For Blake players taking part in the program’s first Class 2A state tournament appearance Thursday, the experience outweighed whatever additional trips they might have made playing among the small schools in Class 1A.

“There was talk last year that if we had stayed in single A, we would definitely have been at state,” senior forward Jack Sabre said. “But this is the holy grail. This is the pinnacle of high school hockey, and this is where we wanted to be.”

Blake opted up to Class 2A before the 2017-18 season and plays among the largest schools by enrollment. It’s curious timing, since the Bears had not made a Class 1A tournament since 2007-08.

“It was a decision that was given a lot of time and there were a lot of people that weren’t in favor of it,” said coach Rob McClanahan, who credited his predecessor, Greg May, for preparing the program for a bigger challenge.

After defeating Maple Grove 7-5 in front of an announced crowd of 18,124, no one seemed to mind.

“I’m very happy we made the switch,” senior forward Gavin Best said. “We’d rather have the opportunity to be here and chase the double-A championship than go win in A.”

Two generations of grinders

Eden Prairie senior Kai Stansberry picked a fine time to score his first goal of the season. He got the Eagles on the board first with what turned out to be the winning goal in a 4-0 shutout of Lakeville South.

“Halfway through the year he was playing defense, and we needed to make a change to get heavier against bigger, stronger teams,” Eden Prairie coach Lee Smith said. “We’ve been talking about him being the difference-maker down the stretch. And today he was.”

Stansberry’s father, Dave, was a third-line forward on Bloomington Kennedy’s 1987 state championship team. He tallied a hat trick in the Section 5 final.

“My dad has just told me about all his stories, about how sweet it was,” Kai said.

Penalty-shot pass

The penalty shot might be the most exciting play in hockey — but not always the most prudent.

That was McClanahan’s opinion when he exercised the rarely used option of declining a penalty shot in favor of a two-minute power play in the waning minutes of the Bears’ thrilling quarterfinal victory over Maple Grove.

“I liked our odds on the power play to be able to control the puck,” McClanahan said.

Blake was leading 6-5 with 1:46 remaining when Maple Grove’s Henry Nelson was called for a penalty shot-worthy delay-of-game penalty after launching the net off its moorings. Best scored into an empty net with 1:05 left on the ensuing power play.

Maple Grove coach Todd Bergland endorsed the strategy.

“Say you take the penalty shot and (Maple Grove goalie Jack Wieneke) comes up big and makes the save,” Bergland said. “Then it’s 5-on-5 and we pull our goalie and it’s a 6-6 game, hopefully.”

Three stars
1. Tommy Aitken, St. Thomas Academy, senior goalie: Aitken stopped 33 shots, including 15 in the third period, to stave off Andover in a 3-2 upset victory. Aitken played in Omaha last season.

2. Joe Miller, Blake, junior forward: His hat trick included a relentless pursuit of a rebound, the finish of a pretty 2-on-0 shorthanded rush and a filthy bit of stick work. Miller, who verbally committed to the Gophers, has 31 goals.

3. Ben Steeves, Eden Prairie, senior forward: Making his state tournament debut didn’t faze Steeves. He finished with two goals and an assist. One goal featured Steeves going hard to the net and then airborne after scoring. That’s 35 goals this season for Steeves, who committed to Minnesota Duluth.

BY THE NUMBERS
6 Points for Blake senior defenseman Will Svenddal (one goal, five assists) against Maple Grove.
7 Blake and Maple Grove combined for seven goals in a wild third period. Maple Grove scored three and the Bears scored four, including the final two, in a 7-5 victory.
2012 The last time a No. 1 seed in Class 2A fell in the quarterfinals before Andover did Thursday.

Attendance
The announced crowd for Thursday’s Class 2A afternoon session was 18,124, and the evening attendance was announced as 17,929.

Quote
“I told them they’re going to be skating Herbies if they mess up.” 
­— Blake coach Rob McClanahan, who played for coach Herb Brooks, on his pregame message Thursday.