Hermantown Boys State Bound

Wes Vork-NSO

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Mar 5

Wes Vork-NSO

Last time Hermantown and Duluth Denfeld met in boys hockey it took overtime periods for the Hawks to claim victory. Kevin Danielson made sure it didn’t get to that in Friday’s Section 5A matchup against the Hunters. Playing before a capacity crowd at the CARC in Cloquet, Danielson scored with 3:46 remaining in the third period to send the Hawks to the Minnesota Boys High School Hockey Tournament for the second time in four years.

Brendan Johnson got the Hunters on the board first by scoring at the 9:30 mark of the first period with an assist going to Ryan Lundgren. Although the Hawks outshot the Hunters 13-8, they went into the locker room down 1-0.

The Hawks came out strong in the second stanza and it paid off when Adam Krause scored the only goal of the period. Krause took a pass from Jared Kolquist, beat a defender at the blue line and rifled a shot into the net, scoring his 36th goal of the season and tying the game at 1-1. Brian LeBlanc was also credited with an assist on the play.

Period three saw the Hawks outshoot Denfeld 17-3 and score the first goal of the period when Charlie Comnick put the Hawks up 2-1 with an unassisted goal 3:27 into the period. Still, Denfeld kept coming and at 7:51 Tyler Kaspari put in a rebound with assists going to Levi Talarico and Collin Magnusonto. Once again the game was tied. The Hunters’ effort did not surprise Hermantown head coach Bruce Plante. He told NSO after the game, “Denfeld always works hard; they’re a dangerous team. We knew what to expect.”

Although the Hawks continued to outshoot Denfeld, neither team was able to score and the game remained tied with overtime looming on the horizon. Then, with 3:46 remaining in regulation, Danielson saw a loose puck in front of the net and managed to get a stick on it while falling backwards to score the game winning goal.

“The line before us did a great job and kept the puck in the zone and then our line got several shots on net. I went to the slot and when I saw the puck sitting there I just tried to go five-hole. I saw the puck go in as I was falling on my back and thought, game over!” Danielson explained he had confidence it would be the game winning goal because of the way Hawks goalie Tyler Ampe was playing. “Our goalie was having a real strong game. We have great trust in our goalies”

Danielson, a member of Hermantown’s state runner-up soccer team, credits that experience for helping the hockey team earn its own trip down south. “There were four of us on that team and our chemistry carried over to hockey.” Playing in the soccer title game also provided incentive for working towards a state title in hockey. “It was a great experience [soccer], but finishing second in the state just makes us want to work harder to win it all now,” he explained.

After winning it all in 2007, Coach Plante also has high hopes for his team. Still, he realizes a lot has to go right to win a state title, stating, “I haven’t seen all of the teams that will be down there, but like tonight we always play really hard and that gives us a chance. To win it all like in 2007 you have to play hard and have a little luck along the way.”

Thinking of the old saying “the harder you work, the luckier you get,” and judging by how hard the Hawks work, a little luck should be waiting for them next week.

With the win, the #3 state ranked Hawks improve their record to 26-3-0 and will find out who their first round opponent will be when the section winners are seeded on Sunday.

Wes Vork can be reached at wes@northlandsportsonline.com