Thursday’s press conference after Blake escaped Maple Grove with a 7-5 win included praise for a specific coach that wasn’t involved in the game, at least from a tactical standpoint. 

Instead, current Blake coach Rob McClanahan lauded the efforts of his predecessor Greg May, now the Director of Hockey Operations at the University of Minnesota. 

“When Greg came on board, the school made that decision,” McClanahan said. “He started the process of ramping this team up, and he did a great job,” McClanahan continued. “You’re seeing the fruits of the labor of that.”

Those fruits ripened at the right time on Thursday, as the No. 2 seed Bears (23-6) broke a 5-5 tie with 2:14 remaining in regulation and then iced the game with an empty-net tally 69 seconds later. 

The empty-net goal, scored by Gavin Best, came on a disputed power play during the game’s final minutes, as Maple Grove’s Henry Nelson was whistled for delay of game. As the rule stands, on a delay of game penalty inside two minutes of a game, a team can choose if they would like a penalty shot or a two-minute power play. 

McClanahan and the Bears opted for the man-advantage.

“The ice isn’t always good at the end of a period,” McClanahan explained. “I liked our odds with our power play to control the puck. It gave us the best chance to win.”

Defenseman Will Svenddal scored the game-winning goal for the Bears and added five assists in the win to finish with six points. Joe Miller followed with a hat-trick and two helpers, and Gavin Best scored a goal and notched three assists. Senior captain Jack Sabre scored twice for the Bears and recorded three points, bringing his season total to 55 points after finishing the 2018-2019 campaign with 23. 

“Consistency. Senior leadership. I think he took that role on, and he ran with it,” McClanahan said of Sabre’s improvement. “He’s worked hard (and) takes advantage of every opportunity.”

While Maple Grove (20-9) sophomore Josh Giuliani had every opportunity to complain about multiple questionable calls in the third period, he impressed his coach with his reticence about the situation. 

“I commend my number-nineteen next to me for taking the high road, and I’ll take the high road also,” Crimson coach Todd Berglund said. “Refs are human. They make mistakes.”

Berglund also extolled his group’s ability to battle through adversity, including a season-ending injury to the team’s top player, Kyle Kukkonen, during the regular season. 

“These guys are battlers, and they compete hard,” Berglund said. 

“I’ll hang my hat on these twenty kids any day.”