About the Trojans: Second-year coach Pat O’Leary found himself surprised by the ebb and flow of the season. “I didn’t think we were going to win 14 out of 15 games in the middle of the season and get bumped up to No. 1,” O’Leary said. “But we kept getting better.” Losing five times in a seven-game stretch didn’t deter O’Leary’s long-term focus. “We took a couple lumps the last month,” he said. “A lot of people have been asking me about that, but I just keep telling them we’re trying to make some adjustments.” The tinkering paid off in the playoffs. Wayzata rolled through Section 6, the state’s most difficult, by a combined score of 18-5.

About the Cougars: Centennial went 2-1 against teams in the state tournament, losing its season opener to Edina and defeating Moorhead and Duluth East in mid-December. Beating the Spuds and Greyhounds within a span of three days, senior forward Hans Gorowsky said, told players “that we had something special here.” The Cougars got hot in January, going 8-0-2 and beating or tying three teams ranked in the top 20. “We’re not done yet,” Gorowsky said. “We’re playing good hockey right now, and we’ve beaten or played well against some of the teams that made it to the tournament.”

Did you know? Brothers and Centennial leading scorers Hans and Ryner Gorowsky are cousins of Tom Gorowsky, who led the Cougars to the 2004 Class 2A title and was named Mr. Hockey.

-- David La Vaque, Star Tribune