Panthers stay together and are perfect, veteran coach takes note

The Lakeville North Panthers opened the 2014-2015 season with seven NCAA Division I college athletes, six for hockey and one in baseball.

They closed it by collecting their gloves, sticks, and helmets that littered the Xcel Energy Center ice after capturing their first-ever state high school hockey championship as the remaining fans from a record state final session crowd of 19,495 filtered out of the building.

Labeled as a state title contender from the season’s opening faceoff, Lakeville North went bell-to-bell in posting a perfect 31-0-0 record, capping the season off with a 4-1 win over Duluth East in the Class 2A championship game.

It is a team Duluth East coach Mike Randolph, a strong proponent of high school hockey, issued a direct statement to in an acknowledgement of how impressive the Panthers were this year and how valuable the Minnesota High School Hockey experience is to a player and team.

It was a message levied to all that have been tugged on by outside forces to move to other leagues and teams.

After the final question had been asked in his post-game press conference, Randolph pulled the microphone back toward him saying, “I just want to make a comment about Lakeville North.”

He began his unsolicited comments by saying Lakeville North reminded him of the Eden Prairie team that beat the Greyhounds in 2011 and talked about his visit to the Eagles’ locker room after Kyle Rau scored the game winning goal against his team in the third overtime period.

Randolph was referring to his well-covered congratulatory moment when he applauded the likes of Rau and his teammates for sticking together and playing for each other and their community. Randolph’s team stuck together too and it was a gesture of respect from the long-time coach who has perspective on high school hockey and its impact on players, including the winning Panthers.

“Kyle Rau stayed in school, a bunch of them stayed in school, and this is a repeat example of kids staying in school, staying with their buddies and they will cherish that moment for the rest of their life,” Randolph said. “It’s a credit to those kids that they stuck together and the target was on them all year and they went undefeated and they are a true champion.”

He went on to say how much the Panthers gained as players and a team seeing their goal through, and in doing so are the first team to win 31 games without a loss or a tie.

“It’s an example that kids don’t have to leave early,” Randolph explained. “Those kids will have great college careers.”

He has a living example of that himself in his son Jake, who starred on his Duluth East teams, stayed in school with a number of players, played a season in the USHL for the Omaha Lancers while lighting up the scoreboard, and is currently third in scoring for the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

“They are great hockey players and did not lose a thing [by not leaving],” Randolph said of the Panthers. “In fact, they gained a ton by playing in this tournament in front of the big crowds. That’s a credit to them, sticking to their communities, sticking to their families, and they will always remember it so you don’t need to leave.”

The image of the Panthers standing arm-in-arm at the blue line during the awards ceremony was powerful image to what it means to be a team and sticking together to compete in high school hockey.

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When Lakeville North’s freshman goaltender Jake Oettinger announced last spring that he was leaving the Panthers to play for the USA National Team Development Program, North questioned how to fill the void on the back end of their defense.

The answer came just two months later.

Junior goaltender Ryan Edquist made the decision in June to return to Lakeville after attending Shattuck-St. Mary’s for the past two years. For his future teammates, it is surreal to have Edquist in net for Lakeville North in 2014-2015.

“Hearing that he was coming at first almost seemed like it wasn’t really happening,” sophomore right wing Henry Enebak said. “Seeing him in a North jersey made us all realize we found our guy.”

Edquist had already verbally committed to the University of Minnesota his sophomore year of high school, which took the recruitment pressure off. That decision, combined with avoiding the high cost of tuition at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, made the opportunity to join an already strong Lakeville North team too good to pass up.

“There was the opportunity to come back and play with the friends I grew up with and have a chance to be on a really good team with a lot of great guys and a chance to win a state tournament,” Edquist said.

One of the benefactors of Edquist’s decision, Lakeville North head coach Trent Eigner, knows that the goalie situation couldn’t have worked out any better for the Panthers.

“It’s beyond fortunate,” Eigner said. “We’re in a situation where we lose a good goaltender and we probably get a better goaltender. It’s not something that happens everyday.”

Shattuck-St. Mary’s is the former home of almost 60 NHL draft picks, with Sidney Crosby, Zach Parise, and Jonathan Toews just a few NHL stars to have come from the school. In practice and games, Edquist faced a high level of competition, which challenged him to achieve a high level of play.

Coach Eigner has not only seen this high level of play but also a high level of maturity from his new man in the net.

“For a high school kid, you could call him a professional,” Eigner said. “He’s very serious about the game, very focused on his preparation and the time and effort that he puts in to become a great goaltender.”

If Edquist’s pedigree wasn’t already enough, Eigner has “all the confidence in the world” in him because of the preparation the junior goaltender puts in.

“He pays close attention to the details,” Eigner said of Edquist. “Everything from his flexibility to his nutrition, to his workout routine. That’s what I like about him. He’s not only passionate about it, but he’s very serious about what it takes to be good.”

The departed Jake Oettinger helped lead the Panthers to the state title game where they fell 8-2 to Edina. (MHM Photo / Jordan Doffing)

Despite the talented Oettinger who preceded him, Edquist isn’t worried about the pressure that comes from being in the net for Lakeville North.

“I’m just here to stop the puck,” Edquist said. “I don’t know if there’s a lot of pressure, but I’m just here to try and have fun with it and take in all the great experiences that come with it.”

In the home opener, Edquist will experience an early, high-pressure situation as the Panthers face the reigning state champion Edina Hornets. After watching the state final last year, in which North fell to Edina 8-2, Edquist is excited to experience the rivalry first-hand.

“Ames [Arena] will be packed and it will be such a fun game to play in,” Edquist said. “It’s going to be a big game and everybody knows that.”

The Panthers return almost the entirety of their top lines from their state championship appearance. The three Poehling brothers, Jack, Nick, and Ryan, are all three headed to play collegiate hockey for St. Cloud State. Gopher commit Jack Sadek and University of Nebraska-Omaha commit Jack McNeely head a defense that has been touted as one of the best in the state.

But Edquist hopes he can be the one to put his team over the top and give Lakeville North its first state title in boys hockey.

“Hopefully I can be a game changer,” Edquist said. “When they need a switch in momentum, I’ll be there to shut the door.”

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