Credit: Nick Wosika.
For their final act of the season, the Grand Rapids Thunderhawks unveiled a level of play unbeknownst to their head coach.
From the opening draw of Saturday night’s Class AA state championship game, Grand Rapids played like a team possessed by speed and obsessed with victory, putting an exclamation point on the 2017 season with a 6-3 win over Moorhead.
“I saw my players do things in the last two days that quite frankly I haven’t seen them do all year,” Thunderhawks’ head coach Trent Klatt said after the win. “Tonight and last night was the best hockey we’ve played all year, and I guess if there’s a time to play your best, it’d be down here,” Klatt continued.
The Thunderhawks (23-7-1) raced to a 4-0 lead over the course of the first period and half the second, with Gavin Hain netting a hat trick and Blake McLaughlin scoring the first of his two goals.
Hain deflected his personal performance onto his teammates, praising their ability to get him the puck the right situations.
“They were doing the work and the pucks just laid there for me,” Hain said. “I was lucky enough to bear down and bury them.”
Credit: Nick Wosika.
Moorhead rebounded with a pair of goals from Carter Randklev and Jack Stetz, pulling the Spuds within two at 4-2 entering the third period.
Micah Miller added an insurance goal at the 5:55 mark of the third, and McLaughlin iced the game with an empty-netter, with Moorhead’s Jacob Holtgrewe tallying a goal in between.
Miller credited the gauntlet of a schedule that Grand Rapids faced all season with the mettle required to emerge as champions.
“I think we’re a little battle-tested more than maybe some of the other teams,” Miller said, citing upsets over top seed Elk River and second-seeded Duluth East in the Section 7AA playoffs, and Friday night’s victory over State Tournament top seed Eden Prairie as key victories.
Moorhead coach Jon Ammerman said that the Thundehawks’ top line befuddled the Spuds (24-4-3).
“Obviously we didn’t have an answer for their top line,” Ammerman said. “We made plenty of plays, just not enough to win.”
Credit: Nick Wosika.
Ammerman added that he was proud of his players, and that the end of the game would be emotional whether they won or lost due to the graduation of his seven senior skaters and pair of senior team managers.
“There aren’t many,” Ammerman said of the departing individuals. “But they’re the right ones.”
With half the crowd decked out in Grand Rapids apparel, the impact made on a community that hasn’t seen a state title since 1980 was not lost on Hain.
“It’s a great community in Grand Rapids,” Hain said with a grin. “There’s no better place to grow up and play hockey.”
Credit: Nick Wosika.
Eden Prairie 3, Lakeville South 2 - Box Score
Senior Nolan Sullivan scored at the 6:55 mark of overtime to lift Eden Prairie to a 3-2 win over Lakeville South in Saturday’s Class AA third-place game at the Xcel Energy Center.
The Eagles (23-5-2) erased a 1-0 Lakeville South lead with goals from senior Casey Mittelstadt and Sullivan in the third period, with Sullivan’s coming at the 12:07 mark.
Lakeville South’s Bradley Golant knotted the game at 2-2 with just 2:01 remaining in regulation.
Fellow senior Josh Ess scored the first goal of the game for the Cougars (19-11-1).
Credit: Nick Wosika.
St. Thomas Academy 5, Wayzata 0 – Box Score
Credit: Nick Wosika.
Casey Mittelstadt, F, Eden Prairie
Nolan Sullivan, F, Eden Prairie
Isaiah DiLaura, G, Lakeville South
Joshua Ess, D, Lakeville South
Robbie Stucker, D, St. Thomas Academy
Carson Kosobud, D, Moorhead
Carter Randklev, F, Moorhead
Ethan Frisch, D, Moorhead
Blake McLaughlin, F, Grand Rapids
Gavin Hain, F, Grand Rapids
Micah Miller, F, Grand Rapids
Zach Stejskal, G, Grand Rapids
Tag(s): State Of Hockey News