Blaine’s top line is well documented. Between Carsen Richels, Bryce Brodzinski and Cole Hansen, the trio combined for 187 points in the regular season.

Brodzinski, who’s a Mr. Hockey Finalist, opened the scoring in the first period with a rocket from the slot. Something that runs in his family as his Dad and two older brothers, Michael and Johnny, were prolific shooters themselves.

“Well, my dad runs a shooting school,” said Brodzinski. “So everyday I have to go down there and help him out with it. He puts me through all of his drills. So it’s everyday shooting 200 pucks (really) helps out.”

Shorty thereafter, Hansen found the net twice and then Richels made it 4-0 in the second period to give the Bengals a commanding lead.

“It was huge, you’ve got to score goals,” said Blaine head coach Chris Carroll. “These three have been together ever since day one. Even in preseason scrimmages as we were trying to figure things out and that’s kind of their roles and we have other guys who are just as impactful. Certainly these guys are really good at scoring goals. We need them and we need everybody else.”

“Obviously it’s not a surprise to us,” said Richels of Hansen scoring twice in the win. “He does it all the time in practice, he’s a goal scorer. So I thought he got his two tonight and he earned them.”

White Bear Lake didn’t roll over though, they answered back with a pair of goals from Grant Hofeld and Sam Newpower to make it a two-goal game heading into the second intermission.

They also shut down the dominant Blaine scoring line after an adjustment between periods.

“We moved our orange line,” said White Bear Lake head coach Tim Sager. “Our white line was struggling today and we had to make that change and anytime they were coming on we tried to match that younger line against them. We knew it was going to be a battle between those guys. You give them an inch, they’re going to take a mile.”

Unfortunately, the Bears weren’t able to tie things up. They had plenty of chances including two power-play opportunities but couldn’t convert on either.

“It’s a little disappointing, but our guys didn’t mail it in,” said Sager. “We had some great chances. If we could’ve gotten a couple of power play goals… we knew exactly what they were going to do.”

With the win, Blaine will play the winner of Lakeville South and Eden Prairie in the semifinal round on Friday. 

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

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So naturally the storyline heading into the Brainerd/Little Falls Warriors and the White Bear Lake Bears quarterfinal game at the Class AA 2019 state tournament was all about goaltending. Both netminders had strong numbers and low scoring was anticipated.

Frank hadn’t allowed a goal since the regular season and had stopped all 115 shots in section play.

Meanwhile, Warriors goaltender Olivia King had a GAA of 1.66 in the regular season.

But it was Brainerd who cracked the code and ended up scoring a pair of first period goals five-minutes apart; ending Frank’s impressive shutout streak in a 4-0 win.

“One of the things we did stress was that we needed a good start,” said head coach Jim Ernster after the win. “Anytime you can start out and score first, that’s a huge advantage. Especially for us because coming down the stretch of sections we were struggling a bit to score.”

Frank admitted she got beat on the first goal by Warriors senior Cheyenne Abear, but wanted the second one back.

“For sure the second one,” said Frank, who faced 39 shots in the loss. “I ramped up my stick a bit and it’s just a fluky goal and I don’t really have those. So I should’ve had that one. They capitalized on their chances and there’s nothing much more I could do.”

Frank will continue her career at Minnesota State Mankato, where she’ll play college hockey but she was happy to lead White Bear Lake back to the tournament.

“Just getting to the tournament I think is pretty amazing. We haven’t gone since 2002 and just being here is great. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Meanwhile at the other end of the crease, King was happy to show the metro schools what northern hockey is all about.

“Here, we’re northern and people think we live in Antartica,” said King. “So it’s pretty nice to come to the cities and beat these teams and show what it’s like to play northern hockey.”

Brainerd will face Andover in the Class AA semifinal’s on Friday. Both teams made the tournament last year, but departed in the first round. Now, the two teams will be playing for the rights to go the Class AA championship.

“The experience of having been here last year helps you settle into the whole process,” said Ernster. “And also having played against them, there’s that sense of familiarity and anytime you’re familiar with an opponent, that just gives you a bit more level of comfort as well.”

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