From the looks of it, Tyler Cline was getting a little greedy.

The postgame ceremonies were underway, and Joey Lau of the Minnesota Seniors was called over to collect his championship medal Sunday after a 5-4 overtime victory over the Minnesota HP-18s in the finale of the CCM Minnesota National Invitational Tournament at the Plymouth Ice Center.

Speed and quickness are Cline’s two biggest assets, and he was there in a flash to collect Lau’s medal. Cline reappeared when Brandon Notermann’s name was called. Yep, Cline snatched Notermann’s medal, too. Then, Cline, knowing his number (20) came right after Notermann’s 19, didn’t even bother getting back in line. He just stood in front of the tournament official handing out the booty.

This was all very confusing for the public address announcer calling out the players’ names. He wasn’t sure how to proceed. So Cline made a half-hearted attempt to circle back into line, just long enough to hear his name start to be called. He then quickly swooped back to center ice to collect his medal as well.

If any player deserved to be doubly, or in this case triple, rewarded, it most certainly was Cline.

The 5-foot-7, 170-pound Blaine dynamo scored twice and set up Ian Scheid’s overtime goal with a pinpoint pass through the slot. Cline was actually credited with three goals, but he said the second of the three should have gone to linemate Miguel Fidler of Edina.

“He was the one who actually deflected it,” Cline said.

See, maybe the kid isn’t greedy after all. Matter of fact, he was collecting the medals for Lau and Notermann only because his buddies and linemates from Blaine couldn’t do it themselves. Both were ineligible to play on Sunday because of game ejection misconducts they took late in Saturday’s 4-0 victory over the Michigan Seniors.

Cline had played the previous three games – not to mention most of the high school season and all of elite league play in the fall – alongside Lau and Notermann. Now, suddenly, he was paired with Fidler and Will Hammer of St. Cloud Cathedral. Talk about unfamiliar surroundings.

Not to worry, though.

“He’s the real deal,” Minnesota Seniors coach Mike Taylor of Eagan said about Cline. “When you have those kind of wheels, and that kind of vision and hands … he’s a special player.”

Cline’s four goals in four games were the most of any player in the tournament, tied only with Bret Gruber of the Wisconsin Seniors. Cline’s one assist in the four games trumped all his goals, however. It was a pass most players wouldn’t have the wherewithal to attempt, much less execute.

“He’s been passing to me all year when I have been jumping up, so I knew he was going to give it to me this time,” said Scheid, a defenseman from Blaine who can attest to Cline’s playmaking skills. 

And Cline is well aware of Scheid’s offensive capabilities. He wasn’t surprised to hear the defenseman calling for the puck.

“I heard him yelling,” Cline said. “Usually I know he is rushing because he is an offensive defenseman.”

The disqualification of Lau and Notermann from Sunday’s championship didn’t just reduce the number of Team Minnesota forwards from 12 to nine – the team essentially played three lines to the Minnesota HP-18s four. 

“It took a lot of speed out of the lineup,” Taylor said. “All three of those guys are really fast, and they really move the puck. But the other kids stepped up. 

“That was our best game, I thought."


Minnesota Seniors goaltender Hunter Shepard can't stop a point shot from Parker Mishmash of the Minnesota HP-18s. Photo by Loren Nelson

First Report

Ian Scheid of Blaine scored 2 minutes, 20 seconds in overtime to lift the Minnesota Seniors past the Minnesota HP-18s 5-4 on Sunday in the championship game of the CCM Minnesota National Invitational at the Plymouth Ice Center.

Tyler Cline, Scheid’s Blaine teammate during the high school season, was streaking into the HP-18s end when he fired a pass through the slot to Scheid, who snuck a low shot past goaltender Trent Jancze of Cretin-Derham Hall.

Cline finished with two goals and an assist for the Minnesota Seniors, who played without top forwards Joey Lau and Brandon Notermann, both of Blaine. Lau took a fighting penalty and Notermann was called for butt-ending, both game ejection misconducts, late in Saturday’s 4-0 victory over the Michigan Seniors and were ineligible to play on Sunday.

Edina’s Parker Mishmash of the Minnesota HP-18s tied the score at 4 midway through the third period when he rocketed a point shot high over Minnesota Seniors goaltender Hunter Shepard of Grand Rapids. 

Dixon Bowen of East Grand Forks, Matt Masterman of Edina and Nick Reis of Cretin-Derham-Hall also scored for the Minnesota HP-18s, who reached the championship game after going 3-0 in pool play.

Isak Berglund of Thief River Falls and Miguel Fidler of Edina scored the other Minnesota Seniors goals.  

Shepard and Robbie Goor of Anoka split the goaltending duties for the Minnesota Seniors, who went 4-0 in the tournament. Jancze went the distance for the Minnesota HP-18s, stopping 31 shots.

Past Champions

Year Team
2014 Minnesota Seniors
2013 Minnesota Seniors
2012 Michigan
2011 Minnesota Seniors
2010 Minnesota Seniors
2009 Wisconsin

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