Hawks Headed Back To State Will Play Alexandria

Wes Vork-NSO

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Mar 4

Wes Vork-NSO

CHAMPLIN, MN – A three goal burst including taking full advantage of a 5 on 3 power play in the second period helped send Hermantown back to the state boys hockey tournament on Friday. The Hawks got five goals from five different players to defeat Rogers 5-0 at the Ice Forum in Champlin Park.

The Hawks graduated 14 players from last year’s state tourney team and returned only four holdovers, but never the less they came together and were the last unbeaten team in the state earlier in the season and now return to the state tournament for the second straight year.

“With 14 seniors on last year’s team, we ended up with a number of juniors who were on JV and that gave them an extra year of playing time. Hermantown Head Coach Bruce Plante commented to Northland Sports Online. Plante further explained “One of the things that’s happened is the Hermantown kids have been willing to play two years of JV to get one year on varsity, and that doesn’t happen in a lot of places. So what we have that’s really great is a third line of all seniors, which really helps with our depth.”

Brian LeBlanc scored the most important goal of the game at 11:09 of the first period on a pretty wrist shot to the top right corner of the net with Andrew Mattson assisting. That goal gave the Hawks, and their goalie Connor Lucas, all they would need for the rest of the game.

Lucas saved all 21 shots he faced, including a flurry in the third period when Rogers outshot the Hawks 11-8 to notch the section final shutout. Lucas however was quick to credit his defensive corps, explaining. “In the third they (Rogers) were trying to get to some open areas and get more offense going, but our “D” did a great job of clearing the puck and keeping
things to the outside.”

The Hawks put the dagger into the Royals in the second period when they powered home three goals in a span of just 2:20. It all started with a pair of power play goals, the first from Garrett Skrbich at 7:52, and then just :32 seconds later another power play tally by Chris Benson. The first goal was in a 5-on-3 situation with Jared Thomas and Jared Kolquist assisting and the second with a man advantage and LeBlanc and Bo Gronseth notching the assists.

The final goal of the period came at 10:12 when Billy Grillo thundered in a shot with Joe Hicks and Jesse Dyson adding assists and the Hawks led it 4-0 after two periods. Hermantown manhandled the Royals in the second period by outshooting them 17-2.

Rogers tried to bounce back in the final period, but the lone goal of the final stanza was scored by Jared Thomas of the Hawks at 4:24 with Skrbich assisting.

All four of the returning Hermantown players had a role in helping the Hawks head back to the state tournament, where they finished second to Breck School by a 2-1 score last year. Leblanc, Skrbich, and Thomas scored goals and defenseman Kolquist picked up an assist. For the returning players who came in second last year on a fluke goal that bounced off a defenseman’s shin pad, the win sets them up for another possible run at the title.

Senior captain Skrbich talked about wanting to get another opportunity for a title run. “At the beginning of the year, that was our goal, to try to get back into that game. The incentive’s there, especially for those four guys, the passions there, we all want it, we want to work hard to get back in that same game and hopefully change the outcome.” Skrbich further explained, “We have to play every game as hard as we can, go out there and try to win every period. Tonight we won the first, played a great second period and then closed out the third. If you win every period you win the game as well.”

“Our goal at the beginning of the year was to get back to the Xcel and I think we surprised a lot of people. Junior winger Jared Thomas mentioned. “With replacing 14 seniors, no one knew what we really had, but we knew we could do it because we’ve played together all our lives. Coach came to the four of us (returning players) before playoffs and said although three of us weren’t captains, we were captains on the ice. He talked about helping everyone get through the pressures and momentum swings. They are all really good players and know the game so it was just helping a little with the mental aspect, not being nervous, just have fun and play the game.” Thomas added.

Plante also credits the youth program for giving the Hawks the ability to replace so many players and still be successful. “We have great coaches at the youth level.
For a small school like we are we have pretty good numbers. And because of the outdoor ponds, the kids are out there all the time. It’s kind of like old time rink rat hockey.”

Thomas was quick to agree with the advantages of the four outdoor rinks. “Most kids go out there and play another 2-3 hours instead of going home. We get some guys out there, play a little game, have some fun and work on skills. I think it helps a lot.”

Next week, the Hawks will take the skills learned at the four small outside rinks in Hermantown, to the largest indoor high school hockey stage in the nation, the Xcel energy center. With hard work and maybe a bounce their way those skills can help the Hawks earn another state title.

Update: Hermantown (23-3-2) received the #2 seed and will play Alexandria (12-15-1) at the Xcel Energy Center on Wednesday at 11:00am.

Wes Vork can be reached at wes@northlandsportsonline.com