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H.S. Hockey | Some notes (and changes to Kiwanis Festival lineup)

Posted by: Feldman

Whew. That was a fun Stanley Cup Final, eh? Too bad the last game had to be the least enjoyable of all, but congrats to L.A., what a run for the Kings as a No. 8 seed. And I'm sure glad I picked them to win; it's in print and everything (but don't go back and look at my prediction, just take my word for it. Please.)

On to some local hockey stuff.

* A reminder: The Minnesota Wild Road Tour will stop in Rochester on June 25. Players Matt Kassian and Charlie Coyle will be here, as well as former player Antti Laaksonen and TV color analyst Mike Greenlay will be here. They'll stop at the Wells Fargo on 55th St. NW from 4:15-5:15 p.m. More info. on the Road Tour can be found here.

* The annual Don Lucia Model Camp began on Monday, with 108 players from around the state (and some from bordering states) divided into six teams of 18 players. Players from our area/Section 1 who are competing this year: Jared Bromberg, F, Rochester John Marshall (will be a junior this fall); Soren Colstrup, F, Owatonna (junior); Luke LIjewski, F, New Prague (junior); Ryan Jutting, F, Mankato West (senior); Andrew Scofield, F, Northfield (senior); Ryan Drazan, D, New Prague (junior); Austin Kilian, F, New Prague (junior); and Colton Schmidt, F, New Prague (junior).

For more information on the camp, including full rosters for each team, click here.

* First off, congrats to former Lakeville North goalie Charlie Lindgren, who has committed to play at St. Cloud State. The Huskies and coach Bob Motzko, an Austin native, are getting a steal. Lindgren was a pain in the side for Section 1AA teams for four years; I'm certain the Rochester teams were happy to see him graduate.

Lindgren's rise to a D-I scholarship reminds me of the path former Rochester Century standout Alex Kangas took. All of us in this part of the state realized how special Lindgren was from the time he stepped in the goal as a freshman. Two years ago, we watched him nearly single-handedly lift his team past Lakeville South in the section final, then nearly single-handedly win two consy games at the state tournament. I can't wait to see how he does in St. Cloud and the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference, which begins play in the 2013-14 season.

* This is pretty cool: The Ottawa Citizen newspaper recently reviewed the book "Scarlet Ice," written by Roger Dier. It's the story of the 1995 Mankato West hockey team, the issues it had on and off the ice, and more importantly, the story of its sparkplug player, John Janavaras. Just 15, Janavaras was a workhorse. He also died that year after a outbreak of bacterial meningitis swept through the school. Read the review, then check out the book. The writing is quite good in spots, not so good in others, but Dier has put a tremendous story in print.

* For college puck fans, I talked with Minnesota State, Mankato, beat writer Shane Frederick (follow him on Twitter @Puckato -- great follow) last week at the state softball tournament. I asked him how things were going so far with new Mavs head coach Mike Hastings officially on the job. He said it sounds like MSU has seen a spike in season ticket sales; the real test might be to watch the sales of single-game tickets. We know MSU can sell tickets when the Gophers, Wisconsin and North Dakota come to town. How will Hastings' presence impact the sales for games against teams like Michigan Tech or Anchorage, though? I suppose it all comes down to winning.

Frederick also said he expects that MSU assistant coaches Darren Blue and Todd Knott will be retained, at least through this season, if not longer. It would be tough for Hastings to start searching for assistant(s) now, anyway, with a short time before players report to campus. Plus, St. Cloud State is already on the hunt for a top assistant, after Steve Johnson left to join head coach Dean Blais in Omaha.

* KIWANIS FESTIVAL NEWS

I fully admit I'm a dork, and I spend time in the middle of June digging through high school hockey schedules five months in advance of the season beginning. But as I did, I noticed a handful of teams who have been regulars at the Rochester Kiwanis Festival do not have the tourney listed on their schedules for this December.

I don't have the AA field (though I'll take a guess at most of it) yet, but I do have a tentative list of teams for the Class A field. I'll post what I know (and what I think I know) and let you formulate your opinions:

CLASS AA: Rochester Century, Rochester John Marshall, Rochester Mayo and Eau Claire Memorial all have the Festival listed on their schedules. I don't know this for certain, but I'm assuming long-time Festival attendees New Richmond (Wis.) and Fargo (N.D.) South will return. Those teams are a part of the Festival; it wouldn't be the same without them here. Eastview does not have its non-conference schedule posted as of yet, so there's a good chance the Lightning could return.

The eighth team in the AA field could be Richfield. The Spartans at one point had "Rochester tournament" listed on their schedule, but it noted "vs. Rochester Century" ... that has been removed from their schedule as of now. They only have 22 games listed -- three short of the 25 allowed by MSHSL rules -- so perhaps they're seeking a different tourney, or are waiting to confirm a spot in the Kiwanis? 

Prior Lake -- a team I was really hoping would return this year -- is out. The Lakers have the Schwan's Cup Silver Division listed on their schedule.

CLASS A: Here's the way the Class A field shakes out, tentatively, I'm told. Looks like long-time tourney participant Albert Lea is out, as are St. Michael-Albertville and Northfield, both of which were in it last year. Albert Lea is scheduled to play in Simley's tournament, in Inver Grove Heights.

The Kiwanis Class A tournament appears to include the following: Lourdes (defending champ), Dodge County, New Ulm (2010 champ), Ashwaubenon (Wis.), Verona (Wis.), WSFLG (Wis.), Northland Pines (Wis.) and Kansas City.

That would mean half the field has turned over. Lourdes (defending champ), Ashwaubenon (4th place last year), New Ulm (6th) and Dodge County (8th) are back; the other four teams are new.

Verona could be a nice addition; it went 22-1 in the regular season last year and qualified for the state tournament, where it lost in the semifinals to eventual state champion Notre Dame Academy.

That's all I know for now; I'll pass on more about the tournament as I find out.

Section 1A final | 3 keys for each team

(Note: I've updated the stat about the past four section 1A title game winners scoring three goals in their win. It's three of the past four. Lourdes won 2-0 last year.)

Rochester Lourdes is on the verge of doing something only two other Rochester hockey teams have ever accomplished -- make it to the state tournament four years in a row.

Rochester High School went from 1945-48, and Lourdes did it from 2000-03.

The No. 1-seeded Eagles can match those teams if they beat No. 3 seed Northfield in the Section 1A championship game tonight at 7 p.m. at the Rec Center.

This is the fifth consecutive season that Lourdes has reached the section final -- every year since returning to Section 1 from Section 3. If recent history gives us any indication, the first team to three goals will win. Three of the past four winners of the Section 1A title games scored three goals in their victory (2008: West 3, Lourdes 1; 2009: Lourdes 3, Red Wing 2; 2010: Lourdes 3, RW 0; 2011: Lourdes 2, New Prague 0).

The Eagles (19-8-0) hope to buck that trend tonight. Well, actually, I'm sure they'd be just fine with a 3-2 or 3-1 win, but they're averaging more than five goals per game and feel pretty confident in their chances if they can meet their scoring average.

The big equalizer could be Raiders senior goalie Isaak Tjaden, who comes in with a sub-3.00 goals against average and a .920 save percentage. As Lourdes coach Josh Spaniol told me on Monday, it's playoff hockey. You can put a lot of shots on goal and only score one, then you get a bounce to go against you, and all of a sudden, your season's done.

As usual, the key for Lourdes will be sustaining pressure in the offensive zone and making Northfield use up its energy. The Raiders rolled two lines for most of their semifinal victory against Albert Lea. Lourdes will roll three, if not four. Plus, as the home team, Lourdes will get the last line change and can get the matchups it wants. That means we'll probably see a lot of the Nellans-Nicolay-Weir line against Andrew Scofield's line.

We've already mentioned a key for each team, but let's throw out a couple more:

3 KEYS FOR NORTHFIELD
1. Goalie play -- we mentioned Isaak Tjaden earlier in this post. The Raiders senior goalie will have to have his best game of the season if Northfield is to win a section title for the first time. Lourdes put 44 shots on him when they met in the regular season. He stopped 39 of them, but if five get by him tonight, Lourdes wins.
2. Keep it close -- let's see if the Raiders watched what Red Wing did in a semifinal loss to Lourdes on Saturday. The Wingers packed things in around goalie Preston Blaney and didn't let Lourdes get many chances in close, at least until the final five minutes of the game. On two occasions, Lourdes held the puck in the WIngers zone for more than two minutes without getting a goal. It ultimately took a toll on Red Wing, whose players looked tired in the second half of the third period. But, the Winger strategy was to keep it close going into the third and then take their chances (Red Wing and Lourdes were tied 2-2 into the final six minutes of the game). Northfield needs to do the same thing. The Raiders gave up four second-period goals to Lourdes in a 5-2 regular season loss. They can't let Lourdes get that far ahead tonight.
3. Stay out of the box -- Lourdes moves the puck extremely well on the power play and Karl Krecke has settled in nicely as the point man, a role he inherited from All-State defenseman Rory Vesel, who ran the point last season. Plus, the Raiders' top players play on the penalty kill. They're already at a disadvantage if they just roll two lines against Lourdes' three when it's 5-on-5. If the Raiders' top guys have to work their tails off on the PK, too, they're going to wear down that much faster.

3 KEYS FOR LOURDES
1. Leave any overconfidence in the locker room -- I haven't seen any cockiness or overconfidence from the Lourdes players this week. They all know they can't overlook Northfield, and that message was hammered home when they had to fight in the final five minutes to beat Red Wing in the section semifinals, 5-3, after beating it 8-0 in the regular season. Still, when you're a three-time defending champion, and your opponent has never been to state and hasn't been in a section final for 11 years, it has to be difficult to not think ahead a little. There will be no "ahead" though if they don't focus completely on beating Northfield.
2. Solid play in the defensive zone --  If you haven't already read it, here's a preview of tonight's game from the Northfield News. In it, Raiders coach Bryce Barry says: "We don’t think (the Eagles) are too solid in their own end because they don’t spend much time there." Lourdes' defensemen and senior goalie Jesse Neumann have improved dramatically from the start of the season to now, but keep in mind that this is the first time a lot of them have been on the spot in a section final. Goalie Nick Heimer and veteran d-men Rory Vesel, Sam Slightam and Alec Brandrup are all gone from last year's team. That means Neumann is playing in a section final for the first time, and d-men such as Justin Dewitz (who played forward until this season), Robby Campbell, Griff Slightam and Nathan Roth are going to be taking on big roles on the blue line in a title game for the first time.
3. Have fun -- How many hockey players around the state would love to still be playing tonight? Part of being in a section final for a fifth consecutive time is, it loses a little of its luster. The Eagles pretty much expected themselves to be in this spot. But, that doesn't mean they shouldn't enjoy it. Soak it in. Some hacks (finger pointing at myself) never had the opportunity to play in a state tournament or in a game that could get you to a state tournament. So, take the game seriously, take your jobs on the ice seriously, but don't start gripping the sticks, don't panic if the game is close in the third period. Enjoy the experience and, if you're ahead at the final buzzer, enjoy it even more.

Section 1A final on as scheduled

Posted by: Feldman

Tonight's Section One, Class A boys hockey championship game is on as scheduled.

Top-seeded Rochester Lourdes will face third-seeded Northfield at 7 p.m. at the Rochester Recreation Center. The winner advances to next week's Class A state tournament.

Rochester Mayo activities director Jeff Whitney, the Section 1 hockey tournament director, said he has received a good number of calls and e-mails today wondering if the game will be played. 

The Section One, Class AA title game is still scheduled for a 7 p.m. puck drop at the Rec Center on Thursday. That game features No. 1 seed Lakeville South against No. 2 seed Lakeville North, with the winner moving on to the Class state tournament next week.

I'll have more thoughts about tonight's Lourdes-Northfield game on the blog later this afternoon.