UMD posts biggest surprise on a Friday of WCHA upsets

If anything was proven in the WCHA through the first month of mostly nonconference play it was that Denver and Minnesota would fight it out for league and national laurels, while North Dakota might zoom up to be their top challenger. Conversely, it seemed as though St. Cloud State, Minnesota State-Mankato and Minnesota-Duluth might be relegated to also-ran status.
And then came the weekend of November 8-9, when Denver, Minnesota and North Dakota all went into their series undefeated in league games. So what happened?
 North Dakota went to St. Cloud and was ambushed 7-3 by the Huskies.
 Minnesota went down Hwy. 169 to Mankato and promptly got stung 3-2 by Minnesota State-Mankato.
 But the biggest surprise of all came out at Denver, where Minnesota-Duluth stunned the nationÂ’s No. 1 ranked Denver Pioneers 3-2.
Never mind that on Saturday night things were reversed: The Fighting Sioux came back to gain a 3-2 overtime victory at St. Cloud, and the Gophers came back to win 7-4 in the rematch at Mankato. But at Denver, even a second-game 4-2 victory by the Pioneers failed to dampen the enthusiasm around Duluth, which returned home with a 2-1-1 record for four tough road games at Anchorage and Denver.
“I guess that Friday was a good night all across the country,” said UMD coach Scott Sandelin. “The funny thing at Denver was that I thought Denver probably played better than us on Friday, and we might have outplayed them a little on Saturday. We’ve got a long season to go, but so far, we’ve been pretty consistent through eight games, and as young as we are, I guess consistency is the biggest surprise for our team. We haven’t had a lot of bad periods.
“We may have taken a positive step coming back against Colorado College, and then getting three points up at Anchorage.”
Before hitting the road, the Bulldogs had tied 4-4 and lost 4-3 against Colorado College, prompting CC coach Scott Owens to say: “We’re done with ’em and I’m glad. UMD is a better team than last year, and if they get those two guys – Caig and Williams – eligible, they’re going to be a pretty good club. We won three points out of four, but if we’d tied or even lost I wouldn’t have been upset.”
With that, Colorado College – all but overlooked so far – went home and smacked Alaska-Anchorage 4-1 and 5-2. With Anchorage struggling to score in the early going, that was the only series that went according to form, and with Denver, Minnesota and North Dakota all stumbling, it also thrust the CC Tigers into first place in the league.
Still, the surprise of the early going remained UMD, which had proven its toughness against CC with a three-goal third period in the 4-4 tie, and then won 3-2 and tied 2-2 at Anchorage, before bushwhacking Denver. The Bulldogs may still be a bit light in the scoring department, but the two players Owens mentioned, C.J Caig and Justin Williams, both are capable scorers awaiting expected eligibility clearance. Caig is already clear to start play next semester.
“We’ve had a lot of guys step up,” said Sandelin. “We knew Jon Francisco would be solid, and his whole line, with Tyler Brosz and Junior Lessard, has been playing very well. Brosz started off scoring, and Luke Stauffacher already has four goals after getting none last year as a freshman. Nick Anderson has been strong along the wall, and Brett Hammond and Josh Miskovich have both been pleasant surprises, and are now playing some specialty shifts.”
Defensively, Beau Geisler is much stronger and has played very well from the outset. But some other blueliners have surprised.
“Tim Stapleton has gotten off to a good start, and guys like Steve Czech and Todd Smith have been solid defensively,” said Sandelin. “And Jay Hardwick has stepped up and been one of our best defensemen the last two weekends.”
The other big change for the Bulldogs is freshman goaltender Isaac Reichmuth, who came in amid controversy because Sandelin pulled the scholarship of hometown ace Adam Coole, from Duluth East, after his sophomore season to make room for Reichmuth. The freshman from Fruitvale, British Columbia, started at Anchorage even though senior Rob Anderson had played well against Colorado College, and when he won with 15 saves, he came back and played even better, with 25 saves, the next night.
Sandelin went with Reichmuth at Denver, too, and after the first-game upset, he started his fourth straight game on Saturday, although Sandelin pulled him in the second period to try to shake up his teamÂ’s lethargic offense.
“I know last year, with some of the moves I made, some people were saying, ‘OK, they’re going to have to win, now,’ ” said Sandelin, who is in his third year at the UMD helm. “Well, what do those people think I’ve been trying to do? That’s why I made some moves. I was brought in here to win, and the expectations rise every year.
“Isaac played well at Denver, and the only reason I pulled him in the second game was to shake up our guys. We came back and scored two goals, and Robbie Anderson came in and played well.
“I think what happened with all the upsets shows how much parity there is in college hockey this year. There are the top 10 or 12 teams, but the gaps are closing in. I love the way Denver plays. They’ve got speed and depth and great goaltending. Minnesota is proving its depth with all the injuries they’ve had. I think Colorado College is right up there, too. They’re a lot younger than Denver, but they’re going to be tough, too.”
As for the Bulldogs?
“If we can keep getting points and hang around up there with the top teams, you never know what can happen,” said Sandelin. “This stretch coming up is really important to us. We went 2-1-1 on the road, but we haven’t won at home yet, with the tie and loss to CC. Now we’ve got eight of our next 10 games at home, and we’ve got to win at home.”
After facing Wisconsin in a weekend series, UMD plays St. Cloud home-and-home, then Alaska-Anchorage comes to the DECC for a return series, before the Bulldogs play nonconference against Bemidji, home-and-home, and Union College at the DECC.
“We’ve got Wisconsin coming in, and we know Mike Eaves has those guys working harder than any Wisconsin team in a lot of years,” Sandelin said.
“We know we’re going to get Caig and Williams, sooner or later. Williams might have become eligible right away, but he broke his foot when he got hit with a puck in practice, so he may be out until Christmas anyway. Then we lost Jesse Unklesbay, and we don’t know for how long. He got hit knee-to-knee Saturday night at Denver. I was pretty upset about that one, because there’s no place in the game for that kind of hit. Unklesbay broke his tibia, the big bone under his kneecap, and he may be out a month.
“So maybe at Christmastime we’ll have Caig, Williams and Unklesbay coming in all at the same time. Hmmm…That would be a pretty good line.”

UMD women blitz St. Cloud State, but Lesteberg stays focused

Jason Lesteberg is both an optimist and a realist, which are not always easy to juggle for a Division I college hockey coach.
After moving south from Bemidji State to take on the task of rebuilding the St. Cloud State womenÂ’s hockey program, Lesteberg knew what he was in for. The Huskies, like a lot of college teams that have sprung up around the country, may have been caught underestimating the caliber of womenÂ’s hockey, and suffered when caught short of the talent level of the elite teams.
The future, Lesteberg is certain, is bright for the Huskies, because of the eight freshmen playing regularly. Five of his 12 forwards, two of his six defensemen, and one of his two goalies are first-year players. That includes forwards Krista Simonson from Hibbing and Ashley Stewart from Toronto. In addition, two of the other forwards and two of the other defensemen are sophomores.
“Maybe some of our older players have lost a little of the fire from having to struggle so much,” said Lesteberg. “But we’ve got seven freshmen in the lineup, all of them being counted on heavily, and all of our young kids have got that competitiveness inside.”
The WomenÂ’s WCHA has reached an interesting plateau, where Minnesota-Duluth and Minnesota seem to take turns leading the league and subsequently raising the standard of play game after game and season after season. The rest of the WCHA seems to be improving considerably, but the gap still remains.
Lesteberg and his youthful Huskies have seen that gap, up close and personal.
“Our games against Wisconsin, Bemidji State, Ohio State and Mankato have all been very competitive,” Lesteberg said. “But programs like Minnesota and UMD have been running very competitively since they started. We had played Minnesota, and I think UMD and the Gophers are very comparable. So we expected high-tempo games against UMD.”
St. Cloud State got what it expected.
The Huskies were whipped 10-1 and 8-0 by Minnesota, which was ranked No. 1 at the time. Then they went to Duluth, and the Bulldogs administered two more shellackings, 11-1 and 8-2.
Both games had their similarities, because moved ahead 1-0 in the first game, then Roxy StangÂ’s goal tied it for the Huskies, before UMD edged ahead 3-1 at the first intermission. The Bulldogs then broke free and roared to the 10-1 rout. Olympian Jenny Potter had two goals and five assists, while Tricia Guest got her second straight hat trick, and Erika Holst added four goals. UMD outshot the Huskies 52-17, including a 38-8 bulge in the last two periods.
In the second game, again UMD went up 1-0 early, and again Stang tied it 1-1 for St. Cloud State. This time, Ashley Stewart put the Huskies up 2-1, before Potter gained a 2-2 tie for UMD midway through the first session. After that, Potter put on a show, scoring three times in the second period, around HolstÂ’s 20th goal of the season, as UMD went ahead 6-2, then Potter scored twice more in the third, and wound up the game with an incredible six goals. UMD won 8-2, outshooting the overmatched visitors 54-14, and 40-6 over the second and third periods.
Still, Lesteberg retained his even demeanor.
The four crushing losses in succession had dropped St. Cloud State to 3-9 in the WCHA and 3-12 overall.
“But we split with Wisconsin and Mankato,” said Lesteberg. “We played them pretty even in the first period, but we can’t seem to put 60 minutes together. We have a stretch where nine of 13 games are against ranked teams, and if get through that, the second half of our schedule is more favorable from now on.
“A team like UMD can transition on you like the wind blows. We want to get to where they are. We’re trying to bring in the best players and build a program with strength from within. But UMD is at the level of play we want to get to. We’ve got a freshman like Krista Simonson, and we think she has the potential to become like a Potter for us. She has to work on here strength and her hockey sense, but she has the skill level.”
While UMD is the two-time defending NCAA champion, and the Gophers are the two-time defending WCHA league champion, Lesteberg knows thatÂ’s where he wants his Huskies to be going.
“It’s great to play against players like UMD has, with Potter, Holst and Maria Rooth. We don’t really have any upper classmen at that level, but they also have some great players who won’t be in the league next year. I noticed UMD had two true freshmen in the lineup, and we had seven; UMD had three or four sophomores, and we had five or six.
“I like where we’re at with our team, and I REALLY like where we’re at with our younger players. I think a lot of colleges added women’s hockey and I don’t think they knew how good it could get.”
UMD (9-0-1 WCHA, 13-1-2 overall) outshot the Huskies 106-31 for the two games combined. The Huskies goaltenders got a workout against UMD, with freshman Brie Anderson making 41 saves in the first game, and junior Ellen Brinkman blocking 46 shots in the second.
Potter was flat magnificent, taking over the national scoring lead with her fantastic weekend. The quick-striking junior has 18 goals, 24 assists for 42 points, after her seven points on Saturday and six on Sunday, including eight goals among the 13 points.
Lesteberg even saw a ray of hope in watching Potter fill the net.
“Potter got seven points in the first game,” Lesteberg said, “but she got nine points against us once. So we’re improving.”

(John Gilbert has covered the WCHA for over 35 years and writes features for the men’s and women’s website. He just completed his first book, “Return to Gold Country,” about last year’s Minnesota men’s NCAA championship team, and he can be contacted at jgilbert@duluth.com.)

Colorado College threatens early end to WCHA title race

It’s been a year of surprises in the WCHA. North Dakota, Minnesota State-Mankato and Minnesota-Duluth all have made surprisingly strong runs at contention, but all of those teams could become “other” surprises while being outdistanced by Colorado College. The Tigers have lost just two of their first 28 games overall, and only one of 20 WCHA games while claiming the top rung in the WCHA and the nation.
Last weekend was the most recent example. North Dakota was ranked No. 1 in the nation when it came to Colorado Springs last weekend (Jan. 31-Feb. 1), even though CC stood two points ahead of the Fighting Sioux in first place in the WCHA, and had skated the Sioux to a pair of ties in Grand Forks.
No respect.
When the Sioux jumped ahead 3-0 in the first period of the first game, it looked like the bubble might be bursting for Colorado College. But the Tigers stalked back, cutting it to 3-2 by the second intermission, then becoming the first team all season to sting the Sioux when Dakota led after two periods, winning 5-3 on an empty-net-goal finish.
The Tigers won 4-1 the next night, and found themselves remarkably alone atop the WCHA standings. At 14-1-5, the Tigers have 33 points, leading second-place Minnesota State-Mankato by six, and Mankato has played two more games than CC. The challenges keep on coming, however, and as soon as CC finished whipping North Dakota to supplant the Sioux as No. 1, they find defending NCAA champ Minnesota coming to Colorado Springs this weekend (Feb. 7-8).
CC coach Scott Owens admitted that even he is surprised at how his team has run up a 10-game unbeaten streak (7-0-3), taken over the No. 1 ranking in the nation, and threatening to turn the rest of the WCHA into a race for second.
“I’d have to say I’m surprised at our record,” said Owens, after his Tigers climbed to the 14-1-5 WCHA record and a stunning 21-2-5 overall mark. “We’ve found different ways to win. Sometimes it’s the Clark-Sertich-Sejna line, sometimes it’s the power play, or the freshmen. And out goaltender has played exceptionally well.
“We’ve also gotten some help, because some people are beating each other.”
However, nobody is beating the Tigers these days. Owens and the Tigers point to great chemistry, that elusive quality of togetherness and mutual respect that teams either have or wish they had. They also, however, have some exceptional individuals.
In Peter Sejna, the Tigers might have the best individual player in the country, a cinch All-America and Hobey Baker candidate. They also have Tom Preissing, quite possibly the best defenseman in the WCHA, the country, and in the minds of Hobey Baker voters.
Sejna, a junior winger from Slovakia, got lucky last weekend, assisting on an empty-net goal, before notching a goal and two assists in the second game to run his point-scoring streak to 29 games and give him 19 multiple-point games. He has 18 goals and 20 assists in league games for 38 points – second only to Minnesota State-Mankato’s Shane Joseph, who has 40. Overall, however, Sejna has 28-29—57, which not only leads all WCHA scorers, but outpaces runners-up Grant Stevenson of Mankato and Zach Parise by eight points.
If Sejna is the ignition for the offense, linemate Noah Clarke is fourth in league scoring at 8-23—31, and an overall season of 12-34—46, where his 34 assists leads the nation. Three of Clarke’s 12 goals and five of his 34 assists have been game-winners. Centering Sejna and Clarke is Marty Sertich, a freshman who has shown all sorts of flashes rarely seen since his dad, All-America and Olympian Steve Sertich, patrolled center-ice for Colorado College a couple of decades ago.
“Marty Sertich has been very good,” said Owens. “He has good hands, and I guess you could say he has good bloodlines.”
Meanwhile, Preissing, the captain, is a big and tough leader who has been equally amazing back on defense. He has 18-15—33, which ties him for the most goals ever by a CC defenseman, and gives him the most points of any defenseman in the nation. Preissing is eighth in WCHA scoring with 11-12—23.
“Sejna and Preissing have both been good, especially offensively,” said Owens. “They’ve got the numbers to back them up. Preissing is very improved both offensively and defensively.”
If that means the offense and the defense are in capable hands, what about in goal? It was there that Jeff Sanger graduated, leaving what appeared to be a gaping hole. Curtis McElhinney stepped in, however, and has a 16-2-5 mark, and with his 12-1-5 WCHA ledger, McElhinney is second only to DenverÂ’s Wade Dubielewicz in goals-against with 2.28, and tied for third with a superb .911 save percentage. McElhinney has lost only two of 30 games over two seasons.
“We thought he’d be a good goaltender,” Owens said. “But I’m surprised me by being so far up in all the numbers.”
Colorado College has had the tools for all three of OwensÂ’ years as coach, but the Tigers have fizzled, either a lot or a little, at the start of those last three seasons. In 1995-96, the last year of Don LuciaÂ’s reign, the Tigers started out 16-0-2 and kept up the tempo all the way to the Frozen Four. But when Lucia left for Minnesota, and Owens took over, the Tigers started 3-4 and came in fifth at 14-11-3. In his second season, the Tigers started 6-0 but then lost three in a row and improved just one notch, to fourth at 17-11. Last seson, CC started 0-5 and came on strong to finish fourth again at 16-10-2.
This season, however, things have been different, right from the drop of the first puck.
“This year, we’ve just gotten off to a good run at the start,” said Owens.
But for those who like statistics, CC has compiled some eye-poppers. Consider that the Tigers have scored 90 goals in league games, a 4.5 average, which easily outdistances MankatoÂ’s second-best average of 3.86. The Tigers have scored 60 more goals than last-place Wisconsin. More than that, the 90 CC goals are almost perfectly apportioned, with 30 in the first period, 29 in the second and 31 in the third.
They also lead in goals-allowed – 16-10-20 by periods – for an average of 2.3 per game. That’s sharply better than second-best UMD’s 2.61, and it means the Tigers have given up 34 fewer goals than Alaska-Anchorage.
CC also has the best power play, with 29 goals in 99 chances for 29.3 percent effectiveness, while the Tigers have killed 94 of 108 penalties, for 87 percent efficiency. St. Cloud State is second at 81.7 percent. The penalty-killing unit is another surprise.
While those numbers leave the rest of the WCHA behind, perhaps the most surprising thing is that on paper, the Tigers look like a rebuilding team. “We play at least six freshmen every game,” said Owens. “Five of our 12 forwards are freshmen, and one or two of our defensemen are freshmen.”
Those freshmen include players like Sertich, and center Trevor Frischmon, who, Owens said, “continues to play very well. He can scoot, and he’s a great penalty-killer.”
On paper, the Tigers figured to be rebuilding, and to strive to compete in the middle of the WCHA pack. But these are far more than “paper” Tigers.

(John Gilbert has covered the WCHA for over 30 years. He just completed a book, “Return to Gold Country,” about last year’s Minnesota NCAA title team. He can be reached by e-mail at: jgilbert@duluth.com.)

Chelsey Brodt steps up, helps Gophers gain split at UMD

The University of Minnesota rose up from being flattened and gained an unlikely split against Minnesota-Duluth in what was a battle of national, as well as WCHA, womenÂ’s hockey titans. Neither team had ever been ranked lower than third in the nation, but beyond league title overtones, the series was all about footsteps, about having big skates to fill, about stepping up to a higher level, and about taking a bold stride forward in a critical situation.

Many of those steps were taken by Minnesota freshman Chelsey Brodt, who scored the clinching goal in the Gophers 4-2 reversal in the second game. But that stride didnÂ’t come until many other footprints had been made at Mars-Lakeview Arena, where the first steps were required to move up the hill. The usual harborside DECC site was housing a boat show, so the series was shifted to Mars-Lakeview Arena on the Marshall High School campus. ItÂ’s a cozy little arena, bright and shiny with good ice, but with only 1,000 seats.

The Gophers had been swept by UMD 4-3 and 6-5 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis on Nov. 30-Dec. 1, and had battled to stay in hot pursuit of the Bulldogs ever since. But Minnesota had suffered a huge loss when Krissy Wendell was knocked out of the lineup the previous weekend. Wendell had centered Natalie Darwitz, and sophomore Kelly Stephens on Minnesota’s top line all season, and Wendell and Darwitz – both freshmen and both U.S. Olympic teammates – were the top two Gopher scorers and the keys to Minnesota’s title hopes.

Wendell scored the winning goal to give Minnesota a 2-1 victory for a sweep over Ohio State, and with only seconds remaining in the game, a Buckeye player knocked Wendell down at center ice and she was knocked out for the rest of the regular season with a broken clavicle. She went out with 26 goals and 27 assists for 53 points, while Darwitz had 26 goals, 28 assists for 54 points through 23 games, leaving the Gophers 15-2-1 in the WCHA and 22-3-1 overall, good for the No. 3 rank in the country.

UMD, however, was 18-1-1 atop the WCHA and 24-2-2, and ranked No. 2 behind only Harvard.

While the Stephens-Wendell-Darwitz line had scored 67 of MinnesotaÂ’s 127 total goals for the season, replacing Wendell on the line was no small matter. Coach Laura Halldorson pulled freshman Chelsey Brodt up from defense and put her at right wing, shifting Darwitz to center. Minnesota hockey fans recognize Darwitz as perhaps the most explosive center in girls high school hockey history from her days at Eagan, but Brodt had always followed in the footsteps of her sister, Winny Brodt, a senior on the Gopher squad.

The difference is that Winny Brodt has scored 11-18—29, while her little sister had 0-4—4. Putting her 0-4—4 stats up with Darwitz (26-28—54) and Stephens (15-12—27) made the line look a little lopsided, but Chelsey made the best of it.

“I had never played forward, and I didn’t know how I’d do,” said Chelsey Brodt. “Especially playing with Darwitz and Stephens and their speed.”

The experiment appeared a small matter when Minnesota-Duluth came out flying and hammered the Gophers 7-1 in the stunning first game. Hanne Sikio, Larissa Luther, Maria Rooth and Krista McArthur scored for a 4-0 first-period lead, and Halldorson pulled goaltender Jody Horak for Brenda ReinenÂ’s relief. Darwitz scored her 27th goal just 10 seconds into the second period, and the Gophers held at 4-1 until late in the middle period, when Rooth and Erika Holst scored for a 6-1 cushion, and Nora Tallus completed the romp in the third.

That victory moved UMD forcefully to within Saturday nightÂ’s game of clinching the WCHA title. And the lopsided nature of the score made things look bleak for the Gophers in the rematch.

First, there was the matter of the goaltending. Halldorson said she had a brief conversation with Horak, her sophomore ace who had clearly been off her game – 1.72 goals-against and .928 save percentage – when she allowed four goals on 16 shots in one period of the Friday game. Horak wanted to get back in there, and Halldorson sent her to the net. It was a far different first period, although Erika Holst’s 28th goal, on a power play, staked UMD to a 1-0 lead with three minutes left in the opening session.

While UMD kept attacking, while also defusing the Darwitz line, Minnesota’s supporting cast stepped up. Allie Sanchez scored her sixth goal of the season with a backhander at 4:35 of the second period, and Winny Brodt rushed up the left side from defense and fired her 12th goal of the season past Patricia Sautter at 13:50 to give Minnesota a 2-1 lead – its first lead of the weekend. Hanne Sikio, however, tied it 2-2 with her 19th goal before the period ended.

The third period was a matter of survival. Kelsey Bills was penalized for cross-checking, but Horak and the Gophers withstood UMDÂ’s 30-percent power play. Bills, a junior from Alberta who grew up playing on boys teams, came out of the penalty box and moments later raced up the right side, turned the corner beyond the defense, and cut to the net, where she scored at 7:01 to break the 2-2 tie.

Exactly 1:38 later, the spotlight turned directly onto Chelsey Brodt, unlikely though that seemed. She had spent most of the two games skating hard and hoping she wouldnÂ’t look out of place with her more-accomplished linemates. And when her big opportunity came, it first appeared she might have blown it.

Brodt carried the puck up the right side, with a step on the defense. As she rushed, she saw an opening as she got to the faceoff circle, and she pulled the trigger. Instead of sailing into the mesh, as might have happened in a normal Cinderella story, BrodtÂ’s shot flew over the net, high and wide by a couple of feet over the crossbar.
“She looked like me on that one,” laughed her sister, Winny Brodt. “I’m the one they’re always accusing of shooting high.”

Nobody accuses Chelsey of shooting AT ALL, but after her shot missed, and the puck zipped around the boards in the right corner, Chelsey Brodt alertly went to the front of the UMD net. Darwitz had sped in and gathered up the puck, then curled off the boards, looking for an opening as she crossed the slot, 40 feet out. Darwitz shot and the puck wound up behind Sautter at 8:39, giving the Gophers a 4-2 cushion. But the Gophers didn’t all rush to Darwitz for their congratulations – they went to Chelsey Brodt. Sure enough, she had deflected the puck in.

“My first goal!” Chelsey gushed. “And in my first series up front. All I did was go in front, and I had my stick down. The puck went right off the blade of my stick. Last night, we didn’t play that bad but things didn’t bounce our way. Tonight they did, and this was exciting, especially against Duluth.”

The Bulldogs intensified their attack through the final 10 minutes, but Horak came up with 13 saves for 33 in the game, many of them while surrounded by all five UMD attackers at close range. When it was over, the Gophers celebrated, then they all skated over to the corner and celebrated again, high-fiving through the glass to a smiling young woman wearing street clothes. It was Krissy Wendell.

The loss of her presence was pivotal for Minnesota, but the Gophers came back to forestall UMDÂ’s championship celebration by a week, at least. The Gopher comeback came because other players stepped up, Chelsey Brodt filled some big skates as a forward, and the Gophers took a major stride after three straight losses to UMD to maintain the No. 3 national rank, and to reinforce their hopes should the teams meet again, in the WCHA playoffs, or possibly in the NCAA Frozen Four.

Anoka rallies to beat Duluth East in AA puck quarterfinals

SAINT PAUL, MN. — Respect and admiration for their opponent, a good memory, and a goal by a sprawling Ben Hendrick with 18 seconds remaining gave the Anoka Tornadoes a 4-3 victory over Duluth East before 16,714 fans at Xcel Energy Center Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the boys Class AA state hockey tournament.

The victory puts Anoka up against defending champion Holy Angels in SaturdayÂ’s late semifinal. Holy Angels whipped Moorhead 5-2 in the opening game of the quarterfinals.

AnokaÂ’s collective memory was from January 11, when Anoka (23-4-1) lost for the third of only four times this season. It was in Duluth, and East stormed back from a 3-1 deficit to outshoot the Tornadoes 31-11, tying the game 3-3 with 2.4 seconds left, and then beating Anoka 4-3 in overtime.

“This wasn’t really revenge, but we knew what to expect,” said Hendrick, a senior whose critical game-winner was his 27th goal of the season. “When we were down 3-2 after two periods, all the coaches really talked about was how the third period has been our best all season, when we’ve scored the most.”

Junior Andrew Johnson scored the tying goal at 5:44, skating up the slot to take a neat drop pass from Zach Nelson, then firing high into the left corner of the net over goaltender Jake Maida.

After that, EastÂ’s Greyhounds were on their heels as Anoka outshot them 11-4, but the game seemed to be broiling along toward overtime during the final minute of the third period. An East defenseman circled back into his own end and flipped the puck up the left boards, but it slid all the way down to the Anoka end for icing. With the faceoff in the right corner of EastÂ’s zone, Hendrick nudged the puck forward, tried to step through but fell to the ice, swatting at the puck as he landed.

“I pushed it through their center’s legs,” said Hendrick. “He got a piece of my leg and I was on my knees. As I went down, I chopped at the puck and it hit the goalie and went through his legs.”

The goal came with 17.1 seconds remaining, which registers officially as 18 seconds. Whatever, it tolled the end of an 11-2 surge that had carried East (14-11-4) to the Section 7AA title, and the momentum to take control of the game after two highly entertaining periods.

East struck first, when John Jacques blasted a shot from the right point that Rob Johnson tipped ever so slightly to beat goalie Kyle Olstad for a power-play goal at 6:00. Craig Chapman tied it for Anoka at the right edge of the crease, redirecting a perfect power-play pass from Hendrick, who had rushed in from the left side before zipping his pass to Chapman.

Sean Fish put Anoka ahead 2-1 with a goal at 5:38 of the second period with an opportunistic goal after Maida had uncharacteristically wandered out of his net. The usually cautious junior netminder went back to play the puck, then wound up misfiring on it when he tried to ring the boards through the left corner. Andy LaHoud picked it off and alertly sent a soft pass across in front of the goal, and Fish closed in to deposit it in the unguarded net.

The Greyhounds bounced back immediately, and Andy Sternberg snapped a 35-footer past Olstad at 5:59 – regaining the tie at 2-2 after just 21 seconds.

When Derek Johnson was penalized for Anoka, the Greyhound power play clicked as Rob Johnson deflected in his second goal of the game, this time after a Chris Johnson shot at 7:34. The 3-2 lead looked impressive, particularly when East outshot Anoka 18-10 through the first two periods. But the Tornadoes recalled the game at Duluth, and the coaches were well aware of their inability to beat East in their annual rivalry.

“We haven’t beaten those guys since 1986,” said Anoka assistant coach Rick Wesp. “And when we lost to them in Duluth this year, they really took it to us. Mike Randolph is one of the best coaches in the state, so we knew they’d come with their ‘A’ game.”

Randolph was philosophical afterward. “We had a couple of breakdowns,” he said. “We were in pretty good position in the third period, up by one. But we just did not finish the game. Their big-time players stepped up at a big time.”

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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.
  
  For those who want to keep up with John Gilbert's view of sports, mainly hockey with a Minnesota slant, click on the following:
  
  Click here for sports
  
  

• Exhaust Notes:

  PADDLING
  More and more cars are offering steering-wheel paddles to allow drivers manual control over automatic or CVT transmissions. A good idea might be to standardize them. Most allow upshifting by pulling on the right-side paddle and downshifting with the left. But a recent road-test of the new Porsche Panamera, the paddles for the slick PDK direct-sequential gearbox were counter-intuitive -- both the right or left thumb paddles could upshift or downshift, but pushing on either one would upshift, and pulling back on either paddle downshifted. I enjoy using paddles, but I spent the full week trying not to downshift when I wanted to upshift. A little simple standardization would alleviate the problem.
  
  

  SPEAKING OF PADDLES
  The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution has the best paddle system, and Infiniti has made the best mainstream copy of that system for the new Q50, and other sporty models. And why not? It's simply the best. In both, the paddles are long, slender magnesium strips, affixed to the steering column rather than the steering wheel. Pull on the right paddle and upshift, pull on the left and downshift. The beauty is that while needing to upshift in a tight curve might cause a driver to lose the steering wheel paddle for an instant, but having the paddles long, and fixed, means no matter how hard the steering wheel is cranked, reaching anywhere on the right puts the upshift paddle on your fingertips.
  
  

  TIRES MAKE CONTACT
  Even in snow-country, a few stubborn old-school drivers want to stick with rear-wheel drive, but the vast majority realize the clear superiority of front-wheel drive. Going to all-wheel drive, naturally, is the all-out best. But the majority of drivers facing icy roadways complain about traction for going, stopping and steering with all configurations. They overlook the simple but total influence of having the right tires can make. There are several companies that make good all-season or snow tires, but there are precious few that are exceptional. The Bridgestone Blizzak continues to be the best=known and most popular, but in places like Duluth, MN., where scaling 10-12 blocks of 20-30 degree hills is a daily challenge, my favorite is the Nokian WR. Made without compromising tread compound, the Nokians maintain their flexibility no matter how cold it gets, so they stick, even on icy streets, and can turn a skittish car into a winter-beater.