The Thunderhawks come into St. Paul sky high
The Choice for this year's Winner is Public
Eight schools, eight public. Wait, what?
Hill Murray? No.
Benilde St. Margaret's? Not gonna do it.
St. Thomas Academy? Nope.
Edina? No, they're not private.
Duluth E...no, not them either. Not private, not in it.
The traditional private schools are not in and several traditional publics bowed out of section play as early as the semifinals. Some in the old guard say the tournament won't have its same luster.
Imagine the first time you saw Madonna or Katy Perry. Your eyes were likely pleased. The same will happen when you see Farmington. These kids play really hard. They beat Lakeville North three times this year. These Tigers look really good.
Or imagine seeing a girl from your past who still looks really, really good. Enter Anoka, Burnsville or Grand Rapids - teams that have been gone a while but return this year to the X with three really good teams.
To make these teams even more appealing, all of the teams in the field are about even. No team is undefeated, everyone has a blemish or two. But they all have three things in common. They won a tough section, their entire community is behind them and have been since they were five years old and their team has a legit chance to win the state title.
Swallow your pride old guard, suck it up. Your life hasn't changed a bit now that Farmington and Anoka made it instead of Lakeville North and Blaine. I know some of you will miss Mike Randolph or Curt Giles, but it will be okay. This year, we get new blood like Trent Klatt and Greg May. Top players like Isaac Johnson (Anoka) and Eric Otto (Burnsville).
We can't wait.
Game 1
No. 2 seed Stillwater (26-1-1) vs. Farmington (18-8-1)
The Ponies, fresh off an epic 1-0 win over Hill-Murray in overtime of the Section 4-2A finals, is loaded with speed and offensive weapons. The shiniest pieces of the war chest are junior forward Noah Cates (23-37-60) and his senior brother Jackson Cates (24-34-58). Jackson is a Michigan Tech-commit.
The Tigers thumped longtime Section 1-2A and South Suburban Conference rival 6-2 to make the trip to state. Senior forward John Sibenaler (18-26-44) and senior forward Wyatt Jensen (16-27-43).
Unsung Heroes: Thomas Bruchu (pronounced Brush-ee) Stillwater and Farmington's John Siebenaler
Prediction: Stillwater
Andy Meyer and the Tigers are in the AA state tourney for the first time.
Game 2
1:00 p.m. - No. 3 seed Wayzata (19-8-1) vs. Burnsville (16-10-2)
The Trojans do not have a player with 20 goals, and senior forward and North Dakota commit Mark Senden (9-28-37) leads the team with less than 40 points. However, the Trojans have a staunch defense and do all the “little things” to win games. 11 different players have reached double-digit total points after the section playoffs.
Burnsville upset No. 1 seed St. Thomas Academy in the Section 3-2A finals, and make their first trip to state since 2007 on the back of senior forward Cade Borchardt’s nine goals in the playoffs. Senior defenseman Eric Otto handed out 10 assists in section play.
Unsung Heroes: Amar Batra, Wayzata and Nolan Sawchuk, Burnsville
Prediction: Wayzata
Nolan Sawchuk scores for Burnsville earlier this year
Game 3
6:00 p.m. - No. 1 seed Eden Prairie (19-7-2) vs. Anoka (18-9-0)
A pair of Division I commits in Casey Mittelstadt (Minnesota) and Michael Graham (Notre Dame) are the ringleaders of the Eden Prairie’s offense, totaling 68 and 49 points respectively.
Anoka is making its first appearance since it won the 2003 title, has its own pair of dynamic forwards in junior Isaac Johnson (24-24-48) and senior Michael Talbot (18-23-41).
Unsung Heroes: Assistant Coach Steve Olinger, Eden Prairie and Reese Grailer, Anoka
Prediction: Eden Prairie
The Eagles are flying high heading into St. Paul
Game 4
8:00 p.m. - No. 4 seed Grand Rapids (21-6-1) vs. No. 5 seed Bemidji (23-2-2)
The Thunderhawks edged Duluth East 6-5 in the Section 7-2A finals, ending the Greyhounds’ seven-year run as the section champion. Mr. Hockey finalist Mitchell Mattson leads a physical squad with 20 goals and 57 points.
Junior forwards Alex Pollack (16-28-44) and Brady Tatro (17-26-43) lead the Lumberjacks, who skated to a 1-1 tie with the Thunderhawks on Nov. 1.
Unsung Heroes: Alex Adams, Grand Rapids and Matt Fitzgerald, Bemidji
Prediction: Grand Rapids
Senior Mitchell Mattson scored earlier this year in the Edina Invitational against EP
Player Profiles
Much like we did for our Player of the Year award, we went out and met a handful of our favorite players. These players aren't committed to college yet, but are very talented and extremely important to their team. We do 15 Questions in 60 seconds and fictitiously share something unique about each player.
We met section 4AA hero Noah Cates a couple days after his heroic game winning overtime goal on Friday. He was still on cloud nine. We also had a chance to meet Cade Borchardt. Despite the shabby camerawork, the interview turned out great. Cade had some great answers including a hat tip to his older brother Cole.
But the interview that will likely stand out most was with Wayzata defenseman Hank Sorenson. Sorenson broke the bank with million dollar answers at the beginning, middle and end. You can't make it up.
Other Class AA players headed to the tourney we would have like to have interviewed (time permitting):
Grady Hauswirth, Farmington - gifted player with a great knack for the net...the Tigers' fourth leading scorer is always around the puck.
Brendan Corbin, Anoka - every good list needs a solid junior back-up goalie. Corbin is my man.
Blake McLaughlin, Grand Rapids - who doesn't love and ultra talented player who with a real edge to his game? A player with Blake's creative flair and edge would have been a great interview.
Nolan Sullivan, Eden Prairie - this junior forward has exploded for 20 goals and 21 assists this year for the Eagles. Dating back to PeeWees has always been the hardest working guy on the ice.
Brady Tatro, Bemidji - the junior forward had 17 goals and 26 assists for the Jacks...he has great hands and when he was a Bantam he had some sick flow. Where did it go Brady, where did it go?
Cade Borchardt
Player: Cade Borchardt
School: Burnsville
Year: Senior
Position: Forward
Something Unique: once ate 56 chicken wings in one sitting
Noah Cates
Player: Noah Cates
School: Stillwater
Year: Junior
Position: Forward
Something Unique: has a pet turtle Ima
Hank Sorenson
Player: Hank Sorenson
School: Wayzata
Year: Junior
Position: Defense
Something Unique: still collects and trades Pokemon cards
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