Last season was one of the more memorable state tournaments in recent history. The Class A state tournament saw little-known Monticello-Annandale-Maple Lake make a run all the way to the title game where they took on Class A powerhouse Hermantown.
The Hawks have made eight straight state tournament appearances and have won back-to-back titles after beating MAML 4-3 in  double overtime for their third state title (’07, ’16, ’17).

Hermantown graduated nine players off the state championship squad, but still return 11 and will still be the “team to beat” in Class A.

“After winning back-to-back state championships, the goal is to three-peat,” said first-year head coach Patrick Andrews, who takes over for legendary coach Bruce Plante who stepped down after 28 years at the helm. 

Andrews said not much will change under his leadership and that the foundation for success has been laid, and just needs to be followed.

“The key to Hermantown hockey’s success over the past decade has been a commitment to hard work, a blue collar mentality, that the boys bring to the rink every day,” he said. “That will not change with new coaches and a new season.”

Among the nine seniors lost off last year’s squad were a slew of Division I commits. But a program like Hermantown rarely rebuilds and often reloads. Returning are senior forwards Tyler Watkins (22-28–50) and Jacob Herter (6-12–18) as well as three junior defensemen who saw ample time last season: Darian Gotz (3-17–20), Elliott Peterson (3-15–18) and Sam High (3-7–10).

While Hermantown will vie for a three-peat, there are several teams who will be looking to knock them off and are certainly capable of doing so.

St. Cloud Cathedral enters the season ranked No. 2 in Class A. Cathedral is coming off a 22-win season that saw them reach the state semifinals where they lost to…yep, Hermantown. The Hawks prevailed in a 6-5 overtime win in one of the better games played in the Class A and Class AA tourneys.

The Crusaders lost seven players to graduation, including three of their top four scorers, but return 15 players with plenty of young talent to go around. Sophomores Nate Warner (21-27–48) and Mack Motzko (11-22–33) lead a strong group of four forwards that return to form their top three lines and also includes senior James Anderson (815–23) and junior Jackson Savoie (6-9–15). 

“We need to replace seven very good seniors this season,” said head coach Derrick Brown. “Replacing the scoring punch of Spethmann (29-43-72) and VanHalbeck (33-42–75) will be a key to our season. We do have some very good forwards from our JV and Bantam programs that should provide us with tremendous depth this season up front and give us a more balanced attack this season.”

The team will also bring back five of their six blueliners, led by Jeron Hirschfield (8-16–24), Talon Lenzen (2-11–13) and Reid Bogenholm (2-10–12).

“They learned to compete and become more consistent through our playoff run last season,” said Brown. “We will need to find a goalie to replace Levinski but we have a couple of very talented younger goalies ready to battle for that position. We look to have great depth this year. The key to our season will be working hard, players accepting their roles and playing for each other. We will need some younger players to step up, but we feel we have the depth to be a very competitive team come playoff time.”

One of the sleeper teams heading into the season is Orono. With former Minnesota Wild players Mark Parrish and Matt Cooke running the program, and a strong crop of returning scorers, the Spartans will be a team to be reckoned with.

Seniors Jack Suchy (19-21–40, Davey Burns (20-15–35) and Thomas Walker (8-19–27) will lead the way.

East Grand Forks is another team, much like Hermantown, with a storied history at the state tournament. They enter the season ranked No. 4. After winning state titles over Hermantown in 2014 and 2015, they lost in the quarterfinals last year to St. Cloud Cathedral.

The Green Wave return forward Colby Stauss, who netted 18 goals and 29 points last season, and one of the top defensemen around in Casey Kallock (6-21–27). Junior netminder Tucker Brown also returns after playing in 29 games last season and winning 17 with a 2.46 goals-against average and .883 save percentage.

And don’t count out fifth-ranked Mahtomedi. The Zephyrs made the trip to St. Paul last season and will be competing for a section title again in 2017-18. They lost just four players to graduation and return a strong core of players, giving them perhaps the most depth and experience in the field.

“Chemistry, depth at all positions and work ethic are among the strengths of this year’s team,” said head coach Jeff Poeschl, in his 24th season. “The Zephyrs could find themselves in a position to challenge for their first Metro East conference title, which should also prepare them for a deep run into the playoffs and state tournament.”

Rounding out the top 10 are No. 6 Alexandria (17-8-3), who lost to Cathedral 3-2 in the Section 6A finals last season; No. 7 Breck (26-4-1) who are four-time state champions (’00, ’04, ’09, ’10); No. 8 Greenway (18-8-1) who hasn’t been to a state tournament since 2001; No. 9 Sartell-St. Stephen (17-7-3) and also a Section 6A foe who returns 19 letterwinners; and No. 10 Luverne (22-7-1) who lost in the state quarterfinals last season and return 20 letterwinners.

Teams that could break into the top 10 early this season include Delano (26-4-1) who is coming off a state tourney berth, but also lost its high-scoring seniors from last season. The Tigers do, however, bring back one of the top goalies in Class A in senior Jackson Hjelle. Monticello could also crack the top 10 after they had to break up their co-op with Annandale and Moose Lake or move up to Class AA.

“Our success will rely on our ability to focus on doing things the right way and not get caught up in trying to match the success of the prior year,” said head coach Eric Nelson. “If the kids can buy in and do things the right way,  the outcomes will take care of themselves. The veterans will be relied upon to lead a younger team to achieve their goals throughout the season.” 

What is great about the state tournament, of course, is that nobody expected Monticello-Annandale-Maple Lake to get to the finals last year and almost overtake Hermantown.

Is there a sleeper in the mix this season? Or will the powerhouses prevail?

That, in a nutshell, is what makes high school hockey in Minnesota the best ticket in town.
 

Photo: Christine Wisch