alexandriacardinals

Consolation bracket . . .

[So, the next morning – after a good night’s sleep to digest the Pazzaluna pizza – we checked out of the Hotel 340 and headed for Ridder Arena at the ‘U.’  We were the first game in the consolation bracket, taking on Hutchinson who had been steamrollered by Blake on day one.  In fact, the Alex – Red Wing was the only competitive game in the first round. We were pretty confident.  I forgot to mention we visited with Ashley Holmes at the ‘X’ on the first day.  Ashley, of course, played for our state champion team in 2008, played 4 years of D-1 hockey at North Dakota, was an assistant coach at Alex last year, and is now an assistant coach for Augsburg.  She was there scouting for future Augies, loves her job, and looks great!  We also saw alums from last year’s team, Melissa Drown and Taylor Ellingson.  There were probably more, but the mind is weak and the memories fleeting.]

[When your telephoto lens does not allow you to capture the entire team in one photo.]

[The coaches show “good spacing” on the bench.  It prevents the other team from being able to double-team them individually.]

[Amy Jost (33), junior goalie]

[Nicole Bartels (23), senior defense]

[Kaitlin Leary (26), sophomore defense]

[Kristin Trisvig (15), freshman forward]

[Lauren Niska (21), junior forward]

[McKenzie Revering (29), sophomore forward.  It’s actually rather depressing to realize that I have undergarments older than most of these kids!]

[Yay, team!]

[I still haven’t a clue about what goalies talk about?]

[Back to Cossetta’s for heroes after the game!!!]

[And we’re off – the Cards on the attack.]

[Hanah Hansen (11) and McKenna Ellingson (24) fight to keep it in the zone.]

[If that’s a ‘7,’ it’s Sam Klimek (37).]

[GOOAAALLLL!  Nicole Bartels scored 17 seconds after Tigers had scored, about 4 minutes into the game.  Assists went to Niska and Leary.]

[Oooooh, Hanah was right there!  And the pesky puck exits, stage left.]

[Ye olde defense pair of yesteryear, now forwards, McKenzie and Lauren are in deep.]

[Kristin forechecking (I think banks charge a user fee for that now?).]

[Not another goalie standing on her head!!!]

[We appear to be in the 2nd period now.  The first period ended at 1 – 1, Hutch was giving us a tougher time than I thought.  I obviously forgot my scoreboard responsibilities.]

[Go, McKenna!]

[Lauren’s on a 1-in-5 attack mode.]

[Oooops, low and outside.  Ball four!  The Cards took 4 penalties in the 2nd period, the Tigers scored two power play goals.  We were down 3 – 1 and not playing very well.  And yet . . . it still seemed like we would win if we just cranked it up a notch.]

[We started the 3rd period still short-handed for almost the full two minutes.  We thought if we could just get a “shortie” then, we’d be within one goal and game on!  We had had some solos in on a goal but hadn’t scored on them.  But this time, probably our best at this, Mari Wosepka (18), got a steal and . . .]

[GOOAAAAALLLLL!  We’re back in the game . . . and then some, as the goal really opened the flood gates.]

[The Cards started flying all over the ice.  It was really fun to watch!]

[McKenna’s in . . . ]

[Then Sam . . . ]

[Lauren . . . ]

[Alexis Heckert (20) . . . the Cards were keeping constant pressure.]

[A crowd at the goal . . . ]

[The Super is screaming, “Keep it in!”]

[And then Rev blasts one . . . right down our sight line.]

[GOOOAAAALLLLL!   From Hanah and Lauren.  The game is now tied.  🙂  ]

[But we’re not stopping now . . . ]

[Kristin’s in again . . . ]

[The Tiger goalie is under fire . . . ]

[GOOAAAALLLL!  Nicole’s 2nd of the game and the Cards have the lead!]

[Woo-woo!]

[Not done yet?]

[Uffda, that was close!]

[Nice photo, Obert!]

[Kristin again . . .]

[The Cards work ole Phil Jackson’s triangle offense . . .]

[A Tiger is double-teamed behind the goal . . . ]

[Alexis and Mari with pressure . . .]

[Who dat?]

[Hanah and Kristin awaiting the arrival of the little black disc.]

[Storming again . . . ]

[The goalie’s sending out SOS signals!]

[Another nice shot, Obert!  Somewhere in all that I lost a GOOOAAALLLL by Allison O’Kane, from Hanah, giving us a 5 – 3 lead, safe enough with time winding down. ]

[Nicole got an empty-netter, length of the ice shot with .7 seconds left, for her hat trick and a final score of 6 – 3.]

[The Cards were more than impressive with that 5-goal 3rd period.  We would now be playing in the consolation final on Saturday morning.]

I put a dollar in a change machine. Nothing changed.  ~  George Carlin

Up next:  Even more STATE.

As it turns out, this seemingly annual event (the Cardinal girls’ hockey team has now made the main event 10 out of the last 12 years) is often in conjunction with a myriad of other things of local and international interest.  For example, this year’s tournament started on my sister Gretchen’s 66th birthday, so as she celebrated in Alex way back when and with Mohamed this year on a walking tour of their hometown, Washington, D.C.

[Yes, D.C. has more snow than we do . . . so they were able to scout possible local hockey talent for our Cards (?)  You may recognize the Watergate Hotel (left) and the Kennedy Center on the Potomac River behind Mohamed.]

[Prior to the tournamant, there was also some conjecture from out-of-state constituents as to whether the above headgear is really considered Minnesota chic.  It is.]

[The Sunday before the tournament, the Super decided it would be a good idea to redeem one of the products she purchased at the girls’ hockey fund raiser – a gift certificate to D Michael B’s.  Yes, “Weakie,” that is the meat loaf, and I got four more meals out of it at home!  And I discovered that as I have aged, my arms are now too short for a food-included “selfie.”]

[On the Tuesday night before the state tournament possible options included our boys’ hockey section quarter-final game (figured to be the easy win that it was) or to go down to the Cities a day early to catch the Gopher women’s basketball game against 11th-ranked Iowa.  If we had done the latter, we would have seen sophomore center, Amanda Zahui B, set a Big Ten rebounding record with 29, to go with her 39 points, in the Gopher victory! But we were scheduled for an evening of Native American Cooking with Matthew Jensen at Broadway Bistro (in conjunction with the library’s “Community Read,” Neither Wolf Nor Dog, by Kent Nerburn).  Matthew told us about Native American foods, the preparation and storage thereof, and how he loves to apply those “natural” principles to his restaurant, including scouring his local woods for mushrooms.  He prepared a venison stew in the way the local Indians would have, and also an Indian dessert.  Both were declared delicious by the attendees.]

And then we were on the road:

***

[So by now, of course, you realize this is all just about EATING.  We drove down to the XCel Center in St. Paul on Wednesday morning.  The driving weather was surprisingly good, considering our usual luck, though the temperature was somewhere in the teens below zero.  After checking into Hotel 340, we skywayed our way to the XCel and then braved dangerous wind chills for two more blocks to make it to Cossetta’s, the ultimate destination for any alleged hockey trip.  The Super and I split a pastrami and pepper jack hero on bread-to-die-for, and the Super also was able to polish off a cannoli, her favorite dessert.  And we were disgustingly cute in our matching 2008 State Champion hoodies.]

Oh yeah, the game . . .

[The paperwork . . .]

[And we’re on the ice.]

The team introductions:

***

The first game v. Red Wing:

***

[They seed five of the eight teams in each class for bracketing purposes.  We thought we had a shot at a seed because of some upsets in other sections.  We didn’t get one.  In hindsight, we should have been no worse than the 4th seed, maybe the 3rd.  Stuff happens. But we drew #3-seed Red Wing in the first round.  We thought that was a good draw for us.  The Wingers had a 24-4 record, but we thought we had a good shot against them.  And we did.  The Hanah Hansen (11) line here.]

[Hanah chasing it in the Wingers zone.]

[Looks like McKenzie Revering (29) with Kristin Trosvig (15).]

[McKenna Ellingson (24) with . . . well, either Hanah or Alexis Heckert (20) as her center.]

[The Rev!   The new scoreboard at the ‘X’ is amazing.  This was a photo of . . . the scoreboard big screen.  In hindsight, I wish I’d taken more scoreboard photos because the close-ups were unbelievable.]

[The Rev and Kristin with likely Lauren Niska (21) on the far side.  That line of a freshman, sophomore, and junior, respectively, will be back in its entirety next year.]

[Looks like Hanah (another junior) with senior Kaila DeWanz (7).]

[Hanah with senior co-captain Micaela Swenson (34).]

[Ooops, looks like a touch up is needed – both to the photo and to get onside.]

[Uffda, thought we’d changed periods – but this is a scoreboard shot.  McKenna and junior Mari Wosepka (18) making a run.]

[The defensive pair of sophomore Kaitlin Leary (26) and senior Nicole Bartels (23) defend the blue line.]

[Big screen again of freshman Allison O’Kane (36), Kristin and Rev.]

[The play that may have changed the whole outcome of the game.  McKenna launched a nice wrist shot that hit the right goal post, slid all the way across the goal mouth and hit the left goal post, and popped out.  They ran it on the big screen from above.  If that had crossed the line, we would have had the first goal and then . . . who knows?]

[The Winger goalie lost her helmet flopping in an attempt to block that shot.  Moments later, McKenna had a point blank backhand shot that the goalie did make a nice save on.]

[Face-off in their zone.]

[Another good effort in the zone.]

[Nope, close but no cigar (except maybe in the lobby of the 340?).]

[It was a dominating first period by us.]

[Between periods, hockey moms discuss the finer points of the blue line forecheck.]

[Period 2 . . . begin!]

[Lauren ponders whether or not she should cross the blue line.]

[Wingers double team Micaela’s teammate.]

[An opportunity?  Lost.]

[Rev in a chase down mode.]

[Kristin, in search of . . . ]

[Ooooh, another scrum yields no goal.  😦  ]

[And the Wingers counter attack.]

[Gotta give her credit . . . we had plenty of good chances.]

[And the Wingers thwart another offensive zone foray by the Cards.]

[Yup, we basically rested this period.  The Wingers took advantage of a weird turnover by the Cards in front of our own net to score the first goal, and then got a power play goal here on a deflected shot from the point.]

[The Heckert line with Wosepka and Ellingson, and the defensive pair of O’Kane and junior Karina Carlsen (31).]

[Karina with a 1-on-4 rush!  😉  ]

[Nope, the side door wasn’t open.]

[Hanah’s line working it.]

[A Card looking to turn and fire!]

[Ooooh, Hanah’s in the goalie’s lap.  The fans all stand in anticipation again.]

[Kristin and Lauren are right there looking for a rebound!]

[And here comes that line again.]

[Again . . . an almost.]

[Cards take a time-out, still down 2 late in the game.]

[Our net is empty – we have 6 attackers out there.]

[But no, they got an empty-netter at the end.  Final, 3 – 0.  I think we ended with a shot advantage, and for the game had the more and better scoring opportunities.  But Red Wing got three to go in the net, and that’s how they keep score.]

After the game:

[Just like last year, the Super got us a room (well, a suite) in Hotel 340, the top three floors of the classic St. Paul Athletic Club, at 340 Cedar.]

[We took a glass of wine down to the lobby to drown our sorrows.  It’s the kind of place where you expect to see gray-haired gentlemen in tuxedos sitting around in leather chairs with brandy snifters and fine Cuban cigars.  Last year, we unexpectedly ran into Tami and Kim Bredeson from Carlos Creek Winery here; this year we unexpectedly ran into Sara Schwabe of Theatre L’Homme Dieu fame here.  Amazing.]

[The Super and I couldn’t find any locals who were willing to brave the elements to join us for dinner.  Wimps!  So we skywayed our way to Pazzaluna for a Rustica pizza.  Outstanding – that EATING thing again.  In the morning, we would be off to Ridder Arena on the U of M campus for the first game in the consolation bracket.]

There aren’t enough days in the weekend.  ~  Steven Wright

Up next:  More STATE.

[We missed our first girls’ hockey section final ever.  In our non-youthfullness, we just hesitate to venture beyond the politically established boundaries of Alexandria, in winter, in the darkness of night.  Not that girls’ basketball is a bad alternative, mind you!  This Friday night game was turned over to many of the JV’s for most of the second half.  The Cards are now 16 – 4 overall, 11 – 1 in the conference.  Can they follow their sisters-in-skates to the ultimate destination?]

[And after the game, the team met with their adoring fans, and the paparazzi (that would be me), to sign autographs.]

***

Super Fan Roger Riley, he of the long “winning streak” for girls’ hockey, sang the National Anthem before the game – I believe his first time for girls’ basketball.  He received kudos all around.  I left the video running for the player introductions and the first couple of plays:

***

Section 6A Champs

[We interrupt this interlude to bring you breaking news!  The girls’ hockey team defeated Detroit Lakes, 3 – 1, in the section 6A final in Fergus Falls, and will go on to the state tournament for the 10th time in the last 12 years.  Yeah, we’re getting spoiled.  They’ll play at the XCel Energy Center in St. Paul next Wednesday.  The Super has already made hotel reservations.  (Voice of Alexandria photo by Mark Ripley.)]

[Mari Wosepka scored the Cardinals’ first goal, short-handed in the 2nd period (Voice of Alexandria photo by Mark Ripley).]

[Team Captains Micaela Swenson and Nicole Bartels hoist the trophy (Voice of Alexandria photo by Mark Ripley).]

***

Meanwhile, back at the basketball game . . .

[You may recall the photo subject was featured in the last blog post as the potential point guard for Kohler’s 800th win.  During the JV game, Coaches Kohler and Hatlestad  came over and presented a Cardinal “game ball” to the granddaughter of Super Fan Classmate Ruth Helie Anderson (“Ruth, what’s her name again?”).  She’s now 13 months old and has been coming to the games since she was one month old.]

[Wrapping up the JV game with Alayna Aanerud (3), sophomore guard, at the free throw line.]

[All our JV teams are having monster years.]

[Pre-game warm-up shoot-around and coffee-klatch.  I just wanted to see if I could use four hyphenated words in one sentence.]

[The game . . . that actually started during the video.]

[Not a game for the faint of heart as Brooke Heggie is surrounded by many of the Storm’s finest.]

[Macy Hatlestad (11) brings it up . . . because that’s what point guard do.]

[Brooke, a very good free shooter, did the bulk of our first half scoring.]

[Cheyenne Hendrickson (55) had a terrific all-around game, rebounding and with assists, and Kiyana Miller (21) was her usual pest self on defense and is becoming more and more comfortable in the point guard roll when Macy needs a blow.]

[OK, Carly Dropik (33) didn’t make these – but her job isn’t scoring, it’s defense and everything else.]

[Kayla Feldhake (43), a sophomore forward, adds an inside presence with Heggie and Hendrickson.]

[Yeah, you can’t nitpick this, but . . . we didn’t shoot that well.  In fact, Macy, with Brooke our leading scorer, didn’t score in the first half.  We started the 2nd half with a play designed specifically for her to get a lay-up and on the board, and it worked!  🙂  ]

[The 2nd half tip-off.  OK, there is no such thing.  Kiyana readies to inbound the ball to Macy.]

[OK, where’s the ball?]

[Kendall Kohler (3) and Macy, backcourt mates since they were the age of . . . well, Ruth Anderson’s granddaughter!]

[Macy, 2 for 2, though the second slightly grazed the rim on the way through.]

[Kayla again.  Her GPS system was just slightly off as she got clear under the basket to receive passes . . . just too far under the basket a few times.  At least she got to the line.]

[Kelby Olson-Rodel (13) at the line.  She and Kiyana can really motor on the wings.]

[As the JV’s run out the clock, their teammates do the clap-clap-clap, clap-clap-clap, clap-clap-clap on the sideline signally this game is over!]

[We win!]

[And the post-game autograph session – a good way to connect with future Cardinals.]

[Kohler slipped me a copy of the photograph used for the autograph session.]

The next morning . . .

[Happy Valentine’s Day and anniversary to the Supervisor!  🙂  ]

Don’t you guys ever practice?  –  Long-time Bowling Green hockey coach talking to a colleague basketball coach regarding hockey teams only needing one time-out per game while basketball teams have millions! (As recently related by a TV basketball analyst.)

Up next:  State tournament?

[The 2015 Section 6A girls hockey tournament began Tuesday night for our No. 1-seeded Cardinals.  We beat the No. 4 seed, Northern Lakes (Pequot Lakes, Crosby-Ironton, Aitkin, et al), and this Friday we’ll encounter Detroit Lakes in Fergus Falls for the section championship and a trip to state.]

[An older guy in a funny hat attended with an obviously younger woman, as captured by “Scoop” Grundei.  The very next day they were sighted braving 54 mph gusts (the highest in the state) for the Wednesday senior matinee movie.  After a 3-week run of “Selma,” “The Imitation Game,” and “The Theory of Everything,” they decided to go really serious this time with . . . Paddington?]

***

Meet the 2014-15 Alexandria Cardinals:

***

Meet the first five minutes of the game:

***

[Meet Kaila DeWanz (7) and Sam Klimek (37) storming the Lightning net with Kaitlin Leary (26) in reserve.]

[OK, enough “Meets.”  GOOOOAAAALLL, Lauren Niska (21), from Kristin Trosvig (15) and Karina Carlsen (31).]

[Niska and Trosvig again, centered by McKenzie Revering (29).]

[Mari Wosepka (18) on a dash.]

[Hanah Hansen (11) circles the net, trying hard to impress her great grandma, Pat Perkins, sitting just across the aisle from us.]

[Is that Kaila in front?]

[Rev on the draw . . .]

[Then looking to feed the point.]

[Allison O’Kane (36) on the left point.]

[Rev looking to mix it up.]

[Trosvig and . . . Rev?]

[And in on goal.]

[Player of unknown identity backchecking.]

[Nicole Bartels (23), in our end with Leary, and Amy Jost (33) in goal.]

[Trosvig and Bartels on the attack.]

[Identification blocked by a “glass stabilizer.”]

[McKenna Ellingson (24) shooting.]

[Ellingson with her mates, Trosvig and Bartels.]

[DeWanz had a couple good runs at it.]

[Rev with a good rush.]

[The Hansen, Wosepka, and Niska line taking a draw in the offensive zone.]

[The first period ends with good control – if not enough goals? – by the Cards, as expected.]

[In the 2nd period, Ellingson scored first at the 3-minute mark . . . ]

[Her friends came to help celebrate . . . ]

[The Cards continued to score three more goals in the period, at about 4-minute intervals . . .]

[Niska from Revering and Bartels . . .]

[Micaela Swenson (34), good, a senior in her last RCC game, from DeWanz . . .]

[Revering from Trosvig . . . ]

[So, based on the goals it would seem we were in total control . . . ]

[A great lead going into the final period.  The team apparently thought so as well.  The Cards seemed indifferent in the 3rd period (hence, no photos) and the Lightning were able to score a couple of goals.  Coach Hovel also mentioned at the end of the game that the 3rd period “let down” was something her was going to have to address before the next game. We’re in a one-and-done situation now, so the team has to maintain a sense of urgency through the whole game.  We beat Detroit Lakes twice during the regular season – but both were close games and as they say, it’s hard to beat a team three times in one year!]

When grace combines with wrinkles, it is admirable. There is an indescribable light of dawn about intensely happy old age. The young man is handsome but the old, superb.  ~  Victor Hugo

Up next:  Something.