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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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When asked about it after the game, Hill-Murray coach Bill Lechner responded, “I guess I didn’t think of it that way but does that happen very often?”

The answer to Lechner’s question is no. In fact, it marks the first time since 2008 that one conference can claim both state champions going back to when the Classic Suburban Conference, featuring Hill-Murray and St. Thomas Academy, managed the same feat. It was also the last time two East Metro teams have claimed state titles in the same season. 

Coincidentally, that was the last time the Pioneers skated off as Class 2A champions. The 2008 Classic Suburban winners were joined by conference runner-up St. Thomas Academy, which won the Class 1A title that year. The Cadets made it a trio of Metro East teams qualifying for the 2020 state tournament, this time as a Class 2A competitor, and advanced to the semifinals before falling to the Pioneers 3-2 on Charlie Strobel’s overtime goal. 

The 2008 Pioneers also beat St. Thomas Academy in overtime at Xcel Energy Center but that came in late January as part of the 2nd-annual Hockey Day Minnesota festivities based in Baudette. Three days later, a 5-4 overtime win over Mahtomedi clinched the conference title for Hill-Murray.

The Pioneers went on to defeat Roseau 4-2 in the Class 2A semifinals, ending the Rams’ 42-game winning streak dating back to the previous season. The Pioneers won the state title with a 3-0 win over another West Metro power Edina.

Mahtomedi coach Jeff Poeschl addresses his team on the bench during his team’s Class 1A quarterfinal win over Delano on Wednesday, March 4, 2020 at Xcel Energy Center. (Photo: Tim Kolehmainen / Breakdown Sports USA)

Hill-Murray coach Bill Lechner’s second state championship came in his 14th tournament appearance (11th in the last 15 years) which includes five trips to the Class 2A final. For Mahtomedi coach Jeff Poeschl, on the other hand, Saturday’s win gave the Zephyrs their first Class 1A state title overall and first in nine trips to the state tournament under Poeschl after three third place finishes (1994, 2015 and 2019).

“They did a great job and it was fun for Poeschy,” Lechner said. “We sent them a little congrats before our game so, yeah, that’s pretty neat.”

The ties between Lechner, Hill-Murray and Poeschl run deep dating back to the 1979-80 season when Poeschl was a senior 3-year starter for the Pioneers during Lechner’s first season as a Hill-Murray assistant coach under Terry Skrypek. One of Poeschl’s teammates, Bill Schafhauser, is Hill-Murray’s girls’ varsity coach and the brother of current Lechner assistant, Pat Schafhauser.

Now they coach at schools slightly more than six miles apart and have done so since the 1997-98 season.

“There’s certainly an awful lot of pride for the East Metro,” Poeschl said. “For as much as we hear about the West Metro and the teams, not to take anything away from them, but we often are in the shadow of the Edinas and the Wayzatas and the Benildes and Eden Prairies and, you know, the list goes on.

“But [I’m] awfully proud of the East Metro and the way that we’ve represented our conference.”

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Edina survives Eden Prairie onslaught for OT win and 10th state title

St. Paul — Peter Colby finished his 2018-19 season with just nine goals but the Edina senior sure knows how to celebrate. It helps when you have a role model in that regard.

“Patrick Kane’s my favorite player and he does a heartbreaker so I kind of like that,” Colby said as his coach Curt Giles shook his head in disgust.

Colby scored his team’s Class 2A state-tournament-winning goal 2:31 into overtime to lift the Hornets to a 3-2 win over Eden Prairie on Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center. As soon as the puck hit the back of the net, Colby did a 180-degree turn and raced toward the other end of the rink, dropping to his knees at the far blue line and sliding to the end boards where his teammates greeted him.

Giles, who scored 43 goals in 14 NHL seasons with the Minnesota North Stars, New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues, was asked what his go-to celebration was.

“I didn’t score enough goals to celebrate,” Giles said, eliciting laughter from the media on hand. “My biggest thing was to get back on the line so, yeah, I don’t know if I ever thought about a celebration.

“You guys think this job’s easy don’t you.”

Nothing was easy about Edina’s 1oth state championship — 13th if you count Edina East’s three titles — as the Hornets struggled against the Eagles for two-plus periods before goals by Kevin Delaney and Colby 22 seconds apart transformed a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead just short of the six-minute mark of the third period.

The goals were scored on Edina’s 12th and 13th shots of the night after Eden Prairie smothered the Hornets for two periods to the tune of a 26-7 shot advantage, including surrendering just two Edina shots in the second.

“The biggest thing was the first two periods we were flat,” Giles said. “We didn’t have a lot of get up and go, we kind of sat back a little bit and let Eden Prairie take it to us. Eden Prairie’s way too good of a team to do that. It set us back in our heels and we had to depend on our goaltender to keep us in the game.”

Edina sophomore goaltender Louden Hogg was spectacular in the crease for the Hornets, making save after save to preserve the one-goal deficit long enough for his teammates to mount a comeback.

“Going into it, you know, it was a team that we played against and we have given them a much of a run because they don’t have any holes in their lineup,” Eden Prairie coach Lee Smith said. “But our kids really played with courage and heart tonight.”

Eden Prairie, which had dropped three games to Edina already this season by lopsided scores, employed an aggressive, in-your-face game plan rather than sit back and wait patiently for opportunities.

“Well we tried that and that was pretty much a disaster,” Smith said. “So our best plan was to go with how we finished the season which was aggressive all over the rink.”

Trailing 2-1 near the midway point of the third period, the Eagles got the equalizer when senior defenseman Clayton Schultz pounced on a loose puck in the Edina crease and buried his second goal of the season and second of the tournament.

“I pictured this coming as a kid, playing in front of this many people, and for it to actually happen is pretty surreal,” Schultz said.

Colby went into overtime with confidence thanks to a voice in his head which turned out to be prophetic.

“Our manager (Student Manager Jack Goetzmann) in the locker room going into the third he told me, he said, “You’re going to be the one,’” Colby said

Photo Gallery by Rick Olson for Minnesota Hockey Magazine and Tim Kolehmainen of Breakdown Sports USA. Follow Rick on Twitter at @rickolson77.  and follow Tim on Twitter at@BreakdownUSA. 

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The St. Cloud Cathedral Crusaders have their first state championship, defeating the Greenway Raiders 5-2 in the Class A title game.

St. Paul — In a back and forth affair, the Crusaders finally have their state title. Led by Jackson Savoie, the senior delivered when it mattered most, scoring the game-wining goal at the 1:52 mark of the second period and the Crusaders never looked back.

Savoie, who scored 28 points – 14 goals and 14 assists – in 25 games in the regular season was just as good in the playoffs, with four goals in three sections games and four more goals in the state tournament.

Savoie’s goal was the turning point for the Crusaders.

“That was big momentum changer,” said teammate Jack Smith. “That was a great shot by Savoie and the guys kind of calmed down on the bench and we were like guys, we’re up by one. We just got to calm down and play our game and that was big change.”

The senior finished the game with three points in the win, with two of them being goals.

It’s also the first time the city of St. Cloud has won a state hockey championship. 

“Our region of the state doesn’t get the credit it deserves,” said head coach Derrick Brown. “There’s a lot of good hockey players in central Minnesota and it’s great for the St. Cloud youth hockey program and it’s great for everybody in 6A and it’s great for central Minnesota. This is a big heavy burden off of our area. We’ve come so close and Alexandria was right there last year. But to have a state championship trophy on the bus with us going home to St. Cloud today, I don’t think there’s anything more special than that.”

After an action-packed first period where both teams held the lead, things were tied 2-2 heading into the first intermission.

During the second period, a golden opportunity presented itself for the Raiders as they received a five-minute major power play. Despite scoring two power-play goals earlier in the game, Greenway went silent on the man-advantage and only registered a few shots on goal as the Crusaders killed off the penalty, preserving their 3-2 lead.

With the Raiders not being able to convert the lengthy power play, it was a turning point in the game.

“Yeah, I mean the five minute penalty, not being able to score on that was, was kind of, you know, wind out of the sails,” said head coach Grant Clafton. “But I don’t think we quit the entire game and, you know, I thought, you know given up shorthanded goals, you know, doesn’t help the guys, either.”

Greenway wouldn’t find the net the rest of the way as the Crusaders scored two more goals in route to their win.

Raiders senior, Donte Lawson, who received the Herb Brooks Award for Class A, was well deserving. Lawson put up 20 points – 10 goals, 10 assists – in six games dating back to sections.

“Playing with these group of kids growing up, that’s awesome,” said Lawson after his team’s runner-up finish. “With our families and our parents and our friends always come to the games and seeing from out of town people coming and the whole community really getting together and having a good time it’s awesome to see.”

 Photo Gallery by Tim Kolehmainen of Breakdown Sports USA for Minnesota Hockey Magazine. Follow Tim on Twitter at @BreakdownUSA.

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Hornets ride momentum gained from big first period into title game

St. Paul — After a one-year absence from the state tournament, the Edina Hornets are making the most of their return with yet another championship game appearance after a 6-3 Class 2A semifinal win over St. Thomas Academy.

The Hornets blitzed the Cadets to the tune of a 17-1 first-period shot edge and a flurry of three goals in a span of 4:55 late in the period. Brett Chorske, Liam Malmquist and Jett Jungels all tallied in the opening frame to spark the Hornets. 

“The biggest thing is momentum continues on,” Giles said. “They’re a really good hockey team so we needed to get a jump on them.”

Malmquist would finish with a hat trick while Jungels would score again and Chorske added an assist.

St. Thomas Academy co-coach Greg Vannelli, who along with his brother and fellow co-coach Tom was coaching his final game behind the Cadets’ bench, was at a loss to explain his team’s slow start.

“I have no idea why we came out that way,” Vannelli said. “Haven’t had it all year to have a period like that so I can’t explain it. I’m glad it changed, I’m glad we finished strong. That was more of the team we are used to. I guess it sports where sometimes that happens.”

Luke Herzog got STA on the board 1:12 into the second to make it 3-1 but Jungels restored Edina’s three-goal cushion four minutes later. Each time the Cadets would cut the lead to two, the Hornets responded.

“When you go down 3-0 any team is going to respond hard,” Chorske said. “I thought we prepared for that well and matched that. When they scored, we’d come right back so we knew there was going to be a push but I thought we handled it well.”

Rob Christy’s goal early in the third period was answered 27 seconds later by Malmquist before Carter Henry made it a 5-3 game with 9:14 left in regulation. The Cadets pressed but Malmquist completed his hat trick into an empty net with nine seconds to play.

“They’re a very skilled team and if you just try to play skill-on-skill it’s not going to work out very well,” Vannelli said. “You’ve got to get back to some basic hockey, finishing checks and things like that and I thought we did a little better job of that into those last two periods.”

Officially, the Hornets are seeking their 10th state title in their 28th appearance, but if Edina East’s three championships in five trips ar included, it’s 13th in 33 appearances. Edina will attempt that feat against No. 3 Eden Prairie which eliminated No. 2 Blaine 4-3 earlier in the evening. The Hornets defeated the Eagles three times in the regular season by 6-1, 5-2 and 7-2 scores.

“Eden Prairie’s got a different team than when we saw them last,” Giles said. “They’ve really come together very, very well at the end of the season, through their section playoffs and then into the state tournament.

“It won’t be hard to get jacked up for Eden Prairie. These kids have been playing against Eden Prairie kids since they could skate so this will be a great game and Lee’s got his team playing extremely well.”

 Photo Gallery by Tim Kolehmainen of Breakdown Sports USA for Minnesota Hockey Magazine. Follow Tim on Twitter at @BreakdownUSA.

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Eden Prairie depth aids in recovery from early deficit to Blaine 

St. Paul — A little more than 24 hours after a triple overtime thriller against Lakeville South No. 3 Eden Prairie was rewarded with a semifinal meeting with a well-rested, hungry Blaine team with a formidable top line featuring Mr. Hockey finalist Bryce Brodzinski, Carsen Richels and Cole Hansen. When Hansen had the No. 2 Bengals up 2-0 less than 10 minutes in it had the look of a long night for the Eagles when they headed to the dressing room trailing by two.

Looks can be deceiving, however, as Eden Prairie exploded for four second-period goals — three of them on the power play — and withstood a late Blaine rally to advance to its first Class 2A championship game since the 2016 season.

“Actually I thought we played a really good period and we didn’t get rewarded at all for it,” Eden Prairie coach Lee Smith said. “So my biggest concern was just to make sure we’d have the energy and make sure they were ready to go because we were not out of this game yet and the guys, they responded together.”

Keegan Langfels ignited the comeback with a power-play goal at the 6:08 mark and the game was tied 25 seconds later on a goal by Smith’s son, Garrett, who had to get creative to score his fifth goal of the season face down at the right edge of the crease.

“I tapped it first and I knew it wasn’t going to get all the way in,” Garrett said. “I got a jab from the guy behind me so I kind of used that to my advantage and kind of used the shaft of my stick and maneuvered that in the net somehow.”

With Eden Prairie up 3-2 late in the period on a Luke Mittelstadt power-play goal, Brodzinski was called for cross-checking and it was the Eagles’ second power play unit which made the Bengals pay when Carson Jones scored his second of the year just 21 seconds later.

“We put our second power play out there, who are a bunch of tremendous hockey players, and they scored a goal,” Lee Smith said. “It was a great effort and made it 4-2 but we never really felt confident going into the third but we played a really good third period. For having to battle the way we did yesterday, we played so well tonight.”

Richels closed the gap to one at the 14:21 mark of the the third but Blaine had trouble establishing itself in the Eden Prairie zone after that. Richels added an assist and Brodzinski had primary assists on all three goals but the Bengals could not match Eden Prairie’s secondary scoring on a night when its top scorer, Jack Jensen, was held off the score sheet. 

“We also got a couple of shifts out of our fourth line in the first period and they drew a penalty late in the period which helped us because it turned into a 5-on-3.”

 Photo Gallery by Rick Olson for Minnesota Hockey Magazine and Tim Kolehmainen of Breakdown Sports USA. Follow Rick on Twitter at @rickolson77.  and follow Tim on Twitter at @BreakdownUSA. 

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