Northland representative to state hockey tourney falls
Cloquet falls in opening round of state hockey tourney
ST. PAUL, MINN. — The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton Lumberjacks achieved a breakthrough by reaching the state Class AA hockey tournament, but on Thursday reality hit — in the form of a Holy Angels buzzsaw that whipped the ‘Jacks 5-2 in the first quarterfinal at Xcel Energy Center.
Cloquet (18-4-6) played well, but couldn’t prevent the Co-Stars from shattering an early 1-1 deadlock with four unanswered goals, led by a goal and three assists by Jimmy Kilpatrick. Holy Angels (23-4) advances to face Roseville — a 4-2 victor over Moorhead in Thursday’s second game — in tonight’s 7 p.m. semifinal.
Cloquet will gather itself up to face a strong Moorhead outfit at 10 a.m. at Mariucci Arena in consolation play.
“It’s been a great accomplishment to get down here,” said Cloquet coach Dave Esse. “We’re just happy to be here, and we hope getting here generates some enthusiasm among our younger players. We’ve only got 25 players out for our team, but we’re going to keep playing Double-A hockey.”
Holy Angels, a small school in Richfield, raises the specter of private schools attracting players from all over. The Co-Stars outshot Cloquet 11-4 in the first period, and used two shorthanded goals in the second period to boost the lead from 2-1 to 4-1.
But for Cloquet, which eliminated Duluth East 1-0 on Mike Erickson’s shorthanded goal in the 7AA final, used the same weapon in the first period. The Lumberjacks fell behind early when they drew a too-many-men penalty at 0:41 and Tyler Howells scored on the power play at 2:05, after a slick-passing exchange from Nate Hagemo to Kevin Rollwagen and across the goal-mouth to Howells at the right edge.
With the ‘Jacks short at 11:23 of the first, Matt Maunu cleared the puck the length of the ice, and when Erickson saw a defenseman going back at medium speed, he put on a burst of speed and beat him to the puck behind the net.
Erickson swung out on the right side of the cage and tried to jam a shot, and when goaltender Ben Luth blocked it, he continued to pursue it in the following scramble and batted a second try in for the 1-1 deadlock.
Cloquet goaltender Josh Johnson came up with a couple of huge saves, but Holy Angels regained the lead at 14:02 when Johnson made an amazing skate save on a wraparound attempt, but had no chance when Rollwagen lifted the rebound over him from the left edge. “I thought the 2-1 goal was crucial,” said Esse.
Still, the Lumberjacks played hard, and generated over a dozen strong scoring chances as the game went on. But at 1:45 of the second period, Tyler Howells made two big plays while killing a Holy Angels penalty. First, he blocked a point shot and dived to swat a pass to Kilpatrick, skating up the right boards.
Then Howells jumped to his feet and raced down the middle, just in time to catch up to the perfect lead pass Kilpatrick had sent back to him, and zoom in alone, beating Johnson with a deke to his left..
Another Cloquet power play chance midway through the period backfired when the puck hopped over the stick blade of point man Nate Woods. Kilpatrick kicked the puck ahead and tore after it as it slid into the Cloquet zone. Johnson started to come out for the puck, then changed his mind, then changed it again and came after all, but Kilpatrick beat him by an eyelash, pulled the puck to the right and shot into the empty net at 8:15.
At 4-1, the damage was done, but Kilpatrick set up Dan Kronick for a one-timer on a power play at 5:16 of the third period to make it 5-1. A couple of late penalties gave Cloquet the chance to get one goal back before the finish, with Matt Brenner deflecting in a point shot by Maunu — who probably played over 35 minutes of the 45-minute game. But only 36 seconds remained, and the Lumberjacks couldn’t catch up.
“They moved very well and beat us to a lot of loose pucks,” said
Johnson, who made 18 saves as the Jacks were outshot 25-23. “I expected a few more shots, but they did a lot of back passing.”
Esse said he never faulted Johnson’s goaltending because of the Holy Angels breakaways.
“Give them credit,” the coach said, “they’re an opportunistic team, and their skill level is amazing. You can’t give them opportunities. They’re too good a team for us to give up the chances we gave them.
I falls fall to Fergus Falls
ST. PAUL, MINN. — Maybe they were awestruck. Maybe they were caught looking around at the splendor inside the Xcel Energy Center. Maybe it was the warm air inside the arena — tropical by International Falls standards.
Whatever it was, the International Falls Broncos never found their rhythm Wednesday, and were whipped 6-4 by Fergus Falls in the first quarterfinal of the state Class A hockey tournament, before 3,638 fans. Fergus Falls (18-7-1) advances to Friday’s semifinals against Totino-Grace, while International Falls (20-6-3) must play at 10 a.m. Thursday against East Grand Forks, which fell 6-2 to Grace, in consolation play at Mariucci Arena.
It was an awe-inspiring thing for International Falls to reach the state tournament, and coach Kevin Gordon knew it. So he tried to find a way to take away some of the aura that he was convinced would leave his Broncos wide-eyed.
“It was overwhelming,” said Gordon. “This was not like us going down to Rochester for a holiday tournament. This was something brand new, that got us out of our element. We tried our best to keep everybody focused. We even tried to get into the rink after the banquet last night, just to look around. But we couldn’t get in.”
The Broncos couldn’t get into the same groove that made them deserve the top seed in Section 7A, or that allowed them to beat Hermantown 4-3 in the double-overtime thriller that sent them to the state. Not that they didn’t try.
Kevin Gordon, the junior center and son of the coach, scored a hat trick, including the game’s first goal, then the next two, which vaulted the Broncos from a 2-1deficit to a 3-2 lead in the second period.
But the Broncos weren’t sharp, getting outshot 27-17, and they couldn’t find any way to contain Ryan Miller, who scored three goals and assisted on two others, with two of his goals coming in the third period, when the Otters put the game on ice.
“I don’t know if it was the rink, or the atmosphere, or what, but they were well aware of our line, and our players,” said Ben Gordon, who now has 30 goals and 58 assists for 88 points. But he also felt the sting of not being able to click with his linemates Tom Biondich, who stayed at 52 goals but added his 31st and 32nd assists for 84 points, and Ross Johnson, who had only one assist and now has 20-43–63.
“We weren’t sharp,” Ben Gordon added. “It doesn’t matter if I got five goals, I’d give them all back if we could have won the game.”
While International Falls has been to state 19 times — and won a record seven championships — the Broncos had only made it once since 1995; Fergus Falls had never been to the big show until 1997, but they’ve come every time since then — making this the sixth straight trip for the Otters, including last year’s debut in the Xcel Center.
Coached by International Falls native Brad Bergstrom, the Otters started fast, getting off the first five shots of the game. But when International Falls got untracked, the Broncos jumped ahead, as Ben Gordon followed up a backhander and two blocked follow-up shots by drilling one past goaltender Tyler Ness from the slot at 8:00. However, Ryan Miller started his countering routine a minute later, dropping a pass to Ryan Kantrud, whose slapshot from the top of the left circle beat Jaren Baldwin at 9:06, and Miller connected on a later power play for a 2-1 Otter lead at the first intermission.
Strangely, it seemed as though Fergus Falls was content to try to hold the 2-1 lead, and they virtually welcomed the Broncos to take over the momentum in the second period. Gordon first hit the right pipe with a chance, then he scored at 6:42 by catching a hard pass fromTyler Krzoska at the right edge and depositing it before Ness could react.
Gordon scored again at 12:35 on a Bronco power play that should be in a highlight film. Josh Meyers moved in from left point for a blast that Ness blocked, but the puck popped high in the air, and was dropping behind him in the crease. Gordon waited until it dropped far enough to be lower than the crossbar — which made it legal, as well as a favorable trajectory — then he bunted it with his stick into the goal.
That gave the Broncos a 3-2 lead, but it lasted exactly 26 seconds, then Miller fed Tyler Gagner for the tying goal by Fergus Falls. Instead of a tense third period, it was a blowout, as Miller scored at 0:49, then Dan Perry shoveled a backhander in at 9:42, and Miller scored his 34th goal of the season at 13:01 to make it 6-3. Chris Adams scored from the left point with 52 seconds left, but the Broncos couldn’t generate anything further.
“You work like heck to get an opportunity to get here,” said Kevin Gordon.”Then you hope you play your best. They did a good job. They got on Tommy (Biondich) as soon as he left our zone every shift. But we can play better than we showed. That’s what hurts.”
I Falls tops Hermantown in double OT
HIBBING, MINN. — It was one of those high school hockey games that was such a classic, the 3,000 fans in the Hibbing Memorial Arena had to hate to see it end. And for a while, it resisted ending, until 1:51 of the second overtime period, when International Falls junior Andrew Dault scored to give the Broncos a 4-3 victory over Hermantown in the Section 7A championship game.
International Falls (20-5-3) outshot Hermantown 42-37 in an incredible, racehorse exchange of spectacular scoring chances, and appeared to take the victory when Tom Biondich scored his third goal of the game for a 3-2 lead with 3:09 remaining. But Hermantown (19-8-2) came back, and B.J. Radovich scored his second goal of the night with 57 seconds left in regulation to tie it 3-3.
The Broncos will advance to St. Paul to face Fergus Falls in the 12 noon opener of the Class A state tournament next Wednesday at the Xcel Energy Center.
Dault, skating on the second line, said he has “six or seven” goals this season, as Falls has won behind its explosive first line. He broke up the right side and fired a 45-foot shot that caught the short side on Hermantown goalie Nate Buck.
“I was totally surprised it went in,” said Dault. “I was just trying to get it on net. It was definitely the biggest goal of my life.”
If Dault was surprised, Falls coach Kevin Gordon was more surprised. “I was diagramming a play on the bench and I didn’t even see it go in,” said Gordon.
Same with Biondich, who had scored all the Bronco goals and now has 52 goals for the season.
“We were throwing everything at the net, and we were getting pretty tired,” said Biondich. “Our second line stepped up and got the winner, and that’s what we needed. I was on the bench when Dault scored and I never saw it. All I heard was the puck hitting the back of the net, and then all our fans going crazy.
“Nate Buck is a good goalie, and he played out of his mind tonight. We had awesome chances all night and he robbed us.”
Hermantown coach Bruce Plante said: “Falls has a great team, better than I thought they were. Biondich and Gordon are really fun to watch. They remind me of the old days, when guys could dangle. We thought having nine seniors might be to our advantage. They’re great kids, with big hearts, who play hard.”
After losing 7-2 to Falls at Christmastime, when Plante was in Germany watching his son, Derek Plante, play pro hockey, and Buck was out with a knee injury, the Hawk coach said he never considered trying to blanket Biondich with a checker, or play cautious defensive hockey.
“I refuse to play that kind of game,” Plante said. “I want to play run and gun, up-tempo, so the kids can have fun playing, and let the chips fall where they may.”
Both teams had to have fun in this one, which was wide open from the drop of the opening puck.
Brent Palmer, who assisted on all three Hermantown goals, picked off a behind-the-back clearing pass and broke to the net, feeding Radovich at the goal-mouth for a 1-0 Hermantown lead at 2:49 of the first period.
But the powerful Bronco first line countered almost immediately, when Biondich somehow looped out on the right side and broke diagonally for the net, cashing in on a pass from Ben Gordon at 4:23 for a power-play goal and the 1-1 tie.
After a scoreless second period, Hermantown defenseman Mike Anderson — who was brilliant defensively all game, including one play where he dived over the top of a prone Buck to block a shot — scored at 0:41 of the third period with a screened shot from the left point.
Again the Broncos responded quickly, and again it was Biondich doing the responding, this time scoring at 3:11 after breaking up the right side and catching a perfect pass from Ross Johnson, his other winger, who is playing with a partially separated shoulder.
All this time, both sides were attacking relentlessly, trading haymakers in what turned out to be an offensive shootout with enough chances to be 10-9. But goaltenders Buck of Hermantown and junior Jared Baldwin of Falls were spectacular, throwing themselves in all directions to stop fast-break plays and shots from all directions.
It stayed 2-2 until 11:51, when Gordon, the coach’s son, chipped a pass out of his end to Biondich, who raced end to end, somehow ducking around Anderson, the last defenseman, and cutting to the net to beat Buck with a quick shot.
That gave Falls its first lead of the game, and it appeared solid, until Hermantown made its final charge. Radovich came on, keeping the puck in the Falls zone, and tapping a soft pass to his left to Palmer, who moved ahead while Radovich broke for the net, then Palmer passed to the goal mouth and Radovich knocked it past Baldwin as he was sent airborne past the goal in the final minute.
Lumberjacks stun East 1-0 on short-handed goal for 7AA title
Cloquet-Esko-Carlton had been knocking on the door to the Section 7AA hockey championship for the last couple of years, and while it would have been colorful to say the Lumberjacks broke the door down Thursday night, it also would have been inaccurate. More accurately, the Lumberjacks picked the lock and swiped the 7AA trophy by the stealth of a 1-0 victory over Duluth East Thursday before a sellout crowd of over 5,500 fans at the DECC, bolstered by a regional live television broadcast.
Mike Erickson scored a shorthanded goal with 4:08 remaining, and it was as spectacular a goal as anyone could score without actually shooting, allowing the hustling, scrapping Cloquet defense to triumph while getting only 10 shots on goal. Josh Johnson made 19 saves for the shutout.
East had killed off its only penalty of the game in the first minute of the third period, and Matt Brenner went off for Cloquet for a cross-check at 9:23. Those were the only two penalties of the entire game, which was played at a tense, tight, but clean pace throughout. East’s power play had a chance to bail out the Greyhounds, who had spent the whole game sputtering and misfiring offensively, mostly due to Cloquet’s disciplined defensive style. On the power play, though, a shot from the left side missed the net, and the puck went ringing around the boards, through the right corner, and on out of the zone.
“They missed, and the puck squirted out,” said Erickson. “I was about at the top of the circle, and I took off. I picked it up somewhere between the red line and their blue line.”
By then, he also was beyond all five East power-players, and came in alone at goaltender Dustin Aro. As Erickson charged at the net from the left circle, Aro came out to confront him.
“I thought Aro played it well,” said East coach Mike Randolph. “He left him nothing to shoot at.”
Cloquet coach Dave Esse said: “Our 12 (Erickson) beat their 27 (Nick Licari) to the puck and got a breakaway. Our guy beat one of the best players in the state. When he went in at the goalie, I was looking for the trailer, because we were killing a penalty. He was in perfect position, but I still don’t know how the puck went in.”
Erickson, handling all the television interviews well, talked about going to his backhand and steering it through Aro. But in reality, he admitted he never really shot the puck. He had to abandon it, and as he flew over Aro, somehow the puck slithered under him.
“I took it to the net, and I knew he was going to come out,” said Erickson. “He went down and came at me, and I tried to go to my backhand, but I never really got thereÂ…”
Instead, Erickson went hurtling over the goaltender, trying to regain his balance as he flew past the net and crashed into the end boards. But as he sailed, out of control, past the goal, Erickson saw something very important.
“As I went by, I saw the puck go in,” he said. “It was the best feeling of my life.”
Erickson said he now had “21 or 22” goals, and he admitted he actually shot all the rest of them. But none was as big as this one.
East came back to finish the power play with renewed fire, but goaltender Josh Johnson stopped everything, and the Lumberjacks stalled off any last East hopes. Amazingly, East got 19 shots on goal, with maybe a half dozen of them being serious threats, not counting a Bryan Olds shot that hit the pipe. And Cloquet, counting Erickson’s goal, got 10 shots on goal. Count ’em, 10.
Randolph’s eyes were red from his post-game session with his players. “We’ve got a lot of five-year kids, four-year kids and three-year kids,” Randolph said. “This is a great senior class. Give Cloquet credit. They did a heck of a job doing what they had to do. We weren’t loose, we were tentative instead of initiating things. And Cloquet chipped the puck out and iced it I don’t know how many times, but they kept us from sustaining a forecheck. They never attacked us all night; was there a 2-on-1 ever in the game?”
Esse respected East’s offensive firepower enough to play ultra-cautious.
“We hoped we could limit them to five scoring chances or less, then we’d have a good chance to beat them,” said Esse. “They had about that. We were just fortunate to get a break at the end.”
Erickson said: “We had to play them tight defensively. We had a couple of breakdowns, but we got the breaks. And Josh was great. We can win it all, I think, because Josh is the X factor.”
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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