Consolation no salve for Hermantown frustration
Hermantown lost 3-1 to Red Wing Thursday, and it was a match-up worthy of the state Class A hockey tournament semifinals, or final, for that matter. Instead, it came in Thursday’s afternoon consolation play at Mariucci Arena, which brough an early finish to Up North area involvement in the Class A tournament.
The Hawks took a 1-0 lead when Clint VanIseghem scored unassisted at 2:08 of the first period, but Red Wing countered with a goal by Mark Pohl 18 seconds into the second period, and gained a 2-1 lead when Nate Anderson converted a Pohl pass at 5:12. Jordan Anderson clinched it with a goal with an empty-net goal with 14 seconds left, ending a game in which both teams registered 27 shots.
Silver Bay, the other Lake Superior Conference entry in the tournament, was beaten 7-6 in two overtimes in the day’s first consolation game, meaning the two Up North region teams went a combined 0-4 for the week. The Mariners led 3-0, 5-2 and 6-3, but couldn’t hold off the Cadets, who got a shorthanded goal by John Funk with 46 seconds left to tie it, and won it with his third goal of the game at 6:52 of a second sudden-death overtime.
Junior Andy Martinson had two goals and two assists for his second four-point game in two days, while Tom Christensen, Luke Mattila, Jake Byrnes and Sean Buckley scored for Silver Bay, which outshot St. Thomas Academy 48-40.
The consolation round can provide some recovery from first-game losses, but not this time, but not enough to soothe Hermantown this time. Even a rematch of their stunning upset of Red Wing’s then-No. 1-ranked team in last year’s tournament couldn’t ease the sting of Thursday’s controversial loss to Benilde-St. Margaret’s for the Hawks.
In that one, Troy Riddle, the state’s leading scorer, completed a hat trick with his 50th goal of the season to win the game, at 2:50 of sudden-death overtime. The distasteful part of the opening game was an official ruling that negated what would have been the winning goal for the Hawks.
Rallying Blake overcomes St. Thomas Academy
David Moos scored 23 seconds after St.Thomas Academy had tied the game midway through the third period, and Blake overcame the Cadets 4-3 in Thursday’s second quarterfinal of the boys Class A high school hockey tournament.
The victory sends Blake against East Grand Forks in Friday’s first semifinal, while St. Thomas Academy will face Silver Bay in today’s 10 a.m. consolation round.
Blake may have been favored, but the Bears showed they are at their best as counter-punchers, rallying from a 2-0 deficit with three straight goals, then breaking a 3-3 tie with a quick-counter goal from Moos midway through the third period.
“We haven’t turned the puck over that much all season,” said Blake coach Jeff Lindquist. “But give St.Thomas Academy credit.”
St.Thomas Academy was outshot 11-5 in the first period, but almost scored on Bill Flikeid’s shorthanded breakaway that ended with a shot off the right pipe. But the Cadets did score the lone goal of the first period, when Brett Mackenzie galloped in solo and snapped a wrist shot into the lower left at 14:12.
Anthony Blumer got the easiest goal of the season at 4:28 of the second to give the Cadets a 2-0 lead. Blake goalie Eric Dayton skated out to clear the puck but whiffed, and the puck went right to Blumer, who shot into the open net.
Blake stormed back right about then, however. Barely a minute after Blumer’s goal, Jon Reigstad rushed up left wing and cut loose with a shot that hit goalie Ethan Keller’s glove, popped up high, and landed gently in the net behind him. Then Blake went on the power play, and Eric Ramsey tied it 2-2 at 7:55, cruising in from the left boards and finding an opening.
Before the middle period ended, Reigstad scored on a rebound during a two-man power play at 14:31, giving Blake its first lead at 3-2.
St. Thomas Academy got its last burst of hope at 7:02 of the third period, when Blumer scored his second of the game. But that’s when the Bears struck back again, and quickly for Moos’ goal at 7:25.
Blake 0 3 1–4
St. Thomas Academy 1 1 1–3
First Period: 1. St.T–Brett Mackenzie (Dustin Wilhelmy, John Funk) 14:12.
Second Period: 2. St.T–Anthony Blumer (unassisted) 4:28. 1. Blake–Jon Reigstad (Jordan Wilhelm, Steve Nelson) 5:31. 2. Blake–Eric Ramsay (Nelson, Wilhelm) 7:55, PP. 3. Blake–Reigstad (Wilhelm, Nelson) 14:31, PP.
Third Period: 3. St.T–Blumer (Nate Howard, Kevin Devoy) 7:02. 4. Blake–David Moos ( Matt Frauenshuh) 7:25.
Saves: Blake–Eric Dayton 4 5 5–14; St.Thomas–Ethan Keller 11 6 2–19. Attendance–4,770.
Fergus Falls comeback beats Red Wing 3-2
Cory Donnay and Josh Anderson scored goals 48 seconds apart midway through the third period Thursday night, vaulting Fergus Falls to a 3-2 victory over Red Wing in the final game of the Class A boys hockey tournament first round.
The victory, which completed a comeback from a 2-0 first-period deficit, gave the Otters (16-7-2) a berth in Friday’s second semifinal, against Benilde-St. Margaret’s. Red Wing faces Hermantown in today’s 12-noon consolation semifinal at Mariucci Arena.
To win, Fergus had to overcome a 27-19 edge in shots for Red Wing, and the forceful leadership of Red Wing’s Mark Pohl, who was overlooked by the Twin Cities area’s metro all-star teams that his brother, Johnny Pohl, made a year ago. It’s not as though the younger Pohl has spent the winter in hibernation. He came into the tournament having scored 44 goals and 41 assists for the Wingers, and while he’s not the crafty set-up man type, he is bigger, stronger, and can shoot the puck with force.
He also is alert about being in the right place at the right time, as he was in the first period Thursday night. Derek Kuglin had fired a slapshot from the right point, and when Fergus Falls goaltender Kevin Ackley blocked it, Pohl shoveled in the rebound from the right edge for his 45th goal of a generally overlooked season.
The Wingers couldn’t build on that 1-0 lead despite an 11-5 edge in shots in the first period, but Ackley was tough. It wasn’t until 3:00 of the second period that the Wingers got another goal, and that, too, was mostly due to Mark Pohl. This time he skated behind the net from the left corner, and came out to try a wraparound at the right post. Ackley went down and succeeded in blocking the shot, but Nate Anderson converted the rebound at the crease for a 2-0 lead.
Chad Hopponen got Fergus Falls untracked with a great individual effort late in the middle period. The junior right winger broke up the left side and had enough speed to turn the corner behind defenseman Kuglin, who dived to try to stop him. In the process, he cut Hopponen’s legs out from under him, and as he toppled, and a delayed penalty was being signaled, Hopponen managed to get a backhand shot away and the wide-angle attempt fooled goalie Mike Anderson and zipped between his pads.
“That goal really lifted us,” said Fergus Falls coach Brad Bergstrom.
The lift reached greater heights in the third period. As if to sneak up on Red Wing, the Otters played possum with the 2-1 deficit until 8:11 of the third period.
At 8:11, Jason Lee fed out from the corner to the left point where Ben Brimhall fired a shot. Mike Anderson made the save, but Cory Donnay, whowing great poise, pulled the puck back from the crease and flicked it past the goaltender for the 2-2 equalizer.
Before you could say “overtime,” Fergus Falls sprung junior Josh Anderson with a Rob Myster pass up the left boards 48 seconds later. Anderson raced straight in on the goaltender, made a deft move as if going for a forehand try before quickly shifting to score with a backhand at the right post.
Red Wing came back hard, to the finish, taking a time out with 1:21 left, getting goaltender Anderson out for a sixth attacker in the final minute, and getting two shots from Pohl as the clock ticked down. But No. 46 wasn’t there. It’ll have to come in consolation play.
Fergus Falls 0 1 2–3
Red Wing 1 1 0–4
First Period: 1. RW—Mark Pohl (Derek Kuglen) 2:49.
Second Period: 2. RW–Nate Anderson (Mark Pohl) 3:00. 1. FF—Chad Hopponen (Ben Shaw) 12:59.
Third Period: 2. FF–Cory Donnay (Ben Brimhall, Jason Lee) 8:11. 3. FF–Josh Anderson (Rob Myster) 8:59.
Saves: FF–Kevin Ackley 10 8 7–25; RW–Mike Anderson 6 5 5–16.
Benilde stuns Hermantown in overtime
Troy Riddle, the state’s leading goal-scorer, hit the 50 mark at a most inopportune time Thursday night, as far as Hermantown was concerned. Riddle’s first two goals were tough enough, erasing a 2-0 Hawk lead, but his third came at 2:50 of sudden-death overtime and gave Benilde-St. Margaret’s a 3-2 victory in the first-round game that pitted the two Class A tournament favorites.
Benilde (21-4-1) will face the winner of the first round’s late game, between Red Wing and Fergus Falls, in Saturday’s semifinals. Hermantown (21-4-1) plays the loser today at Mariucci Arena in consolation.
It was a bitterly disappointing loss for the Hawks, who were certain they had won the game on a goal by Andy Corran with 24 seconds left in the third period. But the goal was waved off by referees Jeff Shie and Jim VonWald.
“I was on the right side, the goalie went down, but the puck wasn’t frozen,” said Corran. “Jon [Francisco] tapped it over to me, and I put it in. I was caught up in the moment, but I never heard a whistle. They waved it off. That was totally unexplainable.”
Ken Pauly, Benilde’s coach, said: “I heard the whistle. There’s no question the whistle blew. But there’s also no question there was a loose puck.”
In other words, the victors concede that if there was a whistle, it shouldn’t have been blown.
“When they tied it up, our seniors took the game over,” said Hermantown coach Bruce Plante. “Whatever they had left in the tank, they spent it. And we thought we won the game, but other people didn’t see it that way. Andy shot it in, then they blew the whistle.”
Riddle bedeviled the Hawks all night, although he was unnoticeable much of the game, lurking out in center ice, then using his quickness whenever the puck came loose. Early in the game, he got away on a shorthanded breakaway, but Allen Knowles stopped him in goal.
Then the Hawks took the lead, with Chris Baron and Loren Kaake scoring in a 1:11 span late in the first period. The first goal came when Jon Francisco broke around the defense on the left, and was pulled off the rush by a high stick around his neck. As Francisco went down, the puck was left free, and both Baron and Corran swung at it. Baron got a piece of it, and the off-speed shot slithered past goalie David Rogalski at 11:48.
On the next shift, J.R. Bradley fired from the blue line, Rogalski blocked it, and Kaake swung and missed on his forehand, but whirled and scored on a backhander at 12:59.
In the second period, the Red Knights figured they had taken over the game. “If they’re going to upset somebody, they can’t let the other team take the game from them,” said Pauly.
However, Hermantown wasn’t thinking upset; only in the Twin Cities minds were the Red Knights favored. After all, Hermantown had won the Lake Superior Conference and beaten teams the caliber of Duluth East, and the Hawks were favored by those north of Forest Lake.
Plante said: “When we got ahead, we played a little cautious.”
Riddle, who came into the game with 47 goals and 43 assists, knocked in the first Benilde goal at 0:50 of the second period and a scramble after a rebound, putting a shot over the fallen Knowles.
It stayed 2-1 as the Hawks tried to defend the lead, with Corran misfiring on a breakaway later in the second period, and Francisco stopped by Rogalski early in the third. But with 4:03 left in regulation, Riddle got loose for an instant, just as Luke Irwin passed from behind the net, and Riddle’s quick shot tied it 2-2.
Immediately, Hermantown responded. J.R. Bradley carried up the middle on an amazing 3-on-0 rush, but Bradley was foiled by Rogalski with 1:47 left. Corran’s slick behind-the-back pass put Francisco in clean, but Rogalski dived to block it with his stick glove, and two tries with rebounds wouldn’t go with 33 seconds remaining.
It was then, on a right corner faceoff, that Francisco was tied up and Baron grabbed the puck and fired it at the net. Francisco went to the crease but could only poke the open rebound to the left, where Corran calmly shot it just inside the left post.
No goal.
In overtime, Riddle showed what happens to big scorers, even when they botch the play. Still lurking at center ice, he sped to the puck as Ratislav Valko banked a pass off the right boards. Riddle, behind the defense, raced in from the right side at Knowles, who stayed with him. When Riddle deked and veered to his left, Knowles stayed right with him, but Riddle lost the puck at that instant, and instead of pulling it to the backhand, where Knowles was playing him, the puck slid straight ahead — right through Knowles’ legs.
“I tried a little deke,” Riddle said. “And thepuck went 5-hole.”
No justice.
Benilde-St. Margaret’s 0 1 1 1–3
Hermantown 2 0 0 0–2
First Period: 1. Herm–Chris Baron (Jon Francisco, Andy Corran) 11:48. 2. Herm–Loren Kaake (J.R. Bradley) 12:59.
Second Period: 1. Ben–Troy Riddle (Luke Irwin, Jake Riddle) 0:50.
Third Period: 2. Ben–Troy Riddle (Irwin, Mike Grobe) 10:57, PP.
Overtime: 3. Ben–Troy Riddle (Ratislav Valko) 2:50.
Saves: Benilde–David Rogalski 3 6 10 0–19; Herm–Allen Knowles 7 10 8 1–26.
Late Mariner outburst falls short at tourney
MINNEAPOLIS, MN.—
East Grand Forks ended Silver Bay’s Cinderella hopes 5-4 in the state boys Class A hockey tournament opening game Wednesday, but not before the Mariners made a belated rush to beat the clock. They erupted from a 5-0 deficit for four goals in a frantic 7:45 span in the third period, and finally showed their potential, even though they ultimately ran out of time.
Target Center is a long way from the DECC in Duluth, and farther removed from Silver Bay Arena. There was little doubt that the Silver Bay Mariners, making their first-ever trip to the state boys hockey tournament, would be a little nervous at first. Then the jitters turned into a question of when something — anything — positive would happen for the Mariners.
It didn’t happen until 4:25 of the third period Wednesday afternoon, and by then East Grand Forks had a 5-0 lead. Those fans who hadn’t seen Silver Bay previously were wondering how the Mariners ever made it out of Section 7A, as only goaltender Greg Buell’s acrobatic work in the nets prevented the deficit from being worse.
Buell was pretty much left defenseless on a power-play goal by Sam Brown in the first period, then yielded a no-angle, ricochet goal by Shawn Bartlette to open the second, then a power-play goal by Bartlette late in the middle period, and a first-minute goal in the third that completed a pure hat trick by Bartlette. When Kyle Cash scored the third Green Wave power-play goal at 2:18, it was 5-0, and even the majority of Silver Bay’s population, in attendance, might have wished for running time to end the misery.
“They got chewed out pretty good after the second period,” said Silver Bay coach Mike Guzzo. “I told them not to quit in the third, no matter what the score got to. I still thought we might do something, then we came out and got two more bad bounces and it went from 3-0 to 5-0. But even at 5-0, we kept working.”
At 4:25 of the third period, after two-plus periods of missed passes, overskated pucks and nothing but bad bounces to show for their dream trip to “the Cities,” junior winger Andy Martinson rushed up the right boards, ducking by a check, bouncing the puck off the boards to himself to beat another defender, then cutting left to avoid a sprawling defenseman, and backhanded a shot from the slot that glanced in off the left post.
The rise in spirit and intensity was immediate, and Martinson started another rush up the right boards, and when he was checked off the puck, Nic Johnson passed the puck to the slot. Sean Buckley was there, caught the pass and snapped his shot past goalie Tommy White at 5:15. Two goals in a 50-second span and it was 5-2.
It stayed that way until 3:53 remained, then Benji Klemmer shot from the left point, and Paulseth, the sophomore with only four goals in his dossiere all season, pulled the rebound away from the goaltender and stuffed it. He’d have more goals than that, but he missed seven games with a knee-ligament injury earlier in the season.
Just 1:03 after that, Paulseth DID have more goals than that, as Martinson broke to the net for a point-blank shot from the right side. White blocked it, and the rebound skipped just over Martinson’s stick — right to Paulseth, who drilled it.
“When he shot, the rebound bounced over his stick,” said Paulseth. “I knew the goalie was down, so I just lifted it in over him.”
The Mariners attacked, but Buckley was issued an elbowing penalty with 1:00 left. Still the Mariners came on strong, with Buell on the bench for an extra, equalizing skater, but White survived the last good scoring chance, with Martinson, Johnson and Tom Christensen at the crease and only 14.2 seconds on the clock.
“We needed something exciting to happen to get us back into it,” said Guzzo. “We didn’t come here to lose, and we haven’t been behind much, but our guys know only one speed — to go hard. It hurt us a lot to spend six of the first nine minutes in the penalty box.”
Guzzo wasn’t being critical of the officials, but it took a lot of self-control. All three of the first calls were away from the play, and the final one, with one minute left, came when two players raced for the puck in the corner and crashed into each other. “It hurts to burn a lot of your energy killing penalties,” Guzzo said. “Our power play didn’t do much because our power-play guys were gassed from killing penalties. Then that elbowing in the corner in the last minute…you come to the state tournament and you expect better than that.”
The glitter of the state tournament remains, however. “Our fans were great,” said Buell. “Even when we were down 5-0, they were loud.”
“I think the whole town is down here,” said Paulseth. “We couldn’t get any bounces, nothing would go our way, but at least in the last 10 minutes we played Silver Bay Hockey.”
Disappointment? What disappointment? “It’s not over yet,” Paulseth said.
True, the Mariners play again, and even though it’s a Thursday consolation game at 10 a.m. at Mariucci Arena instead of a Friday semifinal at Target Center, it’s still the state tournament.
East Grand Forks 1 2 2–5
Silver Bay 0 0 4–4
First Period: 1. EGF–Sam Brown (Jon Stordahl, Mike Crlson) 3:37, Power play.
Second Period: 2. EGF–Shawn Bartlette (Carlson) 1:51. 3.EGF–Bartlette (Carlson, Brown) 12:41, PP.
Third Period: 4. EGF–Bartlette (Carlson, Ryan Boline) 0:51. 5. EGF–Kyle Cash (Patrick Knutson, Jonathan Hussey) 2:18, PP. 1. SB–Andy Martinson (Tanner Paulseth, Jake Byrnes) 4:25. 2. SB–Sean Buckley (Nic Johnson) 5:15. 3. SB–Paulseth (Benji Klemmer) 11:07. 4. SB–Paulseth (Martinson) 12:10.
Saves: EGF–Tommy White 3 2 8–13; SB–Greg Buell5 13 4–23; Kasey Harling (0:09 in third) x x 0–0.
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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