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Late goal gives St. Paul Johnson dramatic 6-5 Hockey Day Minnesota win over Luverne

ST. PAUL — In its 101st year, as one of the most storied programs in state history, the St. Paul Johnson hockey program has appeared in three Hockey Day Minnesota match ups. But the Governors’ 2015 Hockey Day Minnesota victory may be their best yet.

The Governors outlasted the Luverne Cardinals, 6-5, with a game winning goal in the final minute at Holman Field Saturday morning for the first Hockey Day Minnesota matchup of the day. St. Paul Johnson improved to 11-5-1 while Luverne suffered just it’s third loss on the season, moving to 16-3.

SPJ head coach Moose Younghans has coached in all three of Johnson’s Hockey Day Minnesota appearances, but the combination of the victory and experience at Holman Field will make Saturday morning one to remember for the bench boss.

“They’re all huge, but probably this one [ranks the highest on our list] especially because of this setting with all the military stuff and the beautiful venue,” Younghans said. “We can go to Payne Avenue, Arcade [Avenue] tonight since people are going to be smiling down their tonight.”

Freshman defenseman Karl Fish played a key role in making the game against Luverne one to remember, scoring the deciding goal from the point in the final minute. While he halted Luverne’s hopes of coming from behind, Fish also accomplished a personal aspiration with the game-winner.

“I always dreamed about it and when they said we were going to play on Hockey Day, I thought it might come true, and here it is,” Fish said.

After a scoreless first period with strong defense from both teams, there was no shortage of offense in the second.

Luverne started off the scoring run with a goal 15 seconds into the period. But, before the Cardinals could finish celebrating their goal, the Governors tied the score 13 seconds later. And 1:02 into the second period, St. Paul Johnson extended its lead to 2-1.

The Governors continued their run with a top-shelf goal from Fish and a power play goal with 6:05 left in the first period, the Governers looked to be running away with the game before the second period was over.

But the Cardinals weren’t about to call it a game.

Luverne scored a power play goal of its own shortly after, off the stick of sophomore forward Nick Behrend. With two more goals before the end of the period, the Cardinals were right back in the game down 5-4.

“We played pretty bad the first half [of the second],” Luverne head coach Derrick Brown said.  “I think the guys just kind of loosened up a little bit — I think it got a little ragged on both sides — and after the second period everybody said let’s get back playing the way we’re supposed to play. It was a good battle.”

The Cardinals held the momentum going into the second intermission. Yet Younghans and his team weren’t about to lose their composure.

“We said ‘hey we’re OK, we’ve got the lead.’” Younghans said.

Luverne tied the score up with 4:04 left in the third. But Fish’s goal in the final minute ultimately gave the Governors a victory they can build off of.

“We’re going to use this as a springboard and we want to contend for the section, and maybe someday get back downtown again,” Younghans said. “Who knows, this could be that special magic here for us.”

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Elk River and its Handke Pit may be a tough act to follow but St. Paul and its Holman Field Airport  are going to give it their best shot.

The city’s skyline will provide the backdrop for Hockey Day Minnesota 2015, presented by Wells Fargo as the capital city has been named as host of the event for a second time (2009).The ninth annual statewide celebration of hockey is set for Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015 just across the Mississippi River from downtown. Proceeds of the event will benefit Saint Paul Youth Hockey and Serving Our Troops.

The site of HDM 2015 with the St. Paul skyline in the distance. (Photo: Zach Halverson)

The Minnesota Wild, along with FOX Sports North and Minnesota Hockey, revealed the selection today at  the airport which was named the site of the outdoor high school games, Hockey Day Minnesota’s signature event. Previous sites for outdoor games include Baudette Bay (2007-08), St. Paul (2009), Hermantown (2010), Moorhead (2011), Lake Minnetonka/Excelsior (2012), Grand Rapids (2013) and Elk River (2014).

“We are thrilled to bring Wells Fargo Hockey Day Minnesota 2015 to Saint Paul’s Holman Field,” said Wild Vice President of Brand Content and Communications John Maher. “This is the perfect way to commemorate prep hockey’s second century in Saint Paul. It will be a day of celebration, from puck drop of the first high school game until the final horn sounds at that night’s Wild game.”

“Saint Paul is known for being both the capital of the State of Hockey and for supporting our service members and their families,” said Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman. “I can’t think of a better way to combine these two qualities than by celebrating Hockey Day Minnesota at Holman Field. The Minnesota Wild has always been a great partner and this is just the latest example of their commitment to Saint Paul, our service members, and their families.”

Legendary East-Side power, St. Paul Johnson will face off against a Luverne team coming off of its first MSHSL State Tournament appearance in 2014. Hill-Murray is set to take on perennial rival St. Thomas Academy while Cretin-Derham Hall and the Duluth Northern Stars girls are featured in the final game at Holman Field.

The Wild greet the newly-branded Arizona Coyotes at Xcel Energy Center to cap off the day. A college game was referenced at the press conference but the University of Minnesota was not specifically mentioned. The Gopher men are typically involved in the event and do host Wisconsin that evening, but with that being a Big Ten conference game Fox Sports North may be prohibited from including it. Details of the 2014-15 Gopher television schedule have yet to be finalized.

Johnson (2007 and 2009) and Hill-Murray (2008 and 2011) are each making their third Hockey Day appearance while it’s St. Thomas Academy’s second (2008, also vs. Hill-Murray) and Luverne is making its HDM debut. It will be the inaugural appearance for both girls teams as well.

Photo: Zach Halverson

Events surrounding Hockey Day Minnesota will honor family members and soldiers of the Minnesota National Guard 34th Combat Aviation Brigade and 2-147th Assault Helicopter Battalion, based at Holman Field, who recently deployed to Kuwait.

“Hockey fans have been eagerly anticipating news regarding our ninth annual Hockey Day Minnesota event,” said Mike Dimond, FOX Sports North Senior Vice President and General Manager. “We are excited to bring the outdoor games back to St. Paul and especially proud to pay tribute to the men and women who serve our country by showcasing the Minnesota National Guard at Holman Field and with special features from Kuwait. This should be a special year.”

“The Minnesota National Guard is pleased to be a part of Hockey Day Minnesota 2015,” said Col. Kevin Olson, Director of Communications. “This event showcases how Minnesotans statewide connect to our military service members and families through hockey. Holman Field is a unique venue that will allow hockey fans to meet in person National Guard soldiers and airmen who serve our nation, state and communities.”

Hockey Day Minnesota is partnering with Serving Our Troops for this historic event, linking hockey in Minnesota to our soldiers and families. Since 2004, Serving Our Troops has been providing a special message from home for our Minnesota National Guard in the form of dinner with the their families, completing 10 projects and serving nearly 80,000 meals around the globe. Hockey Day Minnesota will include unique interactions with our soldiers and families as our communities drop the puck for a truly special message from home.

Other in-state hockey action on Hockey Day includes Minnesota Duluth hosting Western Michigan at 7 p.m. but St. Cloud State, Minnesota State and Bemidji State will, unfortunately, be on the road at Denver, Ferris State and Lake Superior State, respectively.

Wells Fargo Hockey Day Minnesota 2015 on FOX Sports North will include a full day of hockey-related programming designed as a celebration of the game from peewees to pros. Ticket information for Hockey Day Minnesota 2015 will be announced at a later date.

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St. Paul Johnson hockey coach Steve Younghans once told me, “Game day is a great day for me.” The East-Side icon, known affectionately as “Moose” for his giant stature—both physically and within the neighborhood—is approaching what should prove to be among his most memorable of game days.

Johnson hockey 1944. (Submitted photo)

Firmly-entrenched as the face of St. Paul Johnson High School hockey and an East-Side celebrity of sorts, Moose will join several decades’ worth of Johnson hockey alumni in celebrating the Governors’ 100th anniversary season on Saturday, Dec. 21. The festivities begin with a series of alumni games between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. at Phalen Arena in St. Paul followed by the current Johnson High School teams taking on South St. Paul at Aldrich Arena in Maplewood.

“We’ve had a pretty good rivalry with [South St. Paul] over the years so it just seemed like a good fit,” Younghans said of the series in which the teams annually compete for the “Silver Skate” Trophy. The Governors and the Packers will each wear commemorative throwback uniforms with Johnson’s modeled after those worn in 1913.

Preparations for the event have been in the works since early last summer and the time and effort has paid off according to Younghans, “It looks like it’s going to be bigger and better than what we thought.”

The J.V. game will be at 1 p.m. followed by the varsity game at 3 p.m. Following the games there will be a dinner and silent auction at Jimmy’s Event Center in Vadnais Heights beginning at 5 p.m. The room capacity is 600 and Younghans says a sellout is anticipated. One-time Johnson football coach Mal Scanlan, who currently holds the same position at Cretin-Derham Hall, will be the Master of Ceremonies.

As much as the weekend is about the proud tradition of Johnson hockey and its legendary performers, the man who has been behind the Johnson bench since 1994 is every bit as excited for the current crop of Governors to play in front of them.

“They work hard and they’re proud to be part of the program and they’re willing to make the same sacrifices the guys made in the 50’s into the 60’s and 70’s when the years were a little bit better as far as wins and losses go,” Youngans said. “I think at the end of the day our kids are incredibly proud to be Johnson guys and they want to make sure that the guys that played before them will be proud of them and they’re setting the groundwork for the younger kids in the community to make sure there’s a program there for those guys as they move forward.”

Herb Brooks prepares for a 1955 game. (Submitted photo)

The Governors’ hockey program is one that is indeed rich in tradition with four state championships (1947, 1953, 1955, and 1963) to its credit in 22 trips to the tournament along with 10 top-three finishes. Prominent alumni include former Minnesota Governor Wendell Anderson and former University of Minnesota head coach Herb Brooks, who played on the Governors 1955 title team and guided the 1980 Olympic team to a gold medal.

Brooks, who tragically passed away a decade ago, is sure to be present in spirit, however. His passion for his East-Side roots and Johnson hockey is well known and Brooks’ son Dan says his father’s intense pride in school and community would have led him to be an active participant in the event.

“He would have been the ringleader in organizing it,” Brooks said. “He would have worked his fingers to the bone in getting everybody to show up and he would have poured his heart and soul into the event. He’d be all over it.”

More recently, Johnson has produced Division I players such as 1996 Minnesota Mr. Hockey finalists Mike Lyons (University of Minnesota) and Shawn Pogreba (University of Minnesota-Duluth). Pogreba said what made playing in the Johnson system so special was “the tight-knit group of guys” he formed relationships with.

“You played together and you went from sport to sport, team to team and you were always around your buddies,” Pogreba said.  “The thing about Johnson was it was just the culture, you looked up to the older guys, the high school was always really involved in everything that we did and so we always looked up to those guys.”

“I think Johnson is kind of a small town within a big city; it’s kind of a small-town atmosphere,” Younghans said. “Everybody knows each other in the hockey community and when we grew up as kids we used to go to Phalen Rec Center and watch the older guys play, Les Auge and the Peltier boys and, you know, all those guys, and you always pictured someday hopefully you could maybe be one of those guys.”

There will be many “old timers” coming out of retirement for this event including 1963 state championship team members Bill Metzger and Bill Weller, 1965 state tournament third-place team member Jack Larson, 1968 state tournament third-place team member Doug Peltier, 1990 alum and Colorado College star Chad Remackel in addition to Lyons and Pogreba.

In fact, at last count, 237 players representing fifty years of Johnson hockey from 1963-2013 are participating in the event requiring organizers to purchase additional ice time to accommodate them. Pogreba says there’s nothing unusual about a strong alumni presence at Johnson events.

“Whether it’s the alumni golf tournament or going back for high school games or anything like that, you always want to return and kind of give back,” said Pogreba who, after finishing his UMD career, coached a year of Johnson squirt hockey and another with the high school team. “It’s just a tight-knit group of guys and it doesn’t matter if you’re gone for five years or 20 years you come back and you still feel like you’re still welcome.”

The Governors celebrate a remarkable section playoff comeback win over White Bear Lake in 2012. (Submitted photo)

“You develop those friendships and now you’re looking at guys I haven’t seen or talked to in years but all of a sudden there’s text messages and emails going out,” added Matt Kephart, Pogreba’s childhood friend and Johnson teammate. “Everybody’s excited to get back together again and go and slap the puck around for a little while. It’s going to be a good time.”

The milestone is especially meaningful to Younghans, a 1974 Johnson graduate and lifelong East Side resident whose one lifetime residential change landed him one only block from his childhood home. He is humbled by his inclusion in an exclusive club with the likes of the legendary Johnson coaches Rube Gustafson and Lou Cotroneo whose passion for the program and pride in this celebration, according to Younghans, has been a thrill to witness.

“There’s only been seven coaches in the history of Johnson since 1927 and to be one of those seven guys is unbelievable,” Younghans said in a 2010 interview

Game day can’t come soon enough for the man everyone knows as Moose.

“It’s just going to be great to see guys and get a chance to talk to them, to share stories,” Younghans said. “I’m looking forward to that game on Saturday afternoon and hopefully our boys can put a good foot forward and make it a lasting memory for them too.”

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