Shawn Reid’s well-appointed office sits across the street from where his team’s dreams died last spring.

Does he ever look out the window at Parade Ice Garden in a weak moment? Does he replay last year’s Class AA, Section 6 loss to Edina, the eventual state champion? Does he second-guess or run numbers while pacing the hardwood floors of Blake’s Upper School?

“No, I don’t. At all.”

Reid says this with a grin, and with 20 years of coaching experience, he has become adept at seeing the big picture.

The 2018 Section 6AA final was more than a game between the two best teams in the state. It was girls’ high school hockey at its best, a premium marketing opportunity to convince the (numerous) elitists who ignore the girls’ side of the puck throughout the winter that the game is worth more than an obligatory glance.    

“We packed Parade for a girls’ high school hockey game as a section final, and it was as loud as can be,” Reid said. “So many times I go to a rink and talk to random people, and they say ‘oh I was at that game,.’” 

“Of course you want to win, but what great promotion for girls’ high school hockey.”

That exceptional promotion of girls’ hockey (high school or otherwise) came at the expense of Reid and his Bears spending their first March in the stands since 2012, the year the Bears fell to Breck in the Section 5A finals and sparked a run that included four Class A state crowns in the next five seasons. 

The Bears transitioned to Class AA for the 2017-2018 campaign and experienced zero growing pains, at least on paper, en route to a 24-2-2 record and 11 players topping the 10-point plateau.

Eight of those point-getters return, albeit varsity mainstay, team captain, and emotional general Sara McClanahan does not. McClanahan is now skating for the Dartmouth women’s program, and Reid points out that losing seniors Sarah Chute and Kyra Willoughby hurts as well. Willoughby now plays for Harvard, while Chute was the team’s Hobey Baker Award winner. Starting goaltender and Minneapolis Star-Tribune First-Team, all-metro selection Anna Kruesel is also gone.  

“We lost McClanahan, who’s an offensive powerhouse, and on the backend, there’s a reason it’s hard to score on us,” Reid said. “It’s hard to get around those senior defensemen we had last year.” 

“There’s enough returning players that know how we want to play as a team, so I’m excited to see what it’s going to look like,” Reid added. 

That’s the power of the Blake girls’ hockey. No matter who graduates, no matter who is subjected an unfortunate injury, the power of the program’s philosophy wins out every time like a Las Vegas house. 

“I don’t know where I saw (the quote), but it said ‘culture is more important than strategy,’” Reid said. 

“We don’t know our culture yet. The program is always bigger than the players and coaches, and it’s our job to continue that tradition,” Reid continued.

Minnesota commit Madeline Wethington, considered one of the top defenders in the country is back for the Bears, as are offensive dynamos Lily Delianedis and Izzy Daniel. Delieanedis and Daniel combined for 82 points last season, and are verbally committed to Cornell as a junior and senior respectively.   

“Within each season, there’s a unique culture as well, a mini subculture, and I’m excited to see what that subculture is going to be like, Reid said. 

There are very few hockey programs, boys or girls, in the state that can operate in this fashion, where the head coach is secure enough in their position that they can view each season as a fascinating experiment. Where instead of obsessing over wins, losses, playing time, or parental mutiny, the coaching staff is optimistically intrigued with how the personalities will mesh.

The hockey program is a microcosm of The Blake School, where synergy and subtle efficiency reign supreme. There are no bells to signal the end of class. There is no stampede of Nikes and Adidas sneakers toward their next classroom, no slamming of locker doors, and no visible paper airplanes floating down the hall. 

Likewise, the synergy between the girls’ and boys’ teams ranks above convenience. 

Reid and boys hockey coach Greg May work in tandem to ensure that the teams receive every opportunity to attend the other’s games throughout the season. 

“One thing (Greg) and I do is really try to coordinate our schedules so that we don’t conflict with each other,” Reid explained, adding that being able to see his sons, Aksel and Lachen, skate for the boys’ team is a bonus. 

“It’s best for the school culture,” Reid says. “Who are the best fans but the corresponding players of the other gender? So that boys’ team probably wants the girls’ team at their game, cheering them on and having a bigger crowd.”

Large crowds befit lofty expectations, which are ingrained in the school’s academic curriculum and written into the DNA of the athletic teams. There are no spirit signs or pep rallies to manufacture artificial athletic support for the last few minutes of Thursday or Friday afternoon. 

It’s not needed here. Reid flashes another grin.  

“This is unlike any other high school you’ll see."