East Grand Forks at Totino-Grace
7:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 28

It’s a long drive from the Twin Cities to East Grand Forks — more than 300 miles up Interstates 94 and 29 — so an early chance to see the defending Class 1A champions in the big city is worth a ticket.

No. 1 East Grand Forks won its first state title last winter, rolling past Hermantown 7-3 in the final.

No. 9-1A Totino-Grace was also in the tournament field but didn’t get to match up against the Green Wave after losing in the quarterfinals to St. Cloud Cathedral.

But these are two different teams this season.

East Grand Forks lost four of its top defensemen from a unit that propelled the team to the title, according to coach Tyler Palmiscno.

The Green Wave still return steady goalie Josh Weber and their top four scorers (Dixon Bowen, Grant Loven, Reed Corbid and Tanner Tweten), who combined for 69 goals and 157 points. Expect a huge senior season from Bowen, who led the team in scoring despite missing 10 games.

Totino-Grace doesn’t have the same luxury of a deep returning offensive lineup. The Eagles return only two players who scored more than four goals last year (Joey Brey with 12 and Blake Vagle with six).

Coach Mark Loahr also lost most of his defensive corps and regular goaltender Dominic Wippler. It’s a tribute to the program Loahr has built that his team is ranked in the top 10 to start the year.