In the space between a junior varsity game in the morning and a varsity contest on Wednesday night, Proctor/Hermantown girls’ hockey coach Glen Gilderman needed to get creative.

With time to kill and a restless bunch of players, Gilderman ventured to a pair of tried-and-true havens for bored hockey teams of all ages.

“We went to Dave and Buster’s for a while and we went to the mall,” Gilderman said.

The pregame trips were unavoidable, but may have played a role in the relatively sloppy start to the game that burdened the Mirage, ranked No. 5 in the latest Class A state coaches’ poll.

“We had six hours that we weren’t at the hotel, so to come out a little bit flat is disappointing, but expected,” Gilderman said.

The responsibility of breaking a 1-1 tie with Lakeville North in the finals of the Schwan’s Cup Gold Division on Wednesday fell to senior captain and forward Callie Hoff, who responded with a hat trick to steer the Mirage to a 4-1 win over Lakeville North (7-7-0).

Hoff assisted on the first goal of the night for the Mirage (12-3-0), and junior forward Erin Olson scored the lone goal in the loss for the Panthers. 

A four-point night isn’t foreign territory for Hoff, who had three of them last season, but considering her performance comes in just her fourth game of the season after suffering a partial tear in her medial collateral ligament (MCL) in fall practice makes it all the more impressive.

“Having my (linemates) with me and helping me out through this is big,” Hoff said after the game. “They’ve been big supporters through my injury, and now back on the ice they’re even bigger supporters.”

One of those supporters is fellow senior Brionna Stafne, the Mirage’s leading scorer with 13 goals and 27 points.

Stafne was forced to sit out last season after transferring from Duluth East.

“Sitting out last year was definitely tough,” Stafne said. “But this year, coming out and being strong and being able to put the puck in the net, setting the lovely Callie Hoff up, it’s been a blast,” Stafne added as she and Hoff chuckled at the comment.

After a fourth place finish at last year’s state tournament, is the obviously connected duo ready for the home stretch of the season?

“Oh yeah, we’re ready,” Stafne quickly answered. “Bring it on.”