In just a few short days, Brooks Lockwood has already heard the question more times than he cares to admit: Three-peat? Still fresh off a 7-1 win over Eau Claire Memorial in last week’s state title game, giving the Hudson Raiders their second consecutive state title, the veteran head coach laughs at the prognosis, given the fact that next year’s state tournament is almost a year away. Still, he also acknowledges the huge steps the Hudson boys’ hockey program has taken over the past several years to put them into a position to battle for the title year after year. 

Can we call this a dynasty?

Lockwood: I don’t know about that. We’ve had a few good years. Certainly, I think that because of our association and where we sit and the type of support we have, there is a possibility that we can have a strong high school program every year in Wisconsin.  

When looking back at this state title, what was different compared to the season before?

Lockwood: We turned over a lot of players so I guess the leadership group was a new group. It was about the fact that we were No. 1 all year and we won it the year before, and I think the kids did a really nice job of putting that aside and focusing on each game. It was just two completely different groups. One was kind of heavy on the top-end with talent with two big-time players with (Aaron) Grounds and Chase (Blackmun), and then those other guys who were on the team that kind of got overlooked that year. Now this time around, it was their time to step up and be leaders and to have a big impact.

What are some of your lasting memories when talking about the 2017-18 journey?

Lockwood: They have always just kind of surprised us. I think that they were a really good two-way group, so they played both ends of the ice really well. Our best defenseman was more of a pass-first defenseman, a defensive defenseman. Our best forwards were two-way forwards. I think  maybe because of the youth and the lack of leadership experience, we were a little worried about them, but they just came through every time. Maybe we were a little naïve as a staff as to how good they can be and we tried every day to make sure we put our best foot forward. I guess it was just a group that never got nervous. They never put a lot of pressure on themselves, they just went out and played. I think at the end of the year, you look back on it and say wow, that’s a pretty amazing thing.  Normally with high school kids you have to reel them in every time, but they just went out there and played and did what we asked.

This was a different experience this time around. From a score perspective, you weren’t sweating bullets during the championship game like you did during your previous title game. How did it feel to know as the game progressed that you guys were going to be champs?

Lockwood: I think the score was probably a little misleading; Memorial is a really good hockey team – they tied us the last time we played. They played late the night before. We got out to an early lead in the first, even though I think it was pretty even. Then in the second period, they came back and played really hard. I think the pace kind of got away from them a little and we scored on some opportunities. It was definitely different. It was different at the end of the game to get all of the seniors out there and then play four lines towards the end to make sure everyone got a taste of it. It was a completely different feeling. The two teams were different. The way that we won was a little different. The state tournament was seeded this year, so that certainly helped. I think we were in the driver’s seat. We won the early game on Thursday, so I thought we got the most rest compared to any of the other groups, and that seemed to help quite a bit.

So now the conversation turns to what’s next. After enjoying this one, where do you go from here?

Lockwood: We sit down with the guys and have exit interviews. We talk about the development of the players throughout the upcoming year. The summer is a big part of our program. Being able to play a team in Minnesota and building a really good summer schedule is something that we have really worked hard at over the last several years, making sure we are playing a lot of top teams over there. Normally during the season in Minnesota they have their conference games and other conflicts, so it’s hard for us to get games against teams that we want, but in the summer they are always willing to play us and give us a game. That really helps us evaluate things and move forward throughout the summer. We kind of have an idea where guys will fit in and then we can really concentrate on developing them during the season and getting them going.

You had to say goodbye to some great leaders this season, but you also have a slew of talent coming back. Give me a preview of what we can expect next year.

Lockwood: We lose three of our top defensemen who have been on those state teams the last three years. It’s going to be tough to replace them. We will have some younger defensemen – kids from this year that didn’t play as much who will step in and then kids from our Bantam team and our JV team will step in. We do have some talented forwards who are coming back, so we will have some scoring. Then it’s just like the year before. This past year, our third and fourth defensemen were forwards that we moved to defense. Jack Flattum was originally a forward that we moved to defense, so there can be some conversions too because we want to be really good on the back-end. Like I said, in the summer you kind of find out where guys fit in and who we might be able to plug into certain spots.

Finally, I have to ask. Now with two state titles under your belt, do you worry about the mental part of the game at all? With all of this success, are you concerned about that volatile balance between wanting to win and expecting to win?

Lockwood: I think you have to build that in and that’s nothing that will change, that’s something that we have always preached – taking it one game at a time, one shift at a time. We preach just getting better every game regardless of our record or the score on the scoreboard. We try to look less at the scoreboard and more at how we are playing and what we are doing on the ice. We want to develop guys and we want to win games, but I think when all you do is talk about the score and expectations, that’s when things tend to slip. We have always just tried to focus on getting better every day. 

Andrew Vitalis can be reached at lphprep@yahoo.com.