February 2

OK, Mr. Cub Reporter, you had your long winter vacation – it’s time to get back to work beginning with a girl – boy hockey doubleheader.

Girls v. Brainerd-Little Falls

[Our return home was a good news/bad news situation with the girls’ team.  The good news is McKenzie Revering is back!  You may recall Rev was ACL’ed in the first soccer game of the year, way back in August.  It looked like her entire senior year of athletics (she plays softball in the spring) would be lost.  It was nice to see good ole ’29’ back on the ice again. The bad news was our goalie Sarah Finley has missed some games due to injury – the hope is she’ll be healthy for sections.]

[It’s been a while.  Better show you the roster again.]

[And we’re off.  The Flying Warriors came into the game with only two losses the entire season.  I found it odd they are only ranked 13th in the state class AA rankings?  Anyway, I believe they are the runaway winners of the conference.]

[The 8’s have it – that’s our Megan Pesta.  Megan, Rev, and Ashten Oberg are the only skating seniors on our ridiculously young team.]

[You know Jerry West’s likeness is the logo for the NBA?  Well, I think this shot of McKenna Ellingson (24) could perform the same function for girls’ high school hockey, eh?]

[The bench . . . ]

[The bench, part II, with Ms. Finley standing in civvies and helmet in a cheer/coach mode.]

[Calley Richardson (19) joins McKenna on an assault.]

[But the puck goes behind the net.]

[The puck went that-a-way!]

[I Facebooked this.  The aesthetics of a goalie (the Flying Warriors sophomore Olivia King), a puck, and what otherwise appears to be an empty rink.]

[Two rather early goals by the other guys.]

[Rev obviously is not 100 per cent yet.  She didn’t pull regular shifts or force anything that would have required explosive movement.  If she was challenged with the puck, she passed off rather than try to carry through traffic.]

[Frosh Mayson Toft (14) appreciates having the “old vet” around to show her the ropes.]

[It’s a non-contact sport except when there’s . . . contact.  Alexis Heckert (20) is only a sophomore but like McKenna this is her 3rd year as a regular shifter.]

[Calley is joined in the fray by sophomore Olivia Kopp (40).]

[A really tough sport to be a ref.  Marki Oberg (10) may only be an 8th-grader but she flies around with great abandon.]

[Calley again.]

[And again.]

[Calley finds a good spot to stand waiting for a puck as Kristin Trosvig (15) mucks for control.]

[Then McKenna arrives to aid in the mucking.]

[The same trio in the heart of the action.]

[GOOOAAAAALLLLLL!]

[Ms Ellingson!]

[Here is one of strangest set of stats you’ll ever see on a scoreboard.]

[You had to feel for goalie Madisson Gay.  She’s a senior but this was likely only her 2nd or 3rd start with the varsity.  And goals allowed reflect total team defense – Brainerd-Little Falls only had two losses for a reason – they have great finishers.  After the period, I’m sure Coach Arola is trying to buck up her confidence.  And to Madi’s credit, she had a terrific game against Wayzata two days later.]

[The Cards came out scrapping in the 3rd . . . ]

[And Ms Pesta got a goal.]

[Judging by the Flying Warriors defense, the puck must have gone airborne.]

[Despite the SOG, they weren’t lucky to win.  They’re good.]

[And the post game handshakes . . . ]

Boys v. Brainerd

[Then the boys game began . . . and the race was on.]

[Our Cards came in with a 13 – 5 record, a good season so far.]

[Here Ben Doherty (7) scored a shorthanded goal early in the 1st period to tie the game at one.  You’d think I could at least get him in the picture?]

[Later Derek Dropik (8) would score to tie the game at two.]

[Yes, we were lucky to be tied at period’s end.  The Warriors showed themselves to be a bigger, faster team, and it began to show more and more as the game went on.]

[The future Cardinals game . . . ]

[Hope there’ll be some 6-foot pluses in the group?]

[One of the few Cardinal forays into Warrior territory.]

[I believe Brainerd was the pre-season conference favorite, and they showed it this night.]

[Micah Christenson (22) on an Alex rush here.]

[After 5 periods of hockey, we old bucks decided to call it a night after two.  The 3rd period was much the same – Brainerd was a 6 – 2 winner.  Fortunately, they are a class AA team so we won’t have to face them in sections.]

February 4

Girls v. Wayzata

[It was going to be interesting to see how the team would respond after the Brainerd-Little Falls loss two nights before.  And this was the last regular season game of the year – against the biggest high school in the state!]

[This was such a big game that KXRA deigned to broadcast it . . . on a weekend.]

[Just getting to the arena was tough.  The Fairgrounds was featuring all-day snowmobile races and the entire state of Minnesota was here.  Nevertheless, here’s Ms Ellingson on a charge.]

[Not only is Wayzata the biggest school, and thus class AA of course, but they play in the toughest conference in the state with all the other biggest schools – the metro area’s Lake Conference.]

[Stop that!]

[For the most part, I thought we skated with them pretty well.]

[Junior defense Taylor Breitkreutz (24) with a backhand attempt.  I haven’t seen as many games as usual this year, but I’m developing a real appreciation of her game.]

[Our young team is represented here by sophomore Alexis Heckert (20) and 8th-grader Anna Doherty (7).]

[They had a couple of flurries that piled up the SOG’s.  Madi was having a great game in goal.]

[Sophomore Ellingson (24) and freshman Toft (14) out under the watch of Captain Rev (29).]

[And junior Kristin Trosvig (15) circles in the from the left.]

[McKenna shoots one into the zone.]

[Senior Megan Pesta (8) and junior Josie Minnerath (6)]

[Oh, and Ms Heckert was in there too.]

[Junior Tahlia Olson (27)]

.[The goalie covers as junior Calley Richardson (19) swoops in.]

[Ms Ellingson exchanges pleasantries with a Trojan in front of the net.]

[And here comes the puck out the other side.  I should point out that among their many good players, their star is Natalie Heising (10), senior captain.  She was a member of the U.S. Women’s National Under-18 Team and participated in two International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 Women’s World Championships (gold- 2016, 2017).  We did a good job of containing her rushes the entire game.]

[We scored with that combination – Calley from McKenna to tie the score at one in the 2nd period.]

[Yay!]

[And Calley’s in again with Rev on the point.]

[We’re hanging in there!]

[Trosvig and Ellingson . . . ]

[And Breitkreutz crashes from the point.]

[Ohhh, so close.]

[Kristin crosses the blue line with speed.]

[There’s a crash in aisle 3!]

[Two Trojans are down . . . where are our Cards?]

[8th-grader Marki Oberg (10) was all over the ice – when you’re an 8th-grader you only know full speed ahead!]

[McKenna trying to escape from the boards . . . ]

[And here she comes with Calley again.]

[Ms Oberg]

[Calley for a backhand stuff?  Not quite.]

[Down one goal, a time out to rest and set up the final minute.]

[Good, fun-paced game to watch.  The Cards ended the regular season with 3 home losses, but all to good class AA teams.  Our final record was 12-12-1.  We only had 10 home games, and if you judge by strength of schedule we should be well-prepared to enter tournament time.]

[And to complete the afternoon scheduling, it was off to the winery for the musical stylings of Charlie Roth and Paul Drinkwine!

Half the game is mental; the other half is being mental.  ~  Jim McKenny