Like Virginia Slims, Sean Fish has come a long, long way. 

In 2003, the Ramsey, Minnesota native helped Anoka win the program's only Class AA state championship. The two-time captain led an upset of juggernaut Holy Angels with two assists in the semifinals and made the All-Tournament team.

Fifteen years later, Fish washed up on the shores of Smiths Bay, the new head coach of Orono's girls' hockey team. 

Fish went from a blue-collar town famous for its Halloween Parades to a summer playground, where boats have names and Vineyard Vines stretches as far as the eye can see. 

A long, long way. 

"You know, for me, it's just, I love helping kids," Fish said earlier this fall. "It doesn't matter where I'm coaching, whether it's up in Alaska, down in Texas, or over in Orono," Fish continued, noting his assistant coaching stints with the North American Hockey League's Alaska Avalanche and Wichita Falls before returning to Minnesota. 

"I just love helping kids out. That's my passion, and I love giving back to a game that's given me so much."

Fish's passion also includes winning - which any coach knows rarely comes immediately. 

After helping the St. Michael-Albertville boys' team to its first Class AA State Tournament, the Spartans went 5-19-2 in Fish's first season after losing a batch of talented players to graduation after a run to the Class A, Section 5 finals. 

"It was just a feeling-out process," Fish said of the 2018-2019 campaign, adding that a demanding schedule also played a role in the season's outcome.

After building trust and familiarity, the Spartans won 17 games in 2019-2020, returning to the section finals, where they again fell victim to traditional power Breck.  

"We had the same group, basically, the next year, and we turned it around," Fish explained. "So I think the difference was, was the trust factor and just making sure that they understood that I had their best interests (at heart)."

"For us, I think the turnaround happened just with the progression and having patience," Fish added. "I said going into (the job), 'I have a four-year plan.'" That's what I told all of our coaches, what I told all of our parents. We're going on year four, and we're right on track. My plan was to get us to the state tournament for the first time in school history, and I think we're going to have a really good shot at it this year."

The Spartans also had a good shot at it last year. 

After winning 13 of 19 games during the 2020-2021 season, the Spartans entered the Section 5A playoffs as the No. 3 seed and saw top-seeded Chisago Lakes knock out the imploding Breck Mustangs in the semifinals. Previously, the Mustangs had a stranglehold on the section, going to three straight state tournaments and winning three Class A state titles. 

With the Spartans and Wildcats in the finals, arguably the best Section game of the season came down to double-overtime. 

"Our girls gave it everything that they possibly had all year long and put us in a great spot," Fish said. "They worked their tails off. For us, it was just the fact that we were that close, and then it was taken away from us— that hurt. So, (we have) unfinished business. We'll just leave it at that."

If you couldn't tell, the 3-2 loss to the Wildcats last March still hurts for Fish. 

Yet, Fish needn't have looked far for comfort - his own roster eased his mind. 

"I think seven out of our eleven returners had 15 or more points," Fish said. "So we have a lot of girls coming back. I think we had eight forwards, three defensemen, and two defenders. So it helps. We have a good nucleus coming back, obviously."

As Fish said, the Spartans return almost everybody this season, including last year's leading scorer and current Sacred Heart commit Iyla Ryskamp, who Fish says is poised to break the school's records for most career assists and points.

Joining Ryskamp up front are standouts Kailey and Alexa Niccum, plus Kaeli Koopman and do-it-all senior Mia Lopez. Also back is goaltender Celia Dahl, who, as a sophomore, led the Wright County Conference in wins (13) and shutouts (7). 

Unfortunately, USA Hockey Select 15 National Camp invitee Grace Bickett will miss the season after sustaining an injury for the Spartans' soccer team. With such a deep roster, Fish didn't hesitate when mentioning Allie Pleimann and Alex Paulsen as two players who could step up and fill Bickett's void.

Bickett's injury could also open the Spartans to the prospect of playing forwards at defense, which aligns with Fish's philosophy of positional agility. 

"I like when coaches have the ability to be a little bit flexible with what they want to do with the skill set that they have on their team," Fish said. "My coaching style is a little bit different where I coach to the girls that I have rather than try to fit them into my scheme."

In Fish's case, coaching to his players' strengths in this particular group means an entertaining brand of hockey. 

"I like girls that compete, I like girls that are smart, that are always around the puck," Fish said, agreeing with an assessment that the Spartans have as much pure speed as anybody in the state. "I think you'll see that in the way that we play, we want to get up and down," Fish continued. "We want to score a bunch of goals, and we want to make sure that it's almost a track meet."

Orono led the Wright County in total goals last season with 95, an average of 4.75 per game. That number is not expected to drop off, even with the Spartans' move to the Metro West Conference. 

In addition to more convenient travel, Fish said that the overall competition of the Metro West should be a step up from the Wright County. 

"We're going to miss playing teams like Mound and Holy Family, but when you're making that up with (Benilde-St. Margaret's) and Minneapolis and Holy Angels, and those types of teams, I think we're going to have a much tougher test in front of us, you know?" Fish said. 

The Spartans have a new conference, the same section (minus Chisago Lakes), and the same expectation of competing deep into the spring. According to the blueprint Fish laid out when he arrived at Orono, the Spartans are right where they should be, and he's not afraid to remind his team of their ultimate objective.

"We have a core group of kids that believe in each other, trust each other, and are like a family, and I think that goes a long way," Fish said. "So I think it could scare some teams off, but my teams seem to buy into that fact that we're thinking ahead, and we're really wanting to get to where we want to be. 

"We're putting a goal on the board, and that's what we want to achieve."