What starts out with dreams of glory, scoring the game-winning goal to win the championship in overtime, is played out over and over in the minds of youngsters who will watch the games on TV, knowing someday, this dream may come true.

The television rights to The Tourney at one point were valued more than the rights to televise the Minnesota North Stars for the season. WCCO won the bid in 1985, paying $1.55 million for the next three years, which was about what the North Stars were paid for their season. At that time, the average TV viewership was 250,000 with another 100,000 in attendance for the three-day tourney. The WCCO broadcast team included the likes of Lou Nanne, Herb Brooks and Doug Woog.

It is in these broadcasts that youngsters begin to dream, from mites on up, that one day, they and their friends will be playing in St. Paul for the title. Tickets are willed down within families, with multiple years waiting list for those wanting tickets.

Viewing now actually goes beyond state borders as people from around the country and in places around the world are drawn back to viewing on the internet. The Tourney is more than what you see on TV. It starts when a child first starts to skate, playing for his community, and stays with him long after graduation.

The actual tournament starts in sectional play featuring every team playing hockey and ends in St. Paul where the top eight teams in two classes vie for the championship. Just to get to The Tourney is a milestone that is highly sought. Once in St. Paul, the teams start with seeing each other at a banquet honoring them for being there. It is well deserved.

Some teams in the tourney this year arrived as No. 5 seeds in their sectional tournament. Rogers, who at the end of the regular season was top ranked in some polls, was eliminated by Wayzata. Another top sectional seed in Hill-Murray was upset by Gentry Academy. Both fifth seeds won their section but saw their championship dream end in the state quarterfinals.

From West 7 th Street, the bars and restaurants, as well as the hotels, all fill up, with fans from around the state gathering for a four-day hockey tournament that continues to grow and flourish. At the restaurants and bars, from Mancini’s to Tom Reid’s and Zamboni’s, the chatter is all hockey, with the talk of past games and players being replayed, as well as the games that are going on.

Up in the press box, the television and radio, as well as print publications are full speed ahead, trying to cover and share the game with their audiences. The officials from the tournament are also watching their colleagues who are now on the ice, keeping the game safe and in control.

One of the officials up top is John Boche, who has officiated at all levels, from his early days calling youth games, to Division I and Division III college playoffs. His son, Brenden, is now part of his crew, who last year were the officials for the Class 2A final that saw Moorhead hold on to beat Stillwater 7-6.

For both classes, in the quarterfinals, the higher-seeded teams didn’t disappoint, with top seeds advancing, setting up Hibbing/Chisholm vs. Mahtomedi and Warroad vs. Delano Class 1A semifinals.

The Class 2A tourney saw top-seeded Minnetonka take on Rosemount, with Edina and Moorhead battling in the late game of the semifinals. These two games were played with more than 20,000 in attendance.

Both Boches were on the ice for the semifinal between Rosemount and Minnetonka, where Minnetonka won a close battle, 4-3, coming from a 2-0 deficit, rallying and winning in overtime to get them to the championship. In the other Class 2A semifinal, Moorhead broke open a tough, physical game against Edina, winning 3-1.

Minnetonka coach Sean Goldsworthy, son of former Minnesota North Star legend Bill Goldsworthy led the Skippers to the title in 2018 and again in 2023 and was thankful to advance.

“This team plays its best hockey the back half of each period because other teams get tired,” Goldsworthy said.

Minnetonka player Ethan Sturgis noted that “our super-strong schedule during the regular season puts us in a good spot for overtime games.”

Moorhead coach Jon Ammerman recalled: “We were on our heals a bit to start the first five minutes, but not too bad, finished the first well, with the second period having the puck a lot but not getting shots on net, but loved the way we played, and in the third period we played outstanding from start to finish.”

Moorhead junior forward Zac Zimmerman noted after defeating Edina: “It feels great, just knowing how special it was last year with 20,000 people there playing for your community. I am ready to do it again.”

In Class 1A, 3-seed Warroad beat 2-seed Delano 6-3, with top-seeded Hibbing/Chisholm beating Mahtomedi 4-2. The championship finals did not disappoint, as both games needed overtime to decide a champion.

Class 1A: All North final for the ages
It’s only fitting that this year’s Class 1A final featured two northern teams, Warroad and Hibbing/Chisholm. It is well documented why Warroad in the state of Hockey is known as Hockeytown USA. Warroad is just six miles from the Canadian border and has less than 2,000 residents. Its ties to USA hockey is every team that has won the Olympic Gold medal for the United States has had a player from Warroad on its roster, with the Christian brothers Roger and Bill in 1960, David Christian in 1980 and Brock Nelson in 2026.

Cal Marvin, the brother not involved in the global Marvin Windows company and what drives employment with more people employed than the population of the town, is considered the Godfather of Warroad hockey. His passion for the game was evident in his Warroad Lakers Senior A Men’s hockey club that were one of the most famous amateur hockey clubs in North America and a major factor of Warroad becoming Hockeytown USA.

The Club was established in 1946 playing in the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association, where they played for the Allan Cup. The winner of the Allan Cup, a Canadian nationwide hockey tournament, where the winning team represented Canada in the World and Olympic tournaments through 1960.

Warroad was the only club ever to win three-straight Allan Cups in 1994, 1995 and 1996, narrowly missing a fourth in 1997. The team folded after the 1997 season. This club built the tradition of hockey in Warroad with the Christians in Roger, Bill and Dave, along with former NHLer Henry Boucha playing for the Lakers.

Hibbing is no stranger to the state tourney, but has won just two titles, both when the tourney was a one-class tourney, the last being in 1973 and the first being in 1952, when they stopped Eveleth’s early dynasty of four-straight tournament crowns, winning in 1948, 1949, 1950 and 1951. Eveleth is now the home of the U.S. Hall of Fame.

Hibbing in 1973 were led by Joe Micheletti with seven goals and four assists in that tournament. He would later have a long NHL career with St. Louis and is now a well-known NHL TV Analyst. His teammates included George Perpich, who went on to coach the Hibbing team for almost three decades and had Frank Brimsek Jr. in net. Brimsek’s father was a star goaltender in the NHL from Eveleth, whose name is still honored with the top Minnesota goalie awarded the Frank Brimsek award.

Frank Brimsek was also involved in Eveleth’s run, as the NHL goalie, gave then Eveleth goalie Willard Ikola, a pair of goalie skates, and with these skates on, Ikola never lost an Eveleth game, winning back-to-back to back championships.

Warroad’s last state championships were in 2003 and 2005, where NHL and Olympic star T.J. Oshie led Warroad to two state championships.

The game was a rematch of the 1994 game with Warroad beating Hibbing 5-3 at the old St. Paul Civic Center. In that game, Tom Lund scored for Warroad, and his son Connor would get the Warroad Warriors on the scoreboard in the 2026 game. Hibbing/Chisholm had two family connections with Derek Gabardi being the uncle of Joe Gabardi and Eric Rewertz being the uncle of Whitaker Rewertz, who scored Hibbing/Chisholm’s first goal.

Warroad’s goalie, Patrick Kennedy, had to step up in the section tournament, where the team steamrolled it’s way into the state tournament with three lopsided wins.

He would be needed throughout the staet tournament,and in the state championship game he was peppered with 32 shots on goal in the first two periods, giving up only one to Rewertz in keeping Warroad in the game.

Isaiah Hildebrandt got Hibbing/Chisholm within one on the rebound of a scramble in front and on the 45th shot Hibbing/Chisholm tied it up on a Rewertz blast from the high slot with Kennedy screened. Less than a minute later, Hibbing/Chisholm scored to take the lead at 4-3 on a shot that rebounded off the back wall to the side of the net and Ben Galli quickly slid past Kennedy.

With 46 seconds left, Warroad tied the game upon a high tip from Gavin Andersen on a shot that was a deliberate pass from the top of the circle with the game going into overtime.

Both teams gave their all, and with the next goal being for a state championship, the players dug deep. Warroad ended the game 1 minute into overtime on a 3-on-2 rush which went from the left wing Rodrick Jackson to the high slot Andersen down low to Jackson and over to Ryan Shaugabay, with Jackson sliding the puck off the pad of the goalie onto the stick of Shaugabay, who buried his shot into the back of the net.

His fifth goal of the tourney was for the state championship, bringing tears of joy to Shaugabay and all of Warroad and would share his game-winning goal with his father, Son Shaugabay, who is an assistant coach.

Ryan Shaugabay noted, “We hadn’t won one since 2005, since T.J. Oshie, and this is a special feeling, everytime I looked up to the crowd, I started crying because this is such a special community, we live and breathe hockey, and it couldn’t have ended any better.”

Ryan had some huge footsteps to follow, as his brother Jayson won the 2023 Mr. Hockey Award and is a leading scorer in college hockey playing for the University of Minnesota Duluth. When asked if he had ever dreamt of scoring the overtime winner playing pick-up hockey, Ryan noted “so many times, when I scored the overtime winner, I slid into the corner and just started to cry, it was just an unbelievable experience.” 

Shaugabay noted that the team’s defense was the strength, giving up just four goals in the team’s last seven games entering the tournament. Kennedy played well, being called upon to be the team’s goalie after finding out late in the season Finn Hanson, the regular-season goalie, would be unavailable after getting injured late in the season. In the championship game, Warroad was outshot 47-33 with Kennedy keeping them in the game until the overtime winner.

In a game where it was sad to see one of the teams lose, Hibbing/Chisholm saw the agony of defeat, as they played hard and could have easily been the winner. They finished the season 26-3-2. The last loss being one that none of these players will forget.

With 10,518 in attendance, those in the building witnessed a game that will be talked about for years to come, with two historic programs battling to the end.

Class 2A: A classic double-overtime thriller
Minnetonka will also feel the pain. The Class 2A championship game, ending the four-day tournament, was even more painful for the Skippers. To recap, they had the game in control, up 4-1, when Moorhead put on a frantic finish, scoring three goals in the game’s last 10 minutes, with the last being with just 36 seconds left and their goalie pulled.

Minnetonka was playing in its seventh tourney, while Moorhead, the defending state Class 2A champion making its 18th appearance. Both teams were highly rated throughout the year and heading into the tournament were a toss-up for the rating and deserved to be in the title game.

The game itself started with Minnetonka taking a quick three-goal lead, as Moorhead sophomore goalie Will Arnold struggled in what seemed to be a bad case of nervousness and an unfortunate cross-checking penalty giving the Skippers the power play. They cashed in with senior center Jordan Johnson one timing a cross-ice pass from Danny Browing just 2:45 into the game.

A few minutes later, the Skippers added to the lead as right wing Ethan Sturgis carried the puck into the zone and drove toward the net and slid the puck from a very sharp angle toward the net. The puck went five-hole, between the skates of Arnold, and found the back of the net. The soft goal put Moorhead down 2-0 with 9:28 still remaining in the first period.

Arnold’s low point of the night was after giving up the third goal on another stoppable shot by
Minnetonka sophomore Cash Hardie, as he took the puck off the boards at center ice and beat Arnold with a wrist shot, with this being Hardie’s fourth goal of the tourney.

Down three goals, Moorhead would need a monumental effort, against a strong defensive team known for its defenders, and goalie Chase Jerdee with a season save percentage of .922. The Spuds have the offense to do that, and they started to mount a comeback midway through the second period as Micheal Herman found the back of the net with Tyden Bergeson’s 52nd assist of the season and 81st point, with Max Cullen adding his 34th assist of the season.

Late in the second period, Minnetonka made it 4-1 on Max Aronson’s goal. The momentum swung back to ‘Tonka, and with a comfortable three-goal cushion, time now matters as the Skippers are one period away from the crown.

Moorhead starts it way back with under 10 minutes to play with a power-play goal by Joey Cullen. The sophomore took a pass from Zac Zimmerman and snapped the shot past Jerdee to get Moorhead within two with under 10 minutes to play. Four minutes later, Zimmerman tipped a shot past Jerdee making it a one-goal game. Zimmerman was playing in the USHL for the Fargo Force to start the school year but returned to his team, to see if they could repeat.

With just 36 seconds left, Zimmerman scored to tie the game at 4, sending the arena crowd into a frenzy. The play became even more intense, with the crowd now standing for both overtimes. The teams opened up and raced up and down the rink, until Max Cullen sent in Evan Wanner who snapped a wrist shot past Jerdee to retain the Class 2A crown.

Moorhead Coach Jon Ammerman noted: “It was a tough start, no doubt about that, but just incredible character from the kids, there was never a murmur of doubt on the bench.”

Bergeson noted in the press conference that “never a doubt that we weren’t winning this game, never a doubt that we weren’t going to get back into the game, play our best hockey, and see what happens.”

Wanner noted this was a childhood dream, “A lot of kids dream about that, the title goal, OT winner, kind of unbelievable, and when it happens you don’t know what to do.”

His roommate, Drew Simonich, had the conversation the night before, at around 1:30 a.m., asking Wanner: “What would you do if you scored the overtime game winner, and I remember him saying ‘I would just throw everything into the crowd.’”

It happened just as they thought, with Wanner getting the OT game winner and equipment ending up in the crowd.

The attendance was 19,648 to go with Friday’s semifinal Class 2A session of 20,350 had a combined attendance of 40,000 for Friday and Saturday evening. Combined with Thursday’s two quarterfinal sessions, and the Class 1A total of 37,485, the tournament again exceeded more than 100,000 in attendance.

The Tourney is alive and well, but is now faced with challenges that have crept in, some within the last few years. Minnesota and its community-based model have worked well for more than 80 years, but the landscape is changing.

Several of the top players in the state are no longer choosing to stay playing for their high school teams, with the pull for the next level of junior hockey being too strong. With the advent of junior Canadian hockey now recruiting Minnesota players, offering more games and other perks, and with these players now able to play college hockey with the NCAA’s recent rule change, we need to be aware of the competition for the best of the best and what is at stake.

For now, we will relish where we are at, with two of the best hockey games in recent memory played for the 2026 State Championships. Congratulations to both Warroad and Moorhead, you worked overtime.

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It was the eighth runner-up finish – with zero state titles – in Moorhead program history.

“The toughest thing of anything,” Ammerman said that night, as he spoke between long pauses and offered his words through tears, “is now that team’s done. I’m not much of an emotional guy. But tonight was going to be sad either way.

“I’m glad our kids got the opportunity. They deserve it.”

Jump ahead to the 2025, and Ammerman was back at that same table in a similar moment on Saturday. But this time, the mood was celebratory as he sat with players Mason Kraft, Brooks Cullen and Brandon Mickelson after they defeated Stillwater 7-6 to win the Class 2A state championship.

What were Ammerman’s emotions this time around once the final horn sounded?

“Relief,” Ammerman quipped. “We’ll enjoy it as it comes here. This isn’t something that I did. I thought our coaching staff did a phenomenal job this week of preparing these kids.”

Ammerman was calm and humble as he answered questions after one of the biggest moments in program history. He offered praise to the team, coaches and others in the community.

“I’ll have time to reflect as a coach, but we’re excited for them to go celebrate with our families,” Ammerman said. “This isn’t about something that I did, or isn’t about something that one individual did. It was a collective effort.”

The Class 2A championship game ended in victorious fashion for the Spuds (28-2-1), though there was danger in it becoming an epic collapse had Stillwater (24-7-0) completed its comeback effort after being down by multiple goals for most of the night.

From the jump, the Spuds were pumped
The announced record crowd of 20,491 at Xcel Energy Center was treated to three periods of momentum-turning, goal-scoring excitement to finish off the high school season.

The game included record-tying efforts, both head coaches using their timeouts prior to the third period to calm their teams down, highlight-reel goals and ultimate resiliency from players on each bench.

Mason Kraft scored four goals in the first period. The celebration of his fourth goal was more subdued than the first three.(MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Where to begin? Two words: Mason Kraft.

The senior and Minnesota State commit scored on the first shots of the game for Moorhead, tallying goals 12 seconds apart less than two minutes into the game. Senior Brooks Cullen made it 3-0 only 2 minutes, 24 seconds into the game, so Stillwater coach Greg Zanon called a timeout and told his team to “calm down.”

“It’s a big game,” Zanon said. “When has a high school kid played in front of 20,000 people?”

Kraft had a hat trick 12 minutes in – at least one hat made it onto the ice from the stands – before adding his fourth goal with 40.6 seconds left in the first period to make it a 5-1 lead. He skated to the bench, where Moorhead players mob each other for their goal celebrations, with body language that seemed to say: “What else is new?”  

Four goals in a period ties a tournament record with John Mayasich, who scored four in the 1951 quarterfinal first period against Williams. Kraft’s performance was also reminiscent of three years ago when Prior Lake’s Alex Bump pumped in five goals in the state quarterfinals, though he only scored three in a period. Kraft nearly had a fifth goal in the game later, but his shot hit the pipe.

‘It’s not over’
Stillwater’s Trey Fredenberg made it a 5-2 game with 9:51 left in the second period just after a TV timeout. About 30 seconds later, the Stillwater student section led a “It’s not over!” cheer. That generated a “Yes, it is!” response from another section of fans, though not the main Moorhead student section at the other end of the arena.

The Stillwater students were onto something, because less than a minute after their encouraging words, the Ponies scored again on a top-shelf snipe from Luca Jarvis for a 5-3 game. That caused Moorhead to burn its timeout, after allowing two goals in 1:30 of game time.

It must have been a motivating discussion at the bench, because Mickelson scored 20 seconds later to regain the three-goal lead, and the Spuds led 6-3 through two periods.

Matthew Volkman scored a pair of third-period goals to cut Stillwater’s deficit to 7-6. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

The Ponies kept galloping and wouldn’t let these three-goal deficits stand. Fredenberg tallied his second of the game early in the third period. But sophomore Zac Zimmerman had an absolute snipe of a shot on the power play to make it 7-4. Stillwater’s Matthew Volkman scored a pair of goals later in the period, eventually getting the contest to a one-goal game with 3:20 to play.

The entire lower bowl of fans stood for the final minute as the Ponies tried to tie the game with the extra attacker. But they couldn’t complete the comeback, and once the horn sounded, the Spuds celebrated one more time. Although this celebration might go on for a while.

Kraft, who had a five-point game and finished the season with 46 goals and 95 points, was poised and articulate in the postgame press conference. He said the reaction to winning the championship was “like a sensation that I’ve honestly never felt,” adding that he felt on top of the world.

“It’s the greatest feeling ever,” said Kraft, who was crowned Mr. Hockey on Sunday. “And I just want to say, if you ever have the option to stay or leave, I think you should always come back and play high school hockey and play one more year with your buddies.

“You never get this time back ever. There’s no better place in the country to play than Minnesota.”

Finally, Moorhead
Moorhead’s storyline was well known heading into the tournament; it came in as the top seed this year. Before Saturday’s game, Ammerman referred to the history as “the elephant in the room” and said it’s been addressed with the team. They all knew the history, even if it wasn’t this year’s roster who’s responsible for that 0-8 state championship-game streak.

Moorhead goaltender Charlie Stenehjem tosses his helmet and celebrates after the game was over. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Moorhead finished as state runner-up eight times starting more than 30 years ago: 1992 (Tier I), 1994, 1995, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2009 and 2017. Ammerman, a 2005 Moorhead graduate, played on the 2004 and 2005 teams.

“As a coach, part of your job is to set your kids up for hopefully some success, to put things in place for them to reach their goals and dreams,” Ammerman said. “I think that these guys had everything in place. And that doesn’t mean that it was going to work out.

“I’m happy that they got to experience something that I didn’t. I’m just happy for them.”

This year was the first time since 2017 that the Spuds reached the state title game, despite making the state tournament five times from 2019-23. But the Spuds went 0-5 in those state quarterfinals, losing in double overtime in 2022 and 2023 to dash any championship hopes. Last season, the Spuds failed to reach its Section 8 title game for the first time in 23 years.

But the 2024-25 team responded well. The Spuds were undefeated in regulation this season, with its two overtime losses bookending the regular season to Wayzata 3-2 and No. 1-ranked Hill-Murray 8-7 in a battle between the top-two ranked teams in the state, according to Let’s Play Hockey.

The state championship obviously means a lot to the Moorhead community, too. Brooks Cullen, who’s dad Matt Cullen, Stanley Cup Champion and a Spud alum who’s now an assistant coach, talked about the tight-knit hockey community.

“It’s unbelievable to get the first championship for this town,” Brooks said.

Added Kraft: “You could see their emotion on all the parents tonight after the game. It’s something that you can’t really put into words.”

Assistant coach Matt Cullen celebrates the state championship for Moorhead that eluded him as a player for the Spuds. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Kraft’s dad, Ryan, and Matt Cullen played for the Spuds in the early 1990s.

This year’s Spuds wrote their own chapter in tournament history, though the road wasn’t easy.

First, they had to weather the storm against No. 8-seed Lakeville South in the quarterfinals. The Cougars scored only 1 minute, 37 seconds into the game and took 3-1 and 4-2 leads in the game before the Spuds rattled off five unanswered goals for a 7-4 win.

The semifinals set up a meeting with defending champion, 5-seed Edina. The Hornets can never be counted out at the state tournament, regardless of seeding. Edina’s Mason West tallied a hat trick in the first period for a 3-2 lead at intermission. With the game 3-3 late in regulation, Zimmerman scored a power-play goal with under a minute remaining to send Moorhead to the state title game.

The championship game included a record-tying 13 combined goals in the 7-6 game. The only other boys’ hockey state championship game with that many goals was in 1996 when Warroad defeated Red Wing 10-3 in the Class 1A final.

The Stillwater team embraces following the state championship loss to Moorhead. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Unfortunately for Stillwater, six goals also marked the most ever scored by a losing team in a championship game. But the attitude on the Stillwater bench never faltered, Zanon said.

“The never-quit, never-die type mentality,” Zanon said. “Being down 5-1 wasn’t ideal, but going in after that first period, there was just no doubt in my mind that we were going to claw back some way.

“We could easily have quit and fold up the tent and it could’ve been 12-1, especially with the way they can score goals. We put our foot down and tried to claw back.”

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Warroad had jumped ahead early and went on to win the game 6-2, avenging a game two weeks earlier when Roseau won 3-2 in overtime in Roseau. As I sat there, looking at this enormous video screen 20 feet away, a fellow stepped in front of me, looked out from under a knit cap and over a graying goatee and said: “John Gilbert. Do you remember me?”

I had to admit that I didn’t recognize him.

“Neal,” he said. “Neal Broten.”

You’ve got to be kidding! Here was one of my favorite hockey players ever, and I didn’t recognize him. We had a nice conversation. He came up from the Twin Cities area to visit his dad and mom, Newell and Carol, who still live in Roseau.

That was one of many conversations I had, including one with David Christian, who also drove up from the Twin Cities for Hockey Day Minnesota. The crowds for the event were very good, as the temperature hovered in the mid-20s. My wife, Joan, and I drove up Friday, hoping to arrive in time to see the Roseau-Warroad alumni game, which would hinge on which side could round up the most alums. Roseau alums whipped Warroad alums, 6-2.

On the 4 and a 1/2-hour drive up from Duluth to Warroad, we tuned in KDAL radio to hear Bruce Ciskie’s broadcast of the UMD-Wisconsin women’s WCHA game at AMSOIL Arena. Wisconsin won a close game, but I was astounded to notice that Ciskie has adopted a style in which he gives the time on the clock — “11:30 of the second period” — as the official time of the game. He didn’t say time remaining, which would have legitimized it, but he just gives a time and the period, which is totally disconcerting to a listener like me, who wants to know the score and the remaining time. (When I got back, I asked Ciskie when he started doing that, and he said, “I hate doing math.” Huh?)

We got to Warroad and checked in, making friends with the beautiful little owner’s dog, Bentley. After trying, but failing, to get over to the end of the alumni game, Joan and I went over to Izzy’s, which used to be owned by Izzy Marvin, but which still sells the best hamburger in town. Like every other establishment in town, Izzy’s was jammed.

A group of young players periodically cleared ice buildup from the outdoor rink. (MHM Photo / John Gilbert)

Picture-perfect Hockey Day
It was a nearly perfect three days in Warroad last weekend, which was the ideal time for moderate temperatures and the lack of the usual January snowing, blowing and freezing in this little Canadian border town on the Southwest tip of Lake of the Woods. The organizers did a fantastic job of laying out the outdoor rink on the high school football field, which had one end zone right up against the Marvin Event Center. That center became our gathering spot for everything from watching hockey games to eating a steady flow of different foods supplied throughout all three days for anyone fortunate enough to have a VIP or media pass.

As a long-term resident of the pampered life of a sportswriter, I’ve grown to appreciate all the various press boxes I normally visit while watching games. No such luxury this time, so I spent much of it standing outside to shoot photos from in front of the windows of the event center. That was where I watched the very impressive Warroad girls high school team, ranked No. 2 in Class 1A, lose 4-3 to big and powerful Class 2A-foe Lakeville North, a team that has a good shot at making the state tournament.

The Warroad teams paid tribute to their heritage, and to the achievement of gaining the continued use of the term “Warriors” after numerous politicians had tried to get them to drop the name. Saturday started with the indigenous drum band playing an opening tribute that was quite an emotional attraction. And the Warroad players wore jerseys that had “Kaabekanong Ogichidaag” emblazoned on their chests. That, in Oglala Sioux, means “Warroad Warriors,” somebody said.

Another person said it was a modernized term for “War in the Road,” which dates back to the 1800s, when the warring factions of different tribes fought their battles on the road leading into Warroad. Probably for the rights to the many huge walleyes waiting for fishermen out on Lake of the Woods. The area tribe made a deal with the city of Warroad to give them the land on which to build their new school back in the early 1900s, and the agreement included a deal that assured the school would keep the name “Warriors” as a tribute to the Native Americans.

There were games for all age groups, from youth to college, and included some high school attractions. One of those attractions came in men’s hockey when Concordia College (Moorhead) came from behind to beat a strong St. Olaf team 4-2 with three third-period goals in a Division III classic.

There were also video tributes to Henry Boucha, who died in September, and continuing tributes to the Marvin family, which runs various industries, including the huge window-building plant that is the area’s largest employer.

Wayzata skated past Moorhead 5-2 in a boys high school feature. (MHM Photo / John Gilbert)

The Warroad girls high school team is coached by David (Izzy) Marvin, who has brought them to prominence and state championships. Izzy’s dad is the late Cal Marvin, who owned a resort and was general manager and coach of the Warroad Lakers, who won Canada’s Allen Cup for Senior Men’s teams.

“Other small towns that start girls programs need to do what Warroad has done,” Izzy said. “And that is to get behind the girls program. When we started, Cal got behind the girls program, and when Cal was behind something, not many people chose the other side.”

Perfect explanation for Cal’s influence and for the Warroad girls’ success.

Wrapping up the weekend
After watching and shooting photos at games such as the Wayzata boys powerhouse whipping Moorhead 5-2 in one of several other high school games, it was time for the Warroad-Roseau boys high school weekend highlight. I was prepared to head back outside to get a spot for shooting photos. However, the two rows of standing sites ahead of the event center were elbow to elbow, with the grandstands on both sides of the football stadium also jammed, as a crowd possibly approaching 5,000 filled every spot.

That’s what sent Joan and me back inside and over to the huge video screen for the Bally Sports North telecast.

As the second period ended, the sun was going down and it felt a little chillier, and I suggested to Joan that since we were watching on the big screen, we could hustle back to the hotel and catch the third period and maybe the Wild-Anaheim finale on BSN in our room. So we took off.

We got to the hotel in time to see the third period of the Warroad-Roseau game. But for some unknown reason, the connection between BSN and the motel had quit and despite scrolling through every station in the guide, we never found the end of the game. Nor did we find the Wild game, although we tried hard enough that we were too tired to go out seeking a late dinner, and we settled for crackers and cheese that we had brought with us.

When we were through with our snack/dinner, I tried scrolling through one last time — and there we found the Wild-Anaheim game! Just in time to see the Wild collapse into their bye-week swoon.

We slept well, got up Sunday morning and started our return trip in the test-drive Prius I was driving for my automotive column. We wanted to get back in time for the NFL championship games in the AFC and NFC, so we thought a quick breakfast at McDonald’s would be best, grabbing a couple bacon-egg-and-cheese sandwiches. We pulled into the drive through and were informed they quit selling those at 10:30 a.m., and it was already 10:40 a.m.

So we took off, heading east on Hwy. 11 for Baudette, another Lake of the Woods town. Passing through, we saw Alice’s Restaurant, where an impressive waitress named Ashley took care of our orders for Denver omelettes, whole wheat toast and… some of the worst coffee this side of instant.

But it got us home, after a fantastic Hockey Day Minnesota weekend in Warroad. Next year, the extravaganza will be in Shakopee. The following year, it will move to Hastings. Both of those cities will have a major challenge trying to live up to the high-bar setting of Warroad, which remains “Hockeytown, USA.”

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“Right Back Where We Started From” by Maxine Nightingale, which was released in the 1970s.

Whether coincidence or part of a set playlist, the song seems fitting for a deep Minnetonka Skippers team that returned a bunch of key players from last winter’s dominant Class 2A state championship team.

Only two games in, Minnetonka turned in a couple of dominating efforts on its home ice, outscoring Rosemount and Andover by a combined 18-3 margin. The Skippers put up a 10-3 victory over Rosemount to open the season Friday before an 8-0 shutout of Andover, a program it met in last year’s state semifinals (though this time without the since-graduated line featuring Cooper Conway, Gavyn Thorsen and Cayden Casey).

With so many state champions – and multiple Division I commits – returning to Minnetonka’s squad this season, Skippers coach Sean Goldsworthy acknowledged that his team isn’t starting from square one.

“First off, they’re committed to each other,” Goldsworthy said. “So, when they all come back, it makes things easier on each other. We have a lot of returning kids from a team that had great success last year. So that matters.”

Minnetonka comes into the season as a top-ranked team, according to the preseason rankings from Let’s Play Hockey magazine, while Andover is ranked No. 10. And the Skippers shut out the Huskies while outshooting them 42-5 on Saturday evening.

Minnetonka and Andover boys hockey shake hands after the Skippers won 8-0 on Nov. 25, 2023 at Pagel Ice Arena as part of the Tonka Thanksgiving Preview tournament. (MHM Photo / Heather Rule)

Senior Javon Moore had hat tricks both days, giving him a team-leading six goals and 10 points through just two games. His effort against Andover was highlighted by a breakaway, shorthanded goal in the first period. His second hat trick in as many games came with just more than 10 minutes left in regulation, sending the game to running time with a 6-0 lead.

Moore is followed by the senior Garry brothers; Luke with two goals and five assists and Gavin with three goals and four assists. Against Rosemount, the Garry brothers scored goals 50 seconds apart for a 2-1 lead. Gavin recorded a hat trick, and senior Hagen Burrows added five assists on Friday.

Depth? They have that, too. A dozen players have at least a point on those 18 goals over two games.

The goal right now, Goldsworthy said, is to “get the fall hockey out of them,” which usually takes eight to 10 games, he added.

“I think what you’re seeing is these kids are committed to getting it out of their system in about four or five games,” Goldsworthy said.

Minnetonka lost only twice last season, to Chanhassen and Wayzata, on the way to a state championship. Even though it’s cliché, staying in the moment throughout the season helped drive that successful title run, Goldsworthy said.

“You’ve got to stay in the week,” Goldsworthy said. “That’s what we did last year. These kids know when they do that, our success came from living in the moment.”

Despite the shutout loss, Andover split its games in the Tonka tourney, defeating No. 3-ranked Chanhassen 3-2 on Friday behind a pair of Casey Rodgers goals. The Huskies came into the season looking to replace the production of its top line from 2022-23; Conway-Thoreson-Casey scored 65% of the team’s 167 goals last season.

Chanhassen, which fell an overtime-goal short of the state tournament with a loss to Minnetonka last year, starts the season 0-2 with a one-goal loss to Andover and a 2-1 loss to Rosemount on Saturday. The Storm, who hit the ice just before the school’s football team took the field at U.S. Bank Stadium on the way to a thrilling Prep Bowl championship, trailed the entire game before getting a goal in the final minute of regulation.

Thanksgiving means puck drop on boys hockey
Most of the boys hockey teams got started with their seasons over the weekend. After the turkey coma ends, hockey players and fans head to various rinks on Friday and Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend for regular-season hockey and various holiday tournaments.

On the same night that Edina’s football team suffered a heartbreaking loss to Centennial in the Class 6A Prep Bowl, the No. 2-ranked Edina Hornets – last season’s runner-up in hockey – shut out No. 8-ranked Maple Grove 3-0 in the Wayzata Turkey Trot at Plymouth Ice Center. Wayzata started its season off with a pair of victories against No. 7-ranked Moorhead (6-1) and Maple Grove (6-4) in its home Turkey Trot.

White Bear Lake opened its season with a 4-3 overtime victory over Duluth East at home. Nolan Roed scored a pair of goals, including the winner at 2:37 of the extra session.

In Class 1A, last year’s runner-up Warroad lost 3-2 in overtime to St. Cloud Cathedral. Griffin Sturm scored the winner just before the final horn in overtime. Murray Marvin-Cordes scored both Warroad goals.

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Unseeded St. Thomas Academy took out top-seeded Andover with a 3-2 victory in the first game of the evening Class 2A quarterfinals.

The Cadets used a couple of quick goals in the second period to take a lead they would never give up. Plus, they got 33 saves from senior goaltender Tommy Aitken, including surviving getting outshot by a 15-3 margin in the third period.

“For us, it’s hard when you hit a good goalie,” said Andover senior Gunnar Thoreson. “We had around 35 shots and to only get two on him, it’s tough.

“We couldn’t get anything around him. I thought we played good. We were doing everything right. We just couldn’t get the right bounces and we couldn’t get the puck in.”

The Huskies, making their inaugural state tournament appearance, scored first with Thoreson netting his 17th of the season at the 12:20 mark of the first period. The lead didn’t last long though, as a point shot from St. Thomas Academy’s Noah Rauschenberger caught a deflection from an Andover player on its way to the net and tied the game 1-1 only 37 seconds later.

Andover took the lead again with a snipe shot from Hunter Jones 30 seconds into the second period. But the Cadets responded 1 minute, 43 seconds later on a power-play goal from Will Soderling.

Then the Cadets took their first lead another 1 minute, 42 seconds after that. Jarod Wright shot the puck that bounced off the Andover goaltender and into the net for the 3-2 lead. That lead held up and carried the Cadets into the semifinals.

STA goalie Tommy Aitken made one of his 33 saves in the Cadets’ Class 2A quarterfinal win over Andover on Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center. (Photo: Tim Kolehmainen / Breakdown Sports USA)

The Huskies spent most of the third period in the offensive zone, shooting, crashing the net, trying to find the equalizer that didn’t happen.

“We had plenty of chances that could’ve been that bounce to get the tying goal,” Thoreson said. “I thought one of them was going to come.”

As far as the upset, Andover coach Mark Manney talked about how good the teams are in the tournament this year, leaving a “wide-open” field.

But did he ever envision his team would go down in the quarterfinals as the top seed?

“The scenario did run through my head,” Manney said. “I’ve got to admit, it didn’t want to stay there long. I thought we’d come down here and play pretty well and get a couple of wins to start the weekend.”

The upset continued a solid run for St. Thomas Academy, one it’s been on since about mid-January.

The Cadets have already had quite the road into the state semifinals. It came into the Section 3 tournament as a 5-seed and promptly knocked off top-seeded Rosemount before sending 2-seed Burnsville home in the section championship. Now, the upset of the state’s top-ranked team in Andover.

All this from a team that was 5-7-2 in early January. It was during that time that the team had a meeting of the minds.

“We went over to one of the guys’ houses, and we just talked everything out,” Aitken said. “We decided to buy in. I think that’s what changed everything around, really, was just deciding to buy in and play for each other.”

From there, the Cadets have rattled off wins in 14-of-15 games.

The script is also flipped for Andover. Instead of an Andover-Moorhead semifinal matchup, both had hoped for, they’ll meet in the consolation bracket. Manney is a Moorhead native.

Hill-Murray upends Moorhead

The last Class 2A quarterfinal of the night was technically another upset, although it was the 5-seed Hill-Murray beating 4-seed Moorhead.

The Pioneers defeated the Spuds 5-1, using three second-period goals to separate itself. It was a fun game to play, said Pioneers sophomore Nick Pierre.

“I think the boys did a good job together as a unit,” Pierre said.

Hill-Murray took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission, getting on the board early with Charlie Strobel’s 24th of the season coming 3 minutes, 45 seconds into the game. Pierre added the first of his two goals a few minutes later; he has 25 goals this season.

The Spuds cut the deficit to one on the power play early in the second period, with Luke Gramer getting the tally on a high shot from the point. It just wasn’t enough.

“Ultimately, from start to finish, they were the better team,” said Moorhead coach Jon Ammerman. “A disappointing result.”

Hill-Murray’s speedy Nick Pierre beats everyone to a loose puck before notching his second goal of the game early in the second period of the Pioneers’ 5-1 Class 2A quarterfinal win over Moorhead Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center. (Photo: Tim Kolehmainen / Breakdown Sports USA)

But Hill-Murray grabbed the two-goal lead back 1:12 later on Pierre’s second of the game. Grabbing the larger lead back from the Spuds helped give the Pioneers confidence, Pierre said.

“It was good to come back with that wave,” Pierre said.  

Junior Jared Jensen really put the game out of reach with a pair of goals in 14 seconds later in the period to push the margin to 5-1. He got in alone for his second goal, shot the puck up high and it went off the goaltender’s behind and into the net.

The speed of Hill-Murray was just too much for Moorhead to counter.

“We didn’t do much to slow them down,” Gramer said.

It was a rematch of the regular-season finale between these two teams, a game Hill-Murray also won, 4-3, up in Moorhead. That was a back-and-forth game though, different than a 5-1 score through two periods.

“I thought we played hard and capitalized on our opportunities,” said Hill-Murray coach Bill Lechner.

Hill-Murray will face the Cadets in the semifinals. St. Thomas Academy’s last loss came against Hill-Murray, 3-2 on Jan. 30.

“It’ll be a battle,” Lechner said.

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Moorhead pushes high-powered Hornets to the brink

St. Paul — Very little surprises Edina coach Curt Giles, perhaps nothing does, and despite annually standing behind one of the state’s best rosters night-in-and-night-out, he’ll never underestimate an opponent. So when his No. 1 Hornets jumped out to a two-goal first period lead over unseeded Moorhead, the game played out how he imagined it would.

“We knew they weren’t going to be done,” Giles said. “They’ve got a lot of character, they really do, and we knew that. When the seeding went through and we saw that we had Moorhead we knew we had our hands full this first game.”

After the teams traded second-period goals, Moorhead’s Nolan Westra scored his 22nd goal of the season with 3:07 left in regulation and the Spuds kept on pressing for the equalizer until Edina’s Kevin Delaney scored into an empty net with 30 seconds left to secure a 4-2 win to advance the Hornets to Friday’s Class 2A semifinals.

“There’s things that broke down in a couple of areas that you don’t like but I thought overall the kids played very well,” Giles said of his team. “We knew this was a tough matchup. We saw them earlier in the season and we knew they were good. They’ve got some guys that can finish and they’re physical, their goaltender plays extremely well so we knew it was going to be a heckuva hockey game.”

Moorhead coach Jon Ammerman said his team demonstrated it belonged among the state’s elite.

“We have such a fun team to be around and a team that … maybe hasn’t gotten the credit that they deserve,” Ammerman said. “They deserve to be here and I think they proved that tonight. It was just a little too late.” 

Ammerman admitted the first period script was not how he’d have written it with Edina’s Jett Jungels scoring 53 seconds in and Mason Nevers adding a power-play goal on one of Edina’s three opportunities. But he was pleased with the fact that Moorhead limited Edina’s potent power play (31.5 percent on the season entering the tournament) to that lone goal on five chances with the man advantage.

“They’re extremely dynamic and with that many guys on the ice that are pretty puck-savvy with one extra person you have to game plan. What we saw is they try to get the puck to [Nevers] as much as they could … so what we tried to do is shut that down. Ultimately, he’s the guy that scored the goal.”

Giles said he knew the longer Edina let the Spuds hang around without capitalizing on its power plays it could spur trouble down the stretch.

“They shut the passing lanes off very, very well,” Giles said. “They collapsed the box down tight and what we’ve got to work on a little bit more is getting them to expand that box a little bit.”

But Giles added there is a momentum benefit to be gained from playing a man up even if the team doesn’t score and he’d get no argument from Ammerman on that point.

“Giving a team that skilled that many opportunities with the man advantage in a one-and-done situation isn’t going to be to your advantage,” Ammerman said. “Despite that, with a minute left in the game, we had a chance.”

 Photo Gallery by Jonny Watkins for Minnesota Hockey Magazine. Follow Jonny on Twitter at @jwatkinsphotog.

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Carter Randklev’s winner for Moorhead foils Centennial’s comeback bid

St. Cloud — The Moorhead Spuds and Centennial Cougars capped off an ideal day of outdoor hockey in St. Cloud by treating all who remained to some free hockey on Saturday night in the Hockey Day Minnesota finale at Lake George. 

Carter Randklev’s goal with 26 seconds left in overtime lifted Moorhead to a 3-2 win over Centennial after the No. 8 Cougars rallied from an early two-goal deficit to tie the Spuds in a game too good to be decided in regulation.

“I knew the overtime was getting down to the end of it and I just kind of sat out front hoping that the puck would hopefully get thrown out to me and it did,” said Randklev, who notched his 18th goal of the season. “From there I have no choice but to score because, for my teammates and my community, that’s what I try to do for them.”

“He had opportunities, he had chances throughout the game and it was just a deflection or a tip off,” Moorhead coach Jon Ammerman said of Randklev. “For a guy to have a puck like that in that moment and capitalize, what a great experience and, as a coach, you can’t really ask for anything better for a good kid.”

Moorhead jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the game was seven minutes old and carried that cushion into the second period. Cole O’Connell’s goal at 4:08 opened the scoring with 10th of the season while Kyler Kleven popped in a rebound of a Jack Stetz shot for his third of the year at the 10:42 mark.

Centennial’s William Francis looks for an open teammate with Moorhead’s Kyler Kleven in pursuit. (Photo by Tim Kolehmainen / Breakdown Sports USA)

The Cougars bounced back in the second with a pair of special teams tallies to knot the score at 2-2 after two periods. With Centennial shorthanded, William Francis scored his sixth of the year from a sharp angle, cutting the Spuds’ lead in half just 2:42 into the middle stanza.

“That’s a very good team that we played against, they did an outstanding job of making it tough on us especially in that middle period,” Ammerman said. “They took advantage of their opportunities.”

Just over five minutes later, Hayden Brickner scored his ninth of the season on a power play off a feed from Lucas McGregor to draw Centennial even entering what would turn out to be a scoreless third period.

“Our guys played so hard, maybe the hardest they’ve played all season long in all three zones,” Centennial coach Ritch Menne said. “It was just a terrific, terrific atmosphere and we’re unbelievably proud of all of them.”

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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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