‘Hounds, Hawks work OT in epic tournament
Eden Prairie teammates congratulated Kyle Rau after his diving goal gave Eden Prairie a triple-overtime 3-2 victory over Duluth East in the Class AA state finals.
By John Gilbert
The City of Duluth almost pulled off the impossible dream at the Minnesota state high school hockey tournament. If Hermantown had managed to get past St. Thomas Academy in the Class A final, and Duluth East bad beaten Eden Prairie in the Class AA title game, Duluth would have had the unique situation of providing both champions. It may never happen, but it also may never come closer than in the 2011 tournament.
My plan was to file game-by-game reports, blog-fashion, which would have been fun and a bit different. But once inside Xcel Center’s press box, the cursor on my trusty laptop froze up and, no matter what tricks I tried, it wouldn’t release. So, here it is, all in once — a once-over-lightly overview of the four-day odyssey at St. Paul’s Excel Energy Center:
WEDNESDAY/ Class A quarterfinals start at 11 a.m., No. 2 ranked Hermantown against Alexandria. The Hawks outshot Alex 56-14, but the game was scoreless until the second period. Jordan Domine took the second-period faceoff and somehow managed to score at 0:05. Nobody said that was an all-time record, and nobody could confirm or deny, but it’s virtually impossible to score in less elapsed time, unless the time-keeper is slow on the switch. That 1-0 Alex lead jump-started Hermantown for a five-goal outburst. In a 13-minute span the Hawks, who outshot the Cardinals 22-3 in the second period, pumped in goals by Garrett Skrbich, Jared Thomas, Travis Koepke, Jesse Dyson, and Chris Benson. That inscribed the 5-1 final, after a mellow third period.
Alexandria hauled down Hermantown's Garrett Skrbich.
Post-game press conference, and someone mentioned to coach Bruce Plante that he’s a media favorite, to which he, in his inimitable style, said: “That’s because I’m old, and I don’t give a shit like everybody else.” As for not running up the score, Plante added,”I’ve had teams where the other teams used to run it up, and it pissed me off. We never have run it up, and never will.”
Unranked Hilbbing, my upset pick against No. 3 Rochester Lourdes, put goaltender Nathan Tromp in the way and he continued his hot streak as the Bluejackets rolled 4-0. Adam Johnson, a smooth, slick, super-sophomore who played defense last season, scored his 39th goal of the season in the first period, converting a feed from Nick DeCenzo, the senior son of coach Mark DeCenzo. Mike Pechvnik scored in the second period, and Jake Doherty and DeCenzo scored in the third. DeCenzo’s goal was his 24th, and his two assists boosted him to 55. He and Johnson and Joe Anderson make a formidible line, while the soft-spoken Tromp recorded the shutout.
Hibbing's Nathan Tromp was perfect in blanking Lourdes 4-0.
It was Hibbing’s fourth playoff game, and Tromp has a 9-0 shutout against Silver Bay, a 5-1 decision over Duluth Central, then shutouts of 5-0 against Virginia and now 4-0 over Lourdes. One goal in four playoff games prompted me to ask how the one goal was scored. Coach Mark DeCenzo cut in: “It was on a 5-on-3 power play.” Walking out with Tromp, I asked him where he planned to go to college next year. “Michigan Tech,” he said. Full scholarship to Tech? “No, I haven’t talked to anyone about hockey,” he said. “I want to be an engineer.” We need to make sure Tech coach Jamie Russell knows he might be getting the best goaltending/engineering student in the country.
St. Thomas Academy, ranked No. 1, crushed New Ulm 13-2, but Thief River Falls surprised the Twin Cities folks, to say nothing of Breck, by scoring five goals in the third to eliminate defending champion Breck 7-5. The Prowlers served notice with a 2-1 lead in the first 5:28, on goals by Riley Soderstrom and Brady Meunier. But Breck appeared to take over in the second period with three unanswered goals. Thief River Falls stormed back in the third period, as Ryan Crosson scored at 1:08. then tied the game 4-all with a shorthanded goal at 3:50. Derek Kayser put the Prowlers ahead 5-4, and Micah Ranum scored after a great set-up by Chris Forney with 2:14 left for a stunning 6-4 lead. Breck got one back shorthanded with 1:37 left, but the Prowlers finished it with an empty-netter. The 5-goal rally meant that the Thief River Falls players curled to the same spot on the left boards to celebrate five times, and that spot happened to be right in front of the white-clad Breck students. “It was fun to give their students a jab, looking ’em in the eye,” said Crosson. Coach Tim Bergland, a former Gopher and former NHL player, always looked calm and cool on the bench. But Ranum said: “He can really blow a gasket, sometimes. After two periods, when we were down 4-2, he said, ‘Next goal wins.’ Then we went out and got five in the third period.”
THURSDAY/The Class A teams take a day off before Semifinal Friday to let the big schools of Class AA take over. And what a day it was! No. 2 seed Edina trailed 2-1 after one but came back to beat Blaine 3-2. Then Duluth East took center-stage against White Bear Lake. The Bears had won their Section 4AA semifinal 1-0 in overtime over Stillwater, then eliminated arch-rival and No. 1 rated Hill-Murray 5-4 in two overtimes in the 4AA final, making them battle-tested for the Greyhounds, who, after a scoreless first period, took a 2-0 lead in the second on goals by Hunter Bergerson and a classic by the big line. Trevor Olson fed Jake Randolph going in on the right side, and when Dom Toninato yelled, Randolph threw a no-look backhand pass across the slot that Toninato rifled into the center of the net.
East's Hunter Bergerson (41) and Steven Holappa helped JoJo Jeanetta stop White Bear Lake's Brandon Wahlin, who scored twice.
But Brandon Wahlin got one back later in the second and tied it 2-2 with his second goal in the third. Olson put East back in front 3-2, but Mitch Morrisette tied it with 4:23 left, and goaltender JoJo Jeanetta had to come through to preserve the 4-4 score to the finish. It was time for overtime. Then a second overtime, and senior Zac Schendel, who might have played his best game in three years, certainly made his biggest play in three years. The puck popped loose on the end boards and Schendel kicked it ahead to his stick as he came off the boards toward the left circle, then he spun and shot, through a defenseman and between the knees of kneeling goaltender Jared Schletty for a 4-3 victory. “As soon as I got the puck I knew I was going to put it on net,” said Schendel. “I didn’t realize I had scored until my linemates told me. It’s definitely a relief to get past the first game, because the last two years…we choked.” Indelicate, perhaps, but true.
In the lower bracket, powerful and No. 1 ranked Eden Prairie beat game but outmatched Lakeville North 5-0 behind Kyle Rau’s two goals. Then Eagan frustrated Moorhead to win by a deceptively lopsided 4-0, expanding a tight 1-0 lead with a goal with 4:18 left, then scoring twice into an empty net.
SEMIFINAL FRIDAY/Pick the best day at any state tournament, and the semifinals are the surest bet. The Class A semis were first, and Hibbing threw a great challenge at Hermantown. Nick DeCenzo
Nick DeCenzo converted for a 1-0 Hibbing lead against Hermantown goalie Connor Lucas.
scored the only goal of the first period, but Hermantown turned aggressive in the second period, hammering the Bluejackets all over the ice. The officials let the forceful play go, and the Hawks came to life. Garrett Skrbich scored his 41st goal of a splendid senior season to tie it 1-1 in the first minute of the second period. Jesse Dyson put the Hawks ahead, and Skrbich notched No. 42 off Andrew Mattson’s pass for a three-goal splurge in the first 3:45. Travis Koepke made it 4-1 at 8:20, and Hibbing’s lighter, smaller, and thinner Bluejackets looked like they were finished. Hibbing sophomore Adam Johnson was far from finished. He scored on a power play, flicking a 25-foot backhander in from the right circle with 55 seconds left in the second period, then he skated in on the left side, deked through a defenseman to the slot, before pulling the puck to his forehand and drilling a wrist shot in off the left pipe, just 31 seconds from the second intermission. That made it 4-3, and Johnson wasn’t finished. He completed his pure hat trick on a power play at 2:34 of the third period, tying the game 4-4 with his 42nd goal of the season.
Hermantown's Garrett Skrbich chased Hibbing's Adam Johnson.
A wild and wide-open stretch followed, as Hibbing gave it everything, and Hermantown countered every time. At 10:50, the Hawks struck again, as Andrew Mattson scored with the rebound after Skrbich’s shot was stopped by Tromp’s mask. Johnson had one more rush, but when goalie Connor Lucas stopped him, Skrbich was called for an ill-timed cross check at the crease with 1:32 left in the game. The Bluejackets moved the puck, and it came to Johnson, playing center point. He tried a slick play, flipping a soft feed ahead toward the goal, but Jarek Kolquist intercepted it. Being shorthanded, he didn’t have to worry about icing the puck, so he flipped a high shot at the open net. Johnson, like a lanky basketball player going for a rebound, jumped high and got his gloved fingertip on the puck, which slowed the trajectory slightly, but the puck was slithering toward the open goal. Johnson turned and chased after it, desperately, as it slid slower and slower. Finally, Johnson dived, but he couldn’t reach it until it was crossing the goal line–barely. The colorful empty-netter cinched a 6-4 Hermantown victory.
Afterward, Bruce Plante was asked if the physical pounding was part of the game plan. “I don’t think it was the game plan, just how the kids play,” said Plante. “Besides, these kids never do what you tell ’em, anyway.” As for the remarkable comeback, spearheaded by the three straight goals by Johnson, whose dad, Dave Johnson, is a former Hibbing and UMD star, Plante said: “He should be playing for UMD right now. Christ is he good! He’s an unbelievable player, with great hands and good vision. You give him room and he’ll eat you up. He’s as good as any player we’ve seen.”
No. 1 St. Thomas Academy, next, ended the hopes of Thief River Falls with a 5-0 victory, behind two goals by Zach Schroeder.
East's Dom Toninato made an impression on Edina goalie Connor Girard.
Hours later, the Class AA semifinalists took over the Friday night ice. Duluth East took on Edina in a classic. It was scoreless through one, as open ice and scoring chances were at a premium. East fired four of the first five shots in the second, but Steven Fogarty dashed the other way and beat JoJo Jeanetta’s glove at 9:22 for a 1-0 Edina lead. In the final minute of the period, Jake Randolph found himself out near the left point, although Hunter Bergerson was already there, and fired the puck back up the boards. It went to Trevor Olson, who let it go on through to Dom Toninato on the end boards. Toninato spotted Randolph, skating toward the left circle from the point, and slid a pass out to him. Randolph swung full force and got it all, sending his shot past the goalie’s glove and into the lower right corner of the net, for a 1-1 tie. In the third period, the teams skated back and forth on the Xcel Center ice, but nobody could score. Overtime again, and it was properly tight and tense until 3:54 had passed, then Schendel backhanded a pass up the right boards. Alex Toscano, one of three impressive East sophomore forwards, gathered it in and rushed up the right side. When he got to the top of the right circle, with one Edina defenseman in his path, Toscano pulled the puck just enough to set up the defenseman’s screen, then snapped a hard wrist shot that caught the far, left edge of the net. East had beaten Edina 2-1 in overtime to reach the championship game.
Goalie JoJo Jeanetta caved in the pile after East's 2-1 OT victory over Edina.
“I told the guys that if there are 19,000 here, 17,000 of them are going to be for the Hounds,” said Coach Randolph. “I said, Even the people who hate the Hounds will be cheering for us against Edina. This is special–a special time for them, and for me.” Randolph’s son, Jake, said: “I knew we could make it because this is a great group of guys. We all love each other in that room. When we got to overtime, we had so much fire. Everybody was smiling on the bench, and I knew we could do it.”
A couple other media types said they thought Eagan, which beat Eden Prairie during the season, would win again in the second semifinal. I disagreed, and said I wouldn’t be surprised if Eden Prairie won by something like 5-1 or 5-2. Turned out to be 5-1. Two goals in the first, then two by the redoubtable Kyle Rau in the second, and two more in the third. Kyle Rau had two assists to go with his two goals, and the Eagles were in the final, to face the Greyhounds.
CHAMPIONSHIP SATURDAY/The Class A final at High Noon was a classic, as well. Hermantown started with astonishing perfection. St. Thomas Academy had a lot of shots, but Connor Lucas handled them in goal, while Jared Thomas scored with a backhanded rebound at the other end, at 3:57. Thirty-nine seconds later, Andrew Mattson carried in on a 2-on-1 and snapped a wrist shot over the glove of goaltender David Zevnik for a 2-0 Hawks lead. Couple minutes later, the Hawks first line clicked when Mattson broke in, passed left to Skrbich, who was open to shoot but instead passed to the right edge, where Thomas had a tap-in. Only 7:08 had been played, but Hermantown led 3-0. The stunned Cadets bristle with skill, however, and Andrew Commers scored on a shorthanded breakaway before the first period ended to cut it to 3-1. Peter Krieger scored to open the second, and it was 3-2. Hermantown gained a 4-2 lead when Mattson scored on a loose puck at the crease, but then the Cadets got what
A.J. Reid, rilght, tried to pass, but the puck bounced off a Hermantown defenseman and into the net in the Cadets 5-4 victory for the Class A title.
they call “puck luck.” A.J. Reid carried in deep on the right of a 3-on-2, and he flipped a late pass to the slot just as he went past the net on the right side. The puck hit a Hawks defender in front and the ricochet went in, cutting Hermantown’s lead to 4-3. By that point in the second period, the pace of the game belonged to St. Thomas Academy. It continued that way in the third, and the momentum led to an Andrew Commers goal at 4:43 to tie the game 4-4. Then, remarkably, the Hawks seemed to rejuvenate, and regained the flow of the game. But nobody could score, and the third period ended. Once again, it was overtime. The Hawks had a chance on a power play, but couldn’t generate a goal. Then, at 6:34, Zach Schroeder pulled a right corner faceoff back to Tony Bretzman, who passed to Taylor Fleming at center point. Taylor cut loose, and his shot zipped past a screening body and grazed the right post on its way to catching the net and bring a crushing end to Hermantown’s title hopes. Long after the trophy presentation, Reid said: “I’m so excited, I don’t even want to take my jersey off.”
Then there was Bruce Plante. “Pretty big task, for us to play that team,” said the coach. “I was never confident, even with a three goal lead. We were a little tired in the second, but at the end, we played tired better than they played tired. We had to replace 14 players from last year, and we have a lot of young kids, but these kids came up and did what they were told. We have a saying in Hermantown, ‘Seniors lead, juniors follow, and sophomores keep your mouths shut.’ We never knew how good we were until we got down here, but the pressure never got to them.”
All of that hockey seems exhausting, in retrospect. But the best was still to come: The Class AA final, with Duluth East taking on Eden Prairie. The first period was scoreless, like a chess match, with a few good chances, but careful and precise defensive play. In the second period, East got a power play, and it couldn’t have been better executed, dazzling the crowd of 15,018. East played before 17,625 the first day, and 18,074 in the semifinals. There were about three passes before Meirs Moore zipped the puck to Jake Randolph on the outside of the right circle. Randolph immediately relayed another perfect pass across the slot to the left circle, where Trevor Olson
Dom Toninato watched Trevor Olson's shot hit the Eden Prairie net for a 1-0 East lead in the Class AA final.
one-timed his shot and before goalie Andrew Ford could react, the puck was behind him in the mesh. The only goal of the second period seemed substantial, in this game, but in the third period, the 1-0 edge vanished. Mark Rath scored at 1:43 after Luc Gerdes was checked off the puck, and it was 1-1. East, however, came back at 9:31 to regain the lead at 2-1. Again the big line connected, this time on a rush, with Trevor Olson carrying up the right and ripping a shot that hit a defenseman and then hit Ford and popped up and over the goalie. As it traced an arc slowly toward the net, two Eagle defenders dived for it, but the puck beat them across the line. As the final minutes of the third period, and potential victory, ticked away, Eden Prairie’s Nick Seeler shot from the left point. Jeanetta blocked it, but with 2:56 remaining in regulation, David Rath put in the rebound and it was 2-2.
Eden Prairie's Nick Seeler (11) and David Rath chased Trevor Olson's second goal into the net behind goalie Andrew Ford, as East gained a 2-1 lead.
Then, as they say, the fun began. East looked spent during the 8-minute overtime, but when it ended, they made ice, and then played 17 minutes in the second OT. East, revived by the break, had several good chances. The highlight for the Hounds, however, was sophomore defenseman Andrew Kerr, who caught the speeding Kyle Rau with a crunching bodycheck along the boards. It was one of four times Kerr caught Rau, but that one hit was shown repeatedly on Xcel Center’s big scoreboard screen, and each time the crowd “oohed” all over again at the jolting force of the hit. But the 2-2 score remained, and the game boiled into the third overtime, making it the longest championship game in state tournament history. It ended on a strange play, and an ironic one, at 4:43 of the third overtime. Curt Rau, Kyle’s twin brother, shot from the right point. Jeanetta blocked the shot, but the puck trickled through, behind him, and came to rest in the crease. He didn’t see it right away, but Kerr, exhausted as he was, spotted it, and tried to sweep it clear. But he only got a piece of it, nudging it to the left edge of the crease, as Kyle Rau arrived, head first. Rau made a headlong dive, stabbing at the puck with his stick. It took slow-motion replay to tell the whole story. Rau’s poke went off the left pipe, then pinballed back into the crease, where it either hit Kerr’s skate or Rau’s stick as he slid past the goal. Regardless, it wound up in the net, sending the Eagles into ecstasy. The Hounds slumped over into the disappointment that only those who come up short after a great effort in such a masterpiece can comprehend.
“It’s tough,” said coach Randolph. “Not on me personally, but it’s tough to watch the kids lay it on the line like that and not get rewarded. We played a complete game. Everybody played well. Hunter Bergerson, our only senior defenseman, went down with an injury, and I put Kyle Campion back there. He’s a forward and had never played back there, but he did a great job. I couldn’t ask more from a team. We got beat on a great play from Mr. Hockey, who could have gone away to play, but decided to stay in school. He got rewarded tonight.”
Last fall, Kyle Rau, who already had accepted a scholarship offer from Minnesota, talked things over with his twin brother, Curt, while deliberating whether to go to the USHL for a season instead of playing his senior year. “He told me he was going to go,” recalled Curt, “and I told him I’d support whatever he decided to do. But then he changed his mind and decided to come back.” Kyle Rau was a standout as a sophomore on Eden Prairie’s state championship team two years earlier, and he could have made a poster for high school hockey when he smiled and said: “This is an incredible experience. This is why I came back.”
Duluth East got it’s money’s worth of ice time, playing overtime games all three days, and six altogether, after also playing overtime to beat Grand Rapids in the 7AA final. That’s seven overtimes in four consecutive games. But White Bear Lake, which had last to East in the double-overtime quarterfinals, had come to the tournament having played overtime in the Section semifinal and final. After losing in two overtimes to East, the Bears went to consolation and beat Blaine, in overtime, of course. Then in the consolation final, White Bear Lake lost 4-3 to Lakeville North — in three more overtimes. That’s nine overtimes in five straight games.
While Kyle Rau returning to Eden Prairie is a huge plus for high school hockey, after having lost a lot of players to junior and U.S. Development programs, there were other tremendous positives coming out of the tournament. East, for example, had two returning players from last season leave the team before this season. It was the opposite for senior goaltender JoJo Jeanetta, who said that when he was 15, he was cut from the Bantam tryouts. There is a Bantam A team, and a Bantam B1, and Bantam B2 for players who are cut. “I was cut to Bantam B2,” said Jeanetta. “I remember being in my room and crying about it. I was going to quit hockey. Then I got furious about it. And I decided I was going to get better. And I’ve got to say, that if I hadn’t been cut to Bantam B2, I wouldn’t be playing here now.”
Interesting. Some kids have the chance to go elsewhere and stay, while others who figure they have no future in the game persever and wind up a star on their high school team. Both paths led them to one of the most spectacular state championship games ever. And you have to pause and sympathize with the kids who left their friends and their schools to play somewhere else. They missed out on the chance of a lifetime.
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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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