Brimsek Award nominee Jake Begley to pick up the win with 24 saves.

The Spuds carried a 1-0 lead into the second period but Hill-Murray’s Joseph Quast knotted things up for the Pioneers 6:27 into the second period. But Carter Randklev and Herbranson scored 38 seconds apart surrounding the 10-minute mark to open up a two-goal Moorhead lead.

Back-to-back power plays late in the second breathed life into Hill-Murray (19-6-4) as Derrick Breezee scored on the first one to make it 3-2 Spuds. But after the Moorhead bench was penalized for too many players on the ice, the Spuds’ Jack Steeze sucked the wind out of the Pioneers with an unassisted shorthanded tally to make it 4-2.

Moorhead turned it up a notch in the third period, outshooting Hill-Murray 15-6 for a 38-26 advantage in the game. The teams combined for an astounding 32 blocked shots in the hard-fought contest.

No. 1 Eden Prairie vs. Wayzata

Eden Prairie’s Jack Jensen celebrates after teammate Nolan Sullivan’s empty net goal secured a 3-1 Class 2A quarterfinal victory for the Eagles over Wayzata. (MHM Photo / Jonny Watkins)

Casey Mittelstadt’s championship dream survived on Thursday night. But just barely. 

Nicky Lievermann’s goal with 1:22 remaining capped off a third period comeback and lifted top-seeded Eden Prairie to a 3-1 Class 2A quarterfinal win over defending champion Wayzata.

Mittelstadt, who spurned offers from the Gophers and the USHL to return to the Eagles for his senior season, won a faceoff back to Lievermann at the left point who fired a shot through traffic that beat Wayzata goaltender Reid Waszczenko. 

Eden Prairie (22-4-2) was also the favorite a year ago when it lost 5-3 to Wayzata (10-18-1) in the 2016 state championship game. The expectations were even higher on Thursday facing a team that rallied in the section playoffs after posting a seven-win regular season.

Wayzata led 1-0 with less than seven minutes remaining when Eden Prairie defenseman Noah Deraney’s one-time blast from the right point deflected off Trojans’ forward Tyler Stevens and over Waszczenko to tie the game at 1-1 at 10:31 of the third period. The goal was Deraney’s first of the season.

“I had a chip on my shoulder from last year,” Deraney said. “I just wanted to go out there and just contribute to the team any way I could. It’s a good way to start.”

The goal celebration was a mixture of joy and relief.

“The biggest thing was to keep playing like we were,” Eden Prairie coach Lee Smith said. “We were having great opportunities, we just weren’t getting a lot of second chance opportunities because the goalie was doing such a good job and they were boxing out really well.”

Waszczenko was outstanding throughout and finished with 35 saves including a memorable pair in the opening period, stoning Mittelstadt on a nifty deflection seven minute in and Jensen with a quick left pad five minutes later.

The late-game rally may never have happened if not for Eden Prairie goaltender Nick Wiencek’s third-period heroics. Despite facing just 15 shots, Wiencek made perhaps the game’s biggest stop with under 10 minutes to play, thwarting Wayzata’s Griffin Ness after the Trojans forward stepped around both Mittelstadt and Sam Pajor in the slot. 

“As a coach, all you can do is rally and you’ve got to rally that, ‘This guy just made the save that saved our season,” Smith said. “And our guys became Warriors and played even harder down the stretch.”

After a scoreless first period, the Trojans struck first when Grant Anderson picked his corner with a laser of a wrist shot that beat Wiencek’s outstretched glove 55 seconds into the second. But that’s all the Wayzata offense could muster against the star-studded Eagles.

Wayzata coach Pat O’Leary fed Mittelstadt a steady diet of the Trojans’ top defensive pairing of Jack Carlson and Anderson and Wayzata frustrated Eden Prairie by blocking 20 Eagles shots.

“We teach our kids to play three zones so pucks are hitting us,” O’Leary said. “It’s one of those deals where we block 20, or whatever you said, but two hit us and went in our own net so it’s the nature of the beast.”

No. 4 Maple Grove vs. No. 5 Grand Rapids

Photo by Jonny Watkins

In stark contrast to Thursday night’s early game between Eden Prairie and Wayzata, goals were anything but hard to come by in the nightcap. 

Grand Rapids exploded for four second-period goals, including three within 2:41, to turn a one goal deficit into three-goal lead and the Thunderhawks rolled to a 6-4 Class 2A quarterfinal win over Maple Grove.

Trailing 2-1 after one period, Grand Rapids got goals from John Stampohar, Jack Burnson Drake Anderson and Blake McLaughlin, the final three in short order, to carry a 5-2 lead into the final period. 

“We like to play better when we’re down a couple goals, for whatever reason,” Grand Rapids coach Trent Klatt said. “We’re certainly not trying to put ourselves in a hole but we’re not worried when we get behind a couple goals because we can score.

“It would just keep me from having a heart attack on the bench if we would just start at the beginning of the game.”

McLaughlin scored twice to lead a quintet of Thunderhawks with two points including Gavin Hain and Burnson with a goal and an assist and Michael Heitkamp and Micah Miller with a pair of assist each. Goalie Zach Stejskal turned aside 25 Maple Grove shots for the win.

Sam Huff’s three-point night (1-2–3) led the way for Maple Grove while Justin Kelley added a goal and an assist. Crimson goaltender Ethan Haider made 30 saves in a losing cause.

Things looked dire early on for the Thunderhawks as Maple Grove’s Trevor Kukkonen scored just 20 seconds into the contest and the Crimson led 2-0 at the 4:26 mark on Huff’s goal. Maple Grove had nine of the game’s first 10 shots and appeared to be in control.

But Gavin Hain’s goal at 11:32 of the first gave Grand Rapids life as it headed to the first intermission down by just a goal.  

“Once we pumped that second one in, I mean the floodgates kind of opened up,” McLaughlin said. “We started finding twine and it was a fun comeback.”

Kelley’s goal closed the gap just 18 seconds into the third but McLaughlin’s second of the game restored the cushion. The Crimson wasn’t done yet, however, as Jayden Walsh made it 6-4 with just under eight minutes left in regulation. 

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Casey Mittelstadt comes up big again to lift Eden Prairie to title game

After his team’s Class 1A quarterfinal win over St. Cloud Cathedral on Wednesday night, St. Paul Academy coach Matt Funk said, “Big players step up in big games.” While Funk was referring to one of his own players, he could have just as easily been describing Eden Prairie’s Casey Mittelstadt.

The junior forward notched a hat trick and chipped in a pair of assists before the second period was finished in the Eagles’ 6-2 Class 2A state tournament semifinal win over Grand Rapids on Friday night at Xcel Energy Center.

The five-point night comes on the heels of a six-point masterpiece (1 goal, 5 assists) in Eden Prairie’s 7-3 quarterfinal win over Anoka on Thursday night. In five career state tournament games over two seasons, Mittelstadt has racked up 13 points (6-7–13).

“He picked us apart pretty good tonight and he’s a heck of a hockey player, he’s gonna play for a long time,” Grand Rapids coach Trent Klatt said. “In high school hockey when you have guys of that ability it’s very hard to defend.”

Mittelstadt’s second and third goals, the first one shorthanded, sparked a four-goal second period for the Eagles. The outburst snapped a 2-2 second period tie and launched the Eagles on their way to their third state championship game in school history.

“Talk about a guy taking over a game,” Eden Prairie coach Lee Smith said. “He can be humble about it, but at 2-2 he decided to really crank it up another notch.”

While the record-breaking 22,244 session attendees were treated to a double dose of entertaining contests, the contrast between Friday night’s two Class 2A semifinal matchups could have hardly been more stark. Wayzata and Stillwater, with a combined six state tournament appearances, opened the evening deciding which school would earn its first title game berth and the Trojans prevailed in dramatic fashion.

Eden Prairie and Grand Rapids, on the other hand, stepped on the ice for the nightcap toting 24 trips to state and five championships between them. The game did nothing to diminish their tournament pedigrees as the Eagles and Thunderhawks delivered a semifinal with championship caliber speed, intensity and physicality, particularly in the second period.

First period goals by Mittelstadt and Michael Graham gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead after one period and Eden Prairie appeared to be in control with a 17-8 advantage in shots.

But Grand Rapids came out of the intermission flying on fresh ice with 1:45 of power play time carried over from a first period penalty to Eden Prairie’s Nolan Sullivan. Micha Miller’s power-play goal at 1:29 got the Thunderhawks on the board and Thursday night’s overtime hero, Alex Adams, tied it just 11 seconds later.

“I think we might have got a little too loose,” Mittelstadt said. “We were pretty excited after the first [period].”

The Grand Rapids surge was on at that point as the Thunderhawks picked up their speed and physical play. Miller, whom Klatt referred to the night before as “a difference maker” with his speed, used his gift to draw another Eden Prairie penalty and the momentum was all with the orange and black.

After watching his team get off to a slow start in the opening period, Klatt felt his team was finally playing, “the way we wanted to.”

“It was a breath of fresh air,” he said. “It was a good response by our guys, we just weren’t able to sustain it.”

With teammate Louie Roehl still in the penalty box, Mittelstadt seized the momentum right back in a matter of seconds.

Mittelstadt stripped the puck from Grand Rapids forward Jonah Bischoff along the right wing boards, drove below the circle and deposited the puck behind stunned Thunderhawks goaltender Gabe Holum.

“I think it just showed our character and we kind of came together after they got the two [goals],” Mittelstadt said. “We just kind of settled it down … and started rolling again.”

“They all responded well when No. 11 got going,” Smith said.

Less than three minutes later, Mittelstadt completed his hat trick with an assist from Grand Rapids senior defenseman Mark Brendan.

Mittelstadt broke in alone on Holum who stopped the shot. But as Brendan attempted to clear the loose puck from the crease he inadvertently swept it across the goal line. Mittelstadt, who was at the end of a long shift, had already turned toward the bench by that time and thought a linemate had scored.

“I was about to change; I was dead,”Mittelstadt said. “I thought he hit it in because he started yelling my name. I just saw it on the board, it was pretty lucky, but obviously I’m not going to complain.”

Senior forward Lawrence Cole delivered back-breaking goals late in the second and early in the third to give the Eagles some breathing room.

But it was Mittelstadt’s performance which made the difference and evoked memories of another accomplished Eden Prairie star.

“When we had Kyle Rau he always had that warrior in him,” Smith said. “Casey really showed that tonight.”

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Adams comes through again as Grand Rapids nips Bemidji in OT

St. Paul — If there’s one thing Bemidji and Grand Rapids learned from their Class 2A Boys’ State Hockey Tournament quarterfinal clash on Thursday night it’s that timing is everything.

And Thunderhawks assistant captain Alex Adams’ timing has been spot on over the last seven days.

A week to the day after scoring a dramatic game winner in the final seconds of Grand Rapids’ Section 7AA final comeback win over Duluth East, Adams scored the winning goal 2:06 into overtime to give the fourth seeded Thunderhawks a 3-2 win over No. 5 seed Bemidji at Xcel Energy Center.

Adams admitted he’s been living a dream the last week.

“It’s been a couple of really big goals, probably the biggest of my career,” Adams said. “It’s been a really fun week.”

Bemidji forward Alex Pollack’s goal 16 seconds into the third period created the tie which led to overtime  but first-year Grand Rapids coach Trent Klatt said there was no panic on the Thunderhawks bench.

“We’ve been in situations like that,” Klatt said. “We were down two goals to Duluth East a week ago and we’ve got Alex Adams on our team so we’re fine.”

But as much as Adams was enjoying the moment he knows it wasn’t all his doing.

“The last couple games I’ve gotten pretty lucky with coming up with the big goal,” Adams said. “But at the end of the day it’s all a team effort to get down to that goal anyway.”

A berth in the state semifinals nearly turned on a less-than-17-second stretch bridged by the second intermission. The Lumberjacks (23-3-2) took advantage of the opportunity but it wasn’t enough to squeak by the Thunderhawks (22-6-1) who advanced to a Friday night meeting with top seed Eden Prairie.

With Grand Rapids leading 2-1 in the waning seconds of the second period, Thunderhawks junior forward Micah Miller corralled the puck in the neutral zone, fought through a check along the left wing boards and cut hard to the net.

“I was screaming at him when he went by the bench,” Klatt said with a grin. “I told him he had four seconds. That was plenty of time for him to get to the net.”

“Micah’s got speed that not many guys in high school hockey have ever had,” Klatt added. “Anytime he decides to go, he can beat anybody at any time.”

Miller’s shot shot went in as the horn sounded to end the period to give Grand Rapids what appeared to be a 3-1 lead right in front of the Thunderhawks’ student section.

“I just knew there wasn’t a lot of time left and I just tried to go wide and get to the net,” Miller said. “I thought it went in before the horn but I guess it didn’t.”

Although the nearest official signaled it a good goal, the so-called lead was short lived as video replay definitively showed time had expired before the puck crossed the goal line.

Seconds later, of game time, Pollack’s goal turned what had briefly appeared to be a two-goal lead into a tie game.

Bemidji coach Wade Chiodo said the bullet-dodging sequence did not even come up during the intermission.

“We didn’t even talk about the goal getting waved off, to be honest,” Chiodo said. “We just went in there and talked about ourselves and what we needed to do as a team and this team has handled adversity very well this season.”

It’s a trait Klatt says his team shares.

“It’s a testament to the guys in our room,” Klatt said. “They never quit, they never give up, and they compete right to the end and that’s what we, as coaches, ask of them.”

That the game ended the way it did came as no surprise to either coach as the two northern powerhouses met in a Nov. 24 game at Grand Rapids which ended in a 1-1 tie.

“We knew what they had, they’re pretty powerful up front,” Chiodo said. “We knew that we had to clog it up and make them go 200 feet and take advantage of any opportunities we had. We did that some of the game but not all the game and that was the difference.”

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State title games a breeze compared to former Grand Rapids goalie’s current fight

By Tim How (Special to Minnesota Hockey Magazine.com)

The fate of the Grand Rapids Thunderhawks hockey program may have changed on a cold night in Hibbing during the 2004-2005 season. With one varsity goaltender out sick and surging JV goalie Reidar Jensen coming off a JV shutout, head coach Bruce LaRoque called for Reidar Jensen to dress for varsity as a backup.

Grand Rapids left Hibbing with a disappointing loss, but Jensen got playing time late in the game and proved that he was worthy of the big stage. At least in that moment.

Duluth Denfeld was in town to play Grand Rapids a handful of days later at the IRA Civic Center. The varsity goalies were struggling, so LaRoque called for Jensen to get out of the stands and to get suited up. The sophomore goalie emerged 10 minutes later and when he took the ice, LaRoque simply pointed to the far end of the arena. Jensen skated to the far crease to a large roar from the hometown crowd.

Grand Rapids would go on to win Section 7AA each of the next two years before falling in the state championship. Jensen was outstanding at times, but his style was maddeningly unorthodox. He’s even happy to admit that his goal was to just get a body part in front of the puck. That strategy worked like a charm for two seasons with the Orange and Black.

“Hopefully people enjoyed watching me play,” Jensen said. “I definitely played a different style. I was unconventional.”

The unconventional style resulted in wins and an opportunity to join the hockey team at Concordia College. Jensen was with the school for one season before returning home to Grand Rapids.

Years later, Jensen encounters his toughest opponent to date 

In March of 2013, Jensen was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. The disease was uncontrolled for two years with the most serious side effects being DKA, seizures, and Diabetic Neuropathy.

Type 1 Diabetes is a serious auto-immune disease that affects youth at an exponential rate. Jensen, who was diagnosed at age 23, had an onset much later than most. The complications and physical issues that go along with the disease are far less than pleasant.

Jensen had a period of dry heaving for 14 straight hours that ultimately put him in the emergency room in November of 2014.

“Once admitted to the ER it took more than an hour to be able to get an IV in me to start replenishing the essential nutrients and fluids your body requires,” Jensen said. “After four days in the ICU I was cleared to go home.”

He thought the worst part was over. After all, he had lost 70 pounds in the three months prior to going to the emergency room.

Unfortunately, he was wrong.

Jensen went through the horrors of a seizure three times in the following two months. He was alone during each of the three episodes but was lucky enough to escape alive each time. Then, in March of 2015 he was diagnosed with Diabetic Neuropathy. While battling, there were times that he couldn’t feel his feet or hands throughout the day. The challenge was controlling the glucose levels in his body.

“It’s harder than you can really describe to people,” Jensen said. “Right now, I’m actually making a lot of progress. I’m mentally focused on being the best I can in every aspect of life possible.”

Fighting the fight with his love of sport

Reidar Jensen tees off against Diabetes. (Submitted photo)

Jensen credits his dad for his first sports love, which isn’t hockey. It’s golf. Not only does Jensen enjoy golfing, but he is pretty darn good at it. Good enough, anyway, that he quit his regular job to play golf as a profession and use it to help spread awareness and help change diabetes by talking about it and making it easier to diagnose and handle.

The ultimate goal is that Jensen plays in golf tournaments mainly in Texas, Arizona, and the Dakotas, and to raise awareness for Type 1 Diabetes across the country. Enter Duffy’s Drive Fore Diabetes. It’s not only a creative name, but it’s the way that Jensen will attempt to help others with Type 1 Diabetes. The plan is to raise funds to help support the disease.

Not only is Jensen training and playing golf as much as possible, but he is also his own salesman. His quest is to find sponsors to help him help others through his journey. There is a Go Fund Me page set up where friends, family, and others can donate to the cause. The account has currently received $620 in donations.

“The support is shockingly more than I ever expected,” Jensen said.

This is going to take a while. Jensen is looking at completing his own challenge in 10 months with the goal of helping others while he is helping himself. He may be playing his toughest opponent ever in Type 1 Diabetes, but the way he is doing it…winning and losing is irrelevant.

“I can get last in every golf tournament and it’s still a win.”

For more information, email duffysdriveforediabetes@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on the Grand Rapids High School hockey website, grhshockey.com.
Republished with permission.

About the author:

Tim How is a 2007 graduate of Grand Rapids High School and Founder/CEO of the team’s website, grhshockey.com. He came through the youth program and was part of the 2006 and 2007 state tournament teams. After high school, How attended North Dakota State University and played three years of hockey in the ACHA, while graduating with a degree in Mass Communication in 2010.

How continues to work in the Fargo-Moorhead area a content writer in marketing and social media for Bell State Bank & Trust and as a part-time radio personality with Today’s Froggy 99.9. He is also the PA voice of Northern Cass Jaguar High School football, as well as an assistant fastpitch coach at Northern Cass High School. His passions are hockey, baseball, and football, and he loves spending time on social media. How married his wife, Alysha, in 2012. They live in Fargo, ND. and Alysha teaches first grade at Northern Cass Public School in Hunter, ND and is the head coach of the varsity fastpitch team.

Tim can be found on Twitter at @fmhockey

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