Hilltopper Hockey forces ‘new world order’
Maybe you didn’t feel anything Sunday afternoon. Or maybe you felt a tremor as you strolled on the Lakewalk, or sat down to dinner. But whether you noticed it or not, there was a definite seismic shift up on top of the hill. And believe it or not, if you’re a Twin Ports hockey follower, there is suddenly a whole new world order.
The event was the Lakeview Summer Classic, a hockey tournament at Mars Lakeview Arena, designed to give Minnesota high school hockey teams a way to bring a climactic finish to the allowed summer hockey workouts they’ve been going through.
Marshall coach Brendan Flaherty has been putting on this tournament for several years, improving the caliber of the entries each season, particularly since Marshall made the bold move up from Class A to AA. This year, Hermantown, Bemidji, Brainerd, St. Cloud, Hibbing, Mahtomedi, and Benilde St. Margaret’s were in the field.
Marshall won Friday night, then won again Saturday to reach the 3:30 p.m. championship game on Sunday. Hermantown, annual state tournament entry and twice defending Class A champion under coach Bruce Plante, also won its first two games to reach the final. The question for Marshall was whether they had enough undeniable talent to overcome a shortage of depth. The question for Hermantown was, Can the Hawks simply keep on going now that Plante has retired?
The teams battled through the first period, tied 1-1. Marshall struck for two goals 53 seconds apart early in the second period to go up 3-1 before Hermantown scored late in the period. But Marshall countered that one and held a 4-2 lead going into the third.
The Hawks scored to close the gap to 4-3 midway through the second period, and the teams barreled into the final minute that way. Hermantown’s new coach, Pat Andrews, pulled his goalie amid a flurry of penalties in the closing minutes, and the final tally wasn’t certain until one last faceoff came in Marshall’s end with 1.1 seconds remaining.
Senior Alex Busick blocked the final try, and Marshall had won 4-3.
Maybe it didn’t sink in right away on the Hilltoppers, or their parents and fans. And maybe it was also lost on the Hawks and their followers. But it did mean a lot to Flaherty, who tried to remain calm and be subtle about it.
“It didn’t feel bad,” he said, in the understatement perhaps in Mars Lakeview history.
Over the last decade, it didn’t matter if both were Class A, or if Marshall went up to AA and Hermantown stayed A. The simple rule was that whenever the two teams played, it was probably going to be a fiercely intense battle, and it would probably be close — but Hermantown would win. Flaherty wasn’t certain how long the streak had been going on, mainly because it’s not the sort of thing he wanted to know about.
“It’s been eight or nine years, at least,” Flaherty said. “We’ve been flying under the radar...although I suppose that’s going to be harder to do now.”
The Toppers opened by beating Hibbing 10-1, then had to rally from behind against a strong Bemidji outfit in Saturday’s semifinals. Flaherty pulled goalie Busick at the finish and Marshall secured the tying goal. One of the tournament rules was to go immediately to 3-on-3 for any overtimes, and George Grannis scored the winner for a 5-4 triumph.
“We’ve got some quality players, and we started out with them as freshmen and sophomores,” Flaherty said. “They’re finally upper classmen — juniors and seniors. I don’t know if we have the depth to compete with the best teams, but I thought we moved the puck 10 times better by the time we got to the final game. We moved the puck really well.”
Willy Stauber, one of those veteran blue-chippers, rifled a slap shot from cetner point through traffic and into the Hermantown net for a power-play goal at 12:19 of the first period. Right after a Hermantown power play ended, Blake Biondi spotted the puck in the left circle and caught everyone by surprise with a quick shot through traffic at 16:04 for the 1-1 tie.
Grannis, who played a strong game all day, swiped the puck and broke up the right side, then fed Carter Sullivan for the tie-breaking goal at 4:10 of the second period, and Marshall’s Keelan Golat made it 4-2 at 5:03, with assists to cousins Willy Stauber and Levi Stauber.
Flaherty knew, of course, it wouldn’t be that easy. Sure enough, Brady Baker scored at 12:08 for Hermantown, with Jake Herter and Tyler Watkins assisting on a well-executed 3-on-2.
But before the second period ended, Levi Stauber -- one of the better pure goal-scorers in the City — saw he could score in traffic too, by banging in a third rebound at 13:19 to regain the 2-goal lead at 4-2. In the third period, Herter drew a penalty, which didn’t help the Hawks, but he made up for it 31 seconds after getting out of the box, drilling a shot from the slot at 6:09 to close the gap to 4-3.
“We feel we’ve got three or four Division 1 prospects on this team,” said Flaherty. Starting with the obvious, Levi Stauber, Willy Stauber, and Grannis make three. “And Peter Hansen, too,” Flaherty added, not wanting to mention any others in order to keep some assets under the radar.
The teams alternated penalties until the end, with Marshall getting the final two infractions 56 seconds apart, which gave the Hawks new life. In years past, the Hawks might have found a way to get the equalizer, and the Bruce Plante Rule might have prevailed.
As all of us shorts and sandals-wearing hockey fans stepped out of the frigid arena into the 80-degree sun, somebody said it was a good game, for summer hockey. This was a good game, I corrected him, for anytime of the year. Fast, intense and filled with good plays on offense and tough play along the boards, it was a game both sides will remember.
Of course, Duluth East is looming out there. Flaherty already mentioned “the Frenzy,” which is the special hockey night at Heritage Center, on December 21. It will be a doubleheader, and in one game, Marshall will play East.
Whatever, this is time for the Hilltoppers to celebrate their part of a New World Order in Duluth high school hockey. The Hawks looked impressive, and they’ll undoubtedly have a solid contender for their umpteenth straight Section 7A championship. But with Plante watching from the stands, the Hawks will require new shortcuts and subtleties to approach all those victories Plante’s presence guaranteed. And they need to be aware that they have allowed a sleeping giant on top of the hill to awaken.
