Sponsored By
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
DULUTH — When the horn sounded on the Section 7AA final Thursday, Grand Rapids boys hockey players and coaches weren’t too anxious to start thinking about the Class AA state tournament that begins Thursday in St. Paul.
The Thunderhawks had high expectations in the preseason, but struggled early, and after a 5-2 home loss to White Bear Lake on Jan. 9 things looked bleak. They were just 4-10-1 and seemed an afterthought in the race for Section 7AA.
ADVERTISEMENT
The next day, the Grand Rapids beat former section rival Andover 8-4 and since that day the Thunderhawks (15-12-1) have lost just twice.
When they topped Rock Ridge Thursday 4-1 , Grand Rapids completed a section tournament in which they allowed one goal over three games and outscored their opponents 19-1.
As his players celebrated on the ice Thursday, Clafton joked that he had a “bag skate” planned for his team Friday. In reality, he wanted them to take it all in.
“We’re going to let them enjoy it tonight, for sure — they’ve earned it,” he said. “It’s one of those things where we’ll live in the moment and this is their moment. We’ll worry about (state) tomorrow.”
There were problems every team encounters along the way. Injuries, illness, and even players leaving early for junior hockey had “some guys playing different roles” according to Clafton. Carter Casey, perhaps the best goalie in Minnesota last season, left for major junior hockey in Canada. Nathan Garski, Will Miskovich and Dylan Clayton — all seniors — as well as junior Zach Fearing missed time this season. Other players were getting back into the groove.
“Will Shermoen hadn’t played hockey in over a year,” Clafton said. “He’s one of the guys who hadn’t played hockey in over a year. It took him a little time to get his bearings under him, but he’s been sensational the second half of the year.”
Shermoen missed the entire 2024-25 hockey season after tearing his ACL in the 2024 boys soccer postseason. Through Jan. 9, Shermoen had just three goals, but since that time he’s scored eight. More importantly, there’s only been one game in 13 where he hasn’t recorded at least one point — Grand Rapids’ 5-0 win over Forest Lake in the section semifinal.
ADVERTISEMENT
Perhaps as important as Shermoen’s play is the emergence of Luke Sherlock as the Thunderhawks’ primary goalie. The sophomore netminder has a .911 save percentage and 2.53 goals against average and he was “electric” in the section tournament, Clafton said.
Clayton, one of the Grand Rapids captains, said even Thursday when they went down a goal early to Rock Ridge, there was a sense the team would come through it after the struggles of the early season.
“Our motto all year was never get too high, never get too low — just stay with the flow of the game,” he said. “We knew the game was going to come back to us because we were carrying the pace of play and that’s what happened.”
Other upsets in the Class AA section tournaments means the Thunderhawks are seeded fifth in the state tournament and will face Rosemount (23-4-1) at 1 p.m. Thursday in the Class AA quarterfinal at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul.
The Irish topped fourth-ranked St. Thomas Academy to advance to the state tournament. They beat Grand Rapids 6-0 Dec. 12, but that was at perhaps the lowest point of the season for the Thunderhawks. It was in the midst of a six-game losing streak when they allowed at least five goals four times.
The plan is to keep their heads down, work hard, Clayton said, and there’s just something about the group this season.
“I think if we just stick with our game, it’ll be just fine,” he said. “It’s a special team, for sure, and our plan is to go deep.”
ADVERTISEMENT
If the Thunderhawks took a difficult route the the state tournament, Hibbing/Chisholm’s path looked very different.
That’s not to say it was easy, but for much of the season it felt like the Bluejackets (24-2-2) were driving a steamroller over that path. They’ve been ranked in the top two of Class A all season and their only losses were to Shakopee, a top-10 ranked Class AA team, and a loss at Hermantown — the only other team to be ranked at the top of Class A.
The Bluejackets have four players — 2025 News Tribune All-Area Player of the Year Tate Swanson , Cole Swanson, Isaiah Hildenbrand and Whitaker Rewertz — with at least 44 points. Their power play is converting at nearly 30% and the penalty kill is better than 82%.
Still, in the Section 7A title game Wednesday at Amsoil Arena, Hibbing/Chisholm had to hold off a hard-charging Cloquet-Esko-Carlton team in overtime. The Lumberjacks held Hermantown scoreless for two periods of a 4-1 win in the section semifinal Feb. 21 and Hibbing coach Aaron Jamnick said his team will need to be better in St. Paul.
“We’ve got to play simpler,” he said. “I thought today we forced a lot of stuff like stretch passes that weren’t there. We like to get up the ice, but we’re got to simplify. Our shifts got long — it wasn’t a great effort by us.”
After another year of experience after advancing to the Class A semifinal last year, Jamnick says there are reasons to feel confident.
“We’ve been there before,” he said. “Each year, we’ve taken a step, we’ve learned from it and we’re going to battle.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Top-seeded Hibbing/Chisholm will play Dodge County at 11 a.m. Wednesday in the Class A quarterfinal at Grand Casino Arena. The Wildcats topped three-time defending section winners Northfield in the Section 1A final Wednesday in Rochester.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT