The Bump Effect: Prior Lake star Alex Bump's decision to stay home for his senior season led to iconic snapshot, could have lasting impact on high school hockey.
The Streak is over: After 10 years and 103 games Hermantown finally suffers a regular season setback against a Class 1A team, losing 3-1 to Warroad.
@HAHA_Hockey
@WarroadHShockey
Woodbury's Wes Bolin in Class 2A and Northfield's Mike Luckraft in Class 1A named Coaches of the Year by the Minnesota Hockey Coaches Association.
@WDBYHockey
@NHSBoysHockey
@MNHocCoachAssn
Former Hastings coach Russ Welch presided over 41 of the most famous seconds in state tournament history. He'll be among the award-winning coaches honored tonight during the Wild's game against Vancouver.
The four
@MNHocCoachAssn
Hall of Fame inductees - Steve Romanchuk of Tartan, Bill Lechner of Hill-Murray, Jeff Whitney of Rochester Mayo and Todd Manthey of Anoka. In the middle, Cliff Thompson Award winner Mark DeCenzo of Apple Valley and Hibbing.
Update: Zam Plante expected to be back in the Hawks' lineup for Friday's game against St. Cloud Cathedral and, by extension, Saturday's No. 1 versus 2 showdown with Warroad.
Five Mankato East seniors have been on the varsity since they were freshmen, led by super scorer Layten Liffrig, who amassed 74 points last season. The Cougars are No. 11 in our Class 1A countdown.
@LaytenLiffrig
@mankatoeastpuck
@FollowThePuck
Rankings: Early departures weren't an issue for Rogers, which is singularly focused on making program history and has ascended to No. 1 in Class 2A; Hermantown and Warroad sit atop Class 1A.
@rhs_boyshockey
@HAHA_Hockey
@WarroadHShockey
Class 2A state tournament pairings:
No. 1 Minnetonka vs. Hill-Murray
No. 2 Maple Grove vs. Cretin-Derham Hall
No. 3 Edina vs. Moorhead
No. 4 Andover vs. No. 5 Lakeville South
Former South St. Paul and Hastings coach Russ Welch up on the scoreboard at the X between the second and third periods of tonight’s Wild game.
@MNHocCoachAssn
Warroad sweeps the state's top awards with forward Jayson Shaugabay named Mr. Hockey and goaltender Hampton Slukynsky winning the Frank Brimsek Award.
@WarroadHShockey
Mike Terwilliger landed one of the state’s most high-profile coaching positions on Tuesday, agreeing to lead 2009, 2011 and 2021 state Class 2A champion Eden Prairie.
Elite League: Adam Marshall (Benilde-St. Margaret's) scored twice and Sam Rinzel (Chaska) scored what proved to be the winning goal as Elite Red rallied to beat Pittsburgh Elite 6-4 in the championship game of the International Invitational. Photos:
With victories last night, Hermantown (10-0-1) and Warroad (13-0-0) enter Saturday's matchup in Warroad as the state's lone unbeaten teams. Hermantown hasn't lost to a Class 1A opponent since Jan. 11, 2012, a 5-4 OT setback against St. Cloud Cathedral.
Kyle Kukkonen made an emotional, high-decibel and victorious return Thursday night to the Andover Community Center, the scene of him suffering his season-ending injury a year ago:
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Goaltender Dale Pfannenstein of
@osseo_hockey
currently being credited with 73 saves in the Orioles' 10-0 loss to
@MGCrimsonHockey
. If that number holds, it would rank somewhere in the top 10 in category of most saves ever in a single game. Boxscore:
Maple Grove's Todd Bergland named John Mariucci Award winner as Class 2A Coach of the Year as Minnesota Hockey Coaches Association announces its top coaches for 2021-22 season from each of the state's eight sections:
Section 3AA seeds:
1. Eastview
2. Rosemount
3. St. Thomas Academy
4. Park of Cottage Grove
5. Cretin-Derham Hall
6. Two Rivers
7. Eagan
8. Hastings
9. Apple Valley/Burnsville
There's a definite Minnesota HS flavor to the Winter Classic. The Wild's Nick Bjugstad (Blaine) and Alex Goligoski (Grand Rapids) and Blues' Justin Faulk (South St. Paul), Charlie Lindgren (Lakeville North) and Scott Perunovich (Hibbing) all played for state high schools.
Delano's Adam Brown, the epitome of a rink rat and a poster boy for aspiring power forwards, is the face of a No. 5-ranked Tigers program that has joined the state's consistently elite.
@adamtiger6
@TigrHockey
@FollowThePuck
Winona senior goalie Alex Benson is only 18 but seems worthy of some sort of lifetime achievement award for all the shots (3,098) and saves (2,684) he's made in his five-year, 84-game varsity career:
The Curse continues for White Bear Lake, which lost its 20th state tournament quarterfinal on Thursday in as many appearances, a streak that dates to 1945.
Section 1AA seeds
1. Lakeville South
2. Lakeville North
3. Hastings
4. Rochester Mayo
5. Farmington
6. Owatonna
7. Rochester Century
8. Dodge County
9. Rochester John Marshall
Five to Watch: 'The Rivalry' between Warroad and Roseau; St. Paul Cup showdown between Highland Park and Johnson; matchup between 'flyover country' foes Chisago Lakes and Cambridge-Isanti all among this week's top games.
Section 5AA seeds
1. Maple Grove
2. Centennial
3. Rogers
4. Champlin Park
5. Totino-Grace
6. Coon Rapids
7. Spring Lake Park
8. Blaine
9. Irondale
10. Osseo
State Class 2A tournament seeds
1. Hill Murray
2. Cretin-Derham Hall
3. Maple Grove
4. Mooorhead
5. Andover
Un: Edina
Un: Prior Lake
Un: Lakeville South
Coming Tuesday: A 36-page State Tourney Preview special section with two pages devoted to each of the qualifiers. It includes program overviews, statistics, a coach’s corner, scouting reports, season results, predictions, 170-plus photos and more.
Tuesday, March 9 regular season dream matchup between current unbeatens
@LSHSBoysHockey
and
@MGCrimsonHockey
made possible by recent cancellations, desire to play best competition available:
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Class 2A state tournament seeds:
1. Eden Prairie (18-1-2)
2. Hill-Murray (18-2-0)
3. Lakeville South (18-0-2)
4. Maple Grove (20-1-0)
5. Andover (18-2-1)
Moorhead (13-7-1)
Wayzata (13-5-2)
St. Thomas Academy (13-4-3)
Class 2A state tournament
Wednesday's quarterfinal schedule
11 a.m.: Wayzata vs. No. 2 Hill-Murray
1 p.m.: Moorhead vs. No. 3 Lakeville South (18-0-2)
6 p.m.: St. Thomas Academy vs. No. 1 Eden Prairie (18-1-2)
8 p.m.: No. 5. Andover (18-2-1) vs. No. 4 Maple Grove (20-1-0)
Appetite for Destruction: Chaska's Tanner Bruender busts glass, blows lid off Braemar Arena as part of Hawks' wild Section 2AA semifinal win over Minnetonka.
@CHSboyshockey
@BruenderTanner
Three-way multimedia agreement between
@MNHocCoachAssn
,
@mnhockeytv
and Legacy Hockey will boost coverage to unprecedented heights by combining streaming video with rosters, schedules and statistics.
Avery Anderson, the kid they call 'Showtime', scored twice in the closing minutes for Orono in its 4-1 victory over Delano in the Section 2A championship game.
@Oronoboyshockey
@TigrHockey
Section 4AA seeds:
1. Hill-Murray
2. White Bear Lake
3. Stillwater
4. Gentry Academy
5. Woodbury
6. Mounds View
7. Roseville
8. East Ridge
9. Tartan
10. St. Paul Johnson
Top line leads the way as Park notches a signature victory in program's history. "Their chemistry is unreal, and you know every day that they will find the back of the net." Wolfpack coach Jeff Corkish.
Hot off the (digital) presses, your 2022 State Tournament Preview Guide:
36 pages
In-depth looks at all the teams
Coach's corner
Season results
Statistics
Predictions
More than 90 photos
Free!
Available in PDF and Flip Book formats:
Combined 11-goals in Class 2A title game sets record; Josh Giuliani's eight goals the most since 1995; other firsts and oddities from this year's Tourney.
Among the insane numbers put up by
@DCWHockey
's
@brodylamb2
last season was one six-goal game, one four-goal game and eight three-goal games. He'll lead the No. 12 Wildcats on their quest for a first state tourney berth.
@FollowThePuck
@GopherHockey
Section 4A seeds:
1. Gentry Academy
2. Mahtomedi
3. Tartan
4. St. Paul Johnson
5. St. Paul Highland Park
6. South St. Paul
7. St. Paul Academy
8. Red Wing
9. Henry Sibley
Five to Watch: Saturday's Hermantown versus Warroad mega-matchup leads off a week that also includes showdowns between Holy Angels and Gentry Academy, Blake and Providence Academy and Mankato East and Rochester Mayo among our top games.
Recap, By the Numbers, Three Stars and some final words from Lou Nanne as he signed off on his final broadcast from the state tournament during the closing minutes of Saturday's Class 2A championship game.
Alex Lunski's goal in double overtime propels No. 1-ranked Minnetonka past No. 2 Chanhassen in marathon Section 2AA title game.
@TonkaBoysPuck
@chanbhok
Elite League: Logan Gravink (Andover) scored twice and Marko Belak (Cretin-Derham Hall) made 31 save as Mpls St. Paul Magazine, the No. 7 seed, beat Team Wisconsin 3-2 for the league's playoff championship. Photos:
Moorhead, No. 13 in our too-early rankings, is facing a massive roster overhaul. But we're confident Max Dronen and the Spuds will be back in high gear in no time.
@Spud_Hockey
@DronenMax
.
@andoverhshockey
Ethan Lindahl, who scored five goals in a single game this season, didn’t start playing hockey until he was 10, didn’t make a top youth level team until his final year of Bantams and didn’t become a varsity regular until he was a senior:
Hermantown goaltender Dane Callaway has been known to head-butt crossbars and would thoroughly enjoy body slamming opponents, if allowed. “I love contact,” Callaway says. “I’ll fight in the crease with you, I don’t care.”
Cretin-Derham Hall loses one of the state's best in
@matthew_gleason
but the Raiders, No. 11 in our too-early rankings, boast a bumper crop of freshman and sophomore standouts, including scoring ace Drew Fisher.
@cdhhockey
@drewfisher22
@funk_matt
Few teams embrace defense with the enthusiasm of Wayzata, No. 10 in our too-early rankings. The Trojans will have some firepower next season, too, led by top goal scorer Jake Schneider and Co.
@WHS_boyshockey
@GavinOc9
@tuckerness22
@poleary21
We're counting down the Top 20 teams in Class 1A, starting today with No. 20 Tartan and its trio of standouts (and future law firm partners?) in Strecker, Strecker & Schwinghammer.
@TVhockeyy
@CoachLeitch23
@FollowThePuck