"Nuts and bolts, nuts and bolt..."
Eden Prairie Outlasts Holy Family in Section 6AA Semi-Final
This post was sent to me by a YHH reader who attended the Section 2AA game between Eden Prairie and Holy Family Catholic last Saturday at Braemar Arena. It speaks to what happened during the controversial game.
At the beginning of January the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association banned certain cheering from the stands during high school sporting events. Such chants as “Fundamentals”, “Sieve”, and “Scoreboard” were considered disrespectful and have been consequently banned. Walking into Braemar Ice Arena for the Section 6AA semi-finals there were neon signs posted. Taking a page from WIAA, no signs were allowed inside the arena. So the students were left to chant.
Saturday reminded me of my high school experiences in sports as a fan and a player. It brought back memories of those now banned chants in Wisconsin as well as some that have been forgotten. High School hockey playoffs bring out an energy and passion in fans that is unmatched in other state sports. And that is one of the many things that make it such a great experience.
But honestly, there is one thing I don’t want to notice. When I go to any hockey game I want to see a game. I don’t ever want to walk away talking about something other than the play on the ice, especially during the playoffs. I don’t want to notice referees, no one does. The best games I have ever watched, I have NEVER noticed officials, EVER.
Flashback, nine days ago a small private school ranked in top 20 traveled to a Class AA top 5 rated school. The small private school was trying to make a name for itself, the other trying to cement its stature as top team. The bigger stronger school seemed to take control, but the smaller school kept battling, kept finding a way to stay in the game. The third period opened and the Class AA school seemed to take control.
With a one goal lead and a power play starting up, a timeout was called. The small school kills off penalty, goes on to tie the game only to have a questionable icing call with ten seconds left in the game. The icing call turned into the referees refusal to allow a line change for the visiting team. Then the ref kicked the center out two seconds later after he had botched the drop and blown the whistle. The result, the AA school wins faceoff, the puck gets thrown from point (a great play by the defenseman) and multiple rebounds later the puck finds the back of the net. Holy Family beats St. Cloud Cathedral 5-4.
As the Fire celebrated their victory over Cathedral I walked away dumbfounded at the sequence, one could only say what if. It felt like the Cathedral got robbed; the referees became a part of the story. Taking something away from a hard fought hockey game between two good teams both well coached. In my mind I was brought back to the chant, “Nuts and bolts, nuts and bolts……….”
Fast forward to Saturday, Holy family found itself hanging on in a close game with a big school. This time the Fire’s season was on the line. The Fire players had worked hard for years to be at this place and time. They were the small school trying to make a name for itself, against big school trying to cement its stature as a team to beat. With Holy Family down by one to start the third period and being heavily outshot 25-10; the Fire hit the ice and gathered as a team in a tight huddle on the bench one last talk amongst themselves to make a final push to win. Casey Mittlestadt and his Eden Prairie line mates waited for Will Garin and the Fire at center ice.
Through two periods you got the feeling that it was only a matter of time before Eden Prairie took control and cruised. But whatever was said to the Fire between the periods worked, Holy Family came out flying. They killed off a penalty to start the period. From there they put the Eagle on their heels, mounting attack after attack. The tide seemed to be turning. Five minutes into the period, the Fire’s Matt Anderson charged in from the point to bury a rebound. The score was tied and the momentum had clearly changed. The Fire were about to seize control of the game.
Five minutes later on the power play the Fire’s Nick Michel shot not once, not twice, but three times in a row. The final shot was a spin around from the bottom of the circle that (from my perspective) beat the goalie short side going just inside the far pipe. A tremendous individual effort, the kind of play you talk about afterwards. But for some reason or another the referees felt the need to confirm the goal, the ensuing delay lasted several minutes and included the goal judge being called to the penalty box to confirm. The result, the referees determined the puck was played with a hand and nullified the goal. Moments later a slashing penalty was called on the Fire, the Eagles scored on the power play to go up by one and now everyone has officially noticed the officials.
Clearly the sequence drained the Fire, their attempt to tie the game came up short in the end and an empty net goal sealed the Eagle victory with 16 seconds left. This time it felt like Holy Family got robbed. What was a great game came down to talking about officiating instead of the outstanding players and coaches involved in this contest.
Drifting back to my high school days, I sat there waiting for the chant from the Holy Family student section “Nuts and bolts, nuts and bolts………..” Nothing, no signs, nothing. I guess it’s all banned.