Hawks Boys Hockey Set for Return to State Tournament
Hermantown will play Monticello on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. in the class A quarterfinals.
HERMANTOWN, Minn. – For the past year, the Hermantown boys hockey team has been on a united pursuit to return to the state tournament. But after defeating Duluth Denfeld to win the section 7A title last week to officially punch their ticket back to the Xcel Energy Center, this journey is just getting started.
“This is the best time of our lives,” Hermantown senior defenseman Drew Sams said.
The Hawks are back in the class A state tournament for the 10th time in the past 11 seasons. But as they’ve said all season long, the goal is to win a state championship.
“It’s obviously everything right now. We’ve been working for it all year just to get back, build this program back and get back to the state tournament but obviously we’re not done,” senior forward Blake Biondi said.
“One of our main goals was to get back and now that we’re back, we’re focused on another thing and that’s to win a state championship so we’re going to take it one period at a time,” Sams added.
First, the Hawks need to focus on the quarterfinals, and their opponent is a familiar one in unseeded Monticello. The Hawks have faced the Moose in their last two state appearances, including the championship game in 2017 that Hermantown went on to win in double overtime.
“I was a part of that team my sophomore year when we played them so we have a lot of history with them. Drawing them is really exciting, it’s a little bit of a rivalry now,” Sams said.
“It’s kind of crazy to think that we’ve been down there three of the past four years and we’ve played Monticello again,” head coach Patrick Andrews added.
And the Moose remind the Hawks of a familiar opponent as well in the Duluth Denfeld Hunters.
“They’re very similar teams, very similar skill-sets and they’re going to try to play the same way Denfeld did to beat us. They’re going to play great D, rely on goaltending and they’re going to try to chip pucks and hope for some offensive chances to take advantage of,” Andrews said.
Hermantown knows that they just have to play their game and remember that at the end of the day, it’s just hockey.
“We just have to be smart, stay above pucks, forecheck hard, get them off their game, let our speed carry the way and hopefully it all works out,” Andrews said.
“We feel pretty confident that if we go out and do all of the little things that we’ve been known to do. We’re going to use our speed, play good defensively and just work really hard,” Sams said.
“Just helping the guys, showing them it’s just hockey. We’re playing a game, a game we love and just showing them that it’s awesome, it’s super cool playing at the X. It’s the state tournament, we’ve got to win three games,” Biondi added.
Puck drop from the Xcel Energy Center in the class A state quarterfinals between Hermantown and Monticello is set for 1:00 p.m.
