There’s no history, no proximity, no coaching ties – no obvious explanation for Hermantown traveling 2½ hours south to play Minnetonka.
Except that both programs consistently rank among the best in the state. And they have reached that status, in part, by scheduling top-level teams at every opportunity.
When Hermantown coach Bruce Plante went about filling openings in this season’s Hawks schedule, he punched in Minnetonka coach Brian Urick's telephone number. Their conversation didn’t last long.
“He told me, ‘Sure, let’s play,’” Plante said.
“We only have eight conference games,” Urick said. “We’re always looking to schedule top teams.”
So maybe this matchup was an obvious one after all. The teams sure looked well-matched Friday night at the Pagel Activity Center in Minnetonka in the Skippers’ 3-0 victory.
Minnetonka, a Class 2A school with an enrollment of 2,940, was coming off Thursday’s thrilling 3-2 loss to Blaine, the state’s No. 3-ranked big school. Hermantown, which has lost the state Class 1A championship game in each of the past six seasons, entered with a 5-0-1 record and one of its deepest and most talented lineups in years.
The Hawks, who opened their season with a 5-3 win over Class 2A mega-school Wayzata, also have wins over Class 2A squads Roseville and Duluth Marshall this season. Friday’s game against the Skippers was one of four trips they’ll make to the Twin Cities area this season, a schedule similar to the ones that have served state Class 2A tournament mainstays Duluth East and Moorhead well over the years.
With star goaltender Thomas Hanson making clutch save after clutch save at one end and a fleet of speedy forwards racking up scoring chances at the other, Minnetonka (5-3-0) gave Hermantown (enrollment: 614) a heaping dose of big-school hockey.
“Their speed messed us up,” Plante said. “We haven’t seen anybody that quick, maybe Wayzata in the first game.
“We learned a lot about our game tonight. Who can play at this speed, who has to play faster.”
Minnetonka’s first goal came as a direct result of all that speed. With the Skippers shorthanded, Pierson Pass pounced on a turnover and raced into the Hermantown zone with Brendan Skarda to his left on a 2-on-1. Pass somehow got the puck to Skarda at the last possible moment, and Skarda needed only to direct it into an open net.
“That’s our strength, coming through the neutral zone,” Skarda said. “We create 3-on-2s and 2-on-1s that way. On that play the puck bounced over the defenseman’s stick and Pierson picked it up and went down the side. I just drove for the post, and he gave me an unbelievable pass.”
Urick said the Blaine coaching staff also complemented the Skippers on their speed after Thursday’s game. And Minnetonka had no shortage of fleet forwards. Urick said he rolled all four of his forward lines, and they came in wave after wave into the Hermantown zone, especially in the second period when Minnetonka launched 19 shots at Hermantown senior goaltender Luke Olson.
“They took it to us in the second, and we had no answer,” Plante said. “They just got to every loose puck.”
While Hermantown was a first-time opponent, the Hawks were hardly unknown to the Skippers. Both Hanson, who made 25 saves for his first shutout of the season, and Skarda said they were well aware of Hermantown’s long history of small-school success.
“I knew they were tough, good team,” Skarda said. “We knew they were undefeated coming into the game, so that’s one of the things we wanted to do was give them their first 'L' in the loss column. And we got the job done.”
