Sponsored By
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
MOORHEAD — The ninth time was the charm for the Moorhead Spuds boys hockey program.
The top-seeded Spuds earned a 7-6 victory over Stillwater on Saturday, March 8, for the Minnesota Class 2A state boys hockey championship before 20,491 fans at the Xcel Energy Center.
ADVERTISEMENT
The championship was a breakthrough for the tradition-rich program. The Spuds had eight previous runner-up finishes, starting in 1992. Moorhead has made 21 state tournament appearances.
Senior forward Mason Kraft scored four goals in the title game to help lead Moorhead to its historic first state championship. Mason’s dad, Ryan Kraft, was part of the strong Moorhead teams in the 1990s. Mason Kraft was named the state’s Mr. Hockey the day after the Spuds won the state crown.
Below is a look back at the program’s nine state title game appearances:
March 14 at St. Paul Civic Center
Bloomington Jefferson sophomore Tony Bianchi netted a hat trick that gave the Jaguars a 6-2 lead through two periods in Moorhead’s first crack at a state championship, which was for a Minnesota Tier I state crown.
“I’m sure we’ll look back on the season with pride,” Moorhead sophomore Josh Arnold told The Forum. “But right now it’s just sad.”
Greg Salvevold, Jason Blake and Louis Paquin scored goals for the Spuds, who were led by head coach Terry Cullen.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We got beat by a heckuva hockey team,” Cullen said.
March 12 at St. Paul Civic Center
Jefferson goaltender Jeff Heil had 29 saves to help the Jaguars win a third consecutive Tier I state championship.
Senior forward Ryan Kraft scored the Spuds only goal.
“I wanted this one pretty badly,” Kraft told The Forum. “I just wanted to beat them once.”
Spuds goaltender Jeremy Gregoire stopped 24 shots.
The game was tied at 1-1 through two periods.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I really feel badly for our seniors,” said Spuds head coach Terry Cullen. “They deserved this so much. Our whole team played well tonight. I’m so proud of them.”
March 11 at St. Paul Civic Center
Duluth East junior Dave Spehar scored a hat trick to lead the Greyhounds to the Class 2A state championship. Spehar scored on a penalty shot at 7:11 of the third period to snap a 3-3 tie.
“They have some very high-level players,” Spuds head coach Terry Cullen told The Forum.
Spuds senior center Matt Cullen scored two goals and added an assist. Moorhead senior Joel Jamison also scored a goal. The Spuds led 3-2 early in the third period before East countered with three unanswered goals.
“He’s an unbelievable player,” Spehar said of Matt Cullen. “I don’t think I’ve gone against a better player.”
March 10 at Xcel Energy Center
ADVERTISEMENT
Kelly Plude scored a hat trick to lead the high-powered Elks to the Class 2A state championship. Elk River scored two goals in the first period, four in the second and two more in the third.
“It was like a dam breaking,” Spuds head coach Dave Morinville told The Forum. “Things just kept coming down and coming down.”
Spuds forward Kevin Smith scored the team’s lone goal in the second period.
“We had a great season altogether,” Spuds goaltender Chad Beiswenger said. “We got on a losing streak early in the season, then picked it up and made the state championship. But we just couldn’t do it in the championship game.”
March 13 at Xcel Energy Center
Centennial goaltender Greg Stutz had 15 saves to lead the Cougars to the Class 2A state championship. Stutz became the first goalie in the 60-year history of the state tournament to not allow a goal, getting three consecutive shutouts.
“He’s a good goalie,” Moorhead head coach Dave Morinville told The Forum. “Hey, if you get three shutouts, you deserve it. He made some nice saves.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Spuds goaltender Derek Hittle made 28 saves.
“We had a hot goalie, too,” said Spuds defenseman Jon Ammerman. “They just got one by.”
Centennial’s Mike Montgomery scored the game’s lone goal in the second period.
“What went wrong?” said Spuds senior forward Nolan Oliver. “It’s over now. It’s more disappointing and shocking. We didn’t do it.”
March 5 at Xcel Energy Center
The Spuds had a 40-18 advantage in shots on goal against Holy Angels, but the Stars started fast and held off Moorhead late for the Class 2A crown.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We had high expectations all year,” Spuds senior Cory Johnson told The Forum. “All we wanted to do was win a state championship — for the community, for the school, for everybody. For ourselves, for our coaches. To come so close, it’s …”
Moorhead had a goal disallowed with less than four minutes to play in regulation on a high-sticking call on Johnson’s rebound swiping score. Television analyst Lou Nanne thought Johnson’s goal was legal, but there was no video replay at the time.
The Spuds trailed 4-1 less than eight minutes into the second period. Those four goals came on 10 shots.
“Our goalies were fighting it,” Moorhead head coach Dave Morinville said.
The Spuds rallied as Drew Fisher scored to cut the Holy Angels lead to 5-4 with 1:01 remaining in the third period. The Stars added an empty-netter in the final seconds.
Matt Becker, Chris VandeVelde and Johnson also scored goals for the Spuds.
“I guess this just wasn’t our time,” VandeVelde said.
March 14 at Xcel Energy Center
Eden Prairie senior defenseman Nick Leddy scored late in the first period to help spark the Eagles to the Class 2A state title.
Moorhead’s Tyler Larson appeared to give the Spuds a 1-0 lead at the 10:38 mark of the first period, but the goal was waved off due to goaltender interference after video review.
“One of these days we’ll get a break in one of these state championship games,” Moorhead head coach Dave Morinville told The Forum. “But who knows? I’ll probably be in my grave when it happens.”
Coincidentally, Morinville pushed for instant replay at the state tournament after Cory Johnson’s goal was disallowed in the 2005 title game.
“Who was the dope who proposed that replay rule anyway?” Morinville said.
Leddy scored at 16:03 of the first period for a 2-0 lead.
Spuds goalie Logan Marks finished with 18 saves. Eden Prairie’s Andrew Ford stopped all 28 Moorhead shots.
March 11 at Xcel Energy Center
Grand Rapids forward Gavin Hain scored his three goals in the first two periods to help his team build a 4-0 lead en route to the Class 2A state championship.
Grand Rapids’ top forward line of Hain, Blake McLaughlin and Micah Miller scored all six goals.
“We just didn’t have an answer for their top line,” Spuds head coach Jon Ammerman told The Forum. “There’s a reason they are highly touted. We have a line of some of those guys too and they made plays too. Our guys didn’t give up.”
The Spuds cut the lead to 4-2 through two periods and 5-3 early in the third period, but the rally wasn’t enough. Carter Randklev, Jack Stetz and Jacob Holtgrewe scored for the Spuds.
“That’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through in my life, watching them do that,” Holtgrewe said of watching Grand Rapids celebrate on the ice after winning the state title. “We beat them a couple weeks ago. Having me watch them was pretty terrible, but then again, for how many times I’ve watched people play in this tournament, to have me do it was an absolute honor.”
March 8 at Xcel Energy Center
Spuds forward Mason Kraft had a legendary first period, scoring four goals in the opening 17 minutes. Kraft’s effort helped spark the Spuds to a Class 2A championship, the first state title in program history after eight previous title game losses.
“It was a sensation that I’ve honestly never felt,” said Kraft, who had nine goals in three state tournament games. “You feel on top of the world. You kind of black out for a minute or two and it’s the greatest feeling ever.”
The Spuds led 5-1 after one period before holding off a late Stillwater rally.
Brooks Cullen, Brandon Mickelson and Zac Zimmerman also scored for the top-seeded Spuds.
“Relief,” said Spuds head coach Jon Ammerman.
Moorhead players remained on the ice 45 minutes after the game ended to celebrate and soak in the historic moment.
“You wish you could kind of enjoy it a little more,” Ammerman said. “But I guess we’ll enjoy it as it comes here. This isn’t something I did. I thought our coaching staff did a phenomenal job, especially this week, of preparing these kids.”
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
