State Tourney Insiders: Sights and sounds from Championship Day at the Minnesota boys hockey state tournament

12:05 p.m.

Lou Nanne was honored and presented with a No. 60 hockey jersey before Saturday night’s championship game between Chanhassen and Edina. The crowd gave him an ovation and cheers of “Looooooo” even before the ceremony got started.

Nanne is stepping aside from broadcasting the state tournament after he started on the coverage 60 years ago, in 1964.

Late in the third period, there was also a tribute on the videoboard for Nanne, thanking him for 60 years. The camera then turned to Nanne in his press box booth, where he waved to the applauding crowd.

A few minutes later, Edina won another state championship. Sixty years isn’t the only round number celebrated by Edina and the Nanne family this weekend. Edina also won the championship 40 years ago in 1984, when Lou was on the call while his son, Marty Nanne, scored the game-winning goal in a 4-2 victory over Bloomington Kennedy.

Ten years ago, Louie’s grandson, Tyler Nanne, recorded four assists in the state championship game for Edina. The Hornets won that 2014 title with an 8-2 victory over Lakeville North. So, 10 years after that moment, some might say it was fitting that Edina won the championship for Louie’s final call in the tournament.

In 2010, grandson Lou Nanne had an assist in the 4-2 championship game that Edina won against Minnetonka.

HEATHER RULE

11:45 p.m.

It took only 11 seconds into an Edina power play in the third period to score the go-ahead goal. Chanhassen’s Caden Lee was in the penalty box for tripping, after he and an Edina player tangled near the benches.

Following the goal, Chanhassen coach Sean Bloomfield talked with the officials. He said afterward that he had wanted to talk with them before they dropped the puck on the play. The penalty occurred in a spot on the ice where Bloomfield said he “wasn’t able to see it very well live,” but he saw the replay.

“I guess I felt that our guy was hit pretty darn late into the bench,” Bloomfield said. “I don’t think the replay even showed what our guy did. I’d have to assume that our guy retaliated. That part was probably a good call. But I just wanted an explanation of what he saw leading up to it. That was it.”

HEATHER RULE

11:41 p.m.

Edina senior goaltender Joey Bertram perhaps took away some bragging rights that his dad has had for years. Matt Bertram was the goaltender who helped Edina win the 1988 state title; he made 14 saves in the 5-3 championship victory over Hill-Murray.

Saturday night, it was Joey’s turn to shine. He made 33 saves and allowed only one goal on the way to a state championship with the Hornets. It’s great, Joey said, sharing this state championship experience with his dad.

“He always had that one-up on me with the state championship,” Joey said. “And now I got it. Right there with him.”

In the final few minutes of the game, Bertram kept making saves and didn’t allow the Storm to get the equalizer despite a flurry of chances. One reporter in the postgame news conference asked him about those moments and said it seemed like he was seeing the puck like a beach ball.

“You’re just out there, and that’s why you play right there,” Joey said. “So, I was just out there having fun. I was … seeing it well. So that definitely made it a lot easier.”

Coach Curt Giles’ follow-up comment drew some laughs from those in attendance.

“I’m glad he saw it like a beach ball, because it looked like a peanut to me,” Giles said.

HEATHER RULE

11:34 p.m.

Chanhassen pulled goaltender Kam Hendrickson with 1:40 remaining in regulation, bringing on an extra attacker to try to tie the game. Those 100 seconds before the final horn — and a state championship — must have felt like a long time for Bertram in the Edina net, right?

“You know, it actually went by pretty quick,” Bertram said. “The game happens so fast, with them putting pressure on. I wasn’t looking at the clock too much. So I was just worried about the puck.”

Giles had a different outlook on those last couple of game minutes from his spot standing on the bench.

“Are you kidding? I used to have colored hair before tonight,” Giles said. “It seems like a month. The trick is to not watch the clock. I mean, because you watch that clock, you swear they’re adding time on there.

“There’s barrage after a barrage. There’s faceoffs. And there’s small things that you watch and you see loose pucks laying there.”

“I tell you what, that’s a long, long period of time,” Giles said. “Against a team like that [Chanhassen]. I can’t tell you how good of a hockey team that was.”

HEATHER RULE

11:29 p.m.

Before Saturday’s game, Bloomfield talked about the desperation factor that comes during playoff time, in the section tournament and then the state tournament. It was something he said he talked about with his players during sections, that they had to be desperate “because it’s tough to end a season,” he said. His team had played with that desperation, and he believed his players were in the right mindset for the championship game.

“Obviously, this is the last game of the year no matter what,” Bloomfield said. “Now, it’s not a desperation to keep the season going, it’s desperation to play the right way and win the last game.”

The winning result didn’t happen for Chanhassen in the first title game for the program. But afterward, Bloomfield and his players reflected on the final minutes of the game.

“That was a pretty cool moment with about a minute and a half left when the whole place stood up cheering these guys on,” Bloomfield said, with tears in his eyes. “What a better way to finish your high school career than that?”

While Edina players tossed their gear and jumped around the ice in celebration after the final horn, Chanhassen players on the ice took in the moment in a different way. Senior Gavin Uhlenkamp “was just taking in the last time wearing this jersey.”

“It’s a great run we had,” Uhlenkamp said. “Best four years I’ve had in my life. Just soaking that all in.”

Added senior Jake Risch: “Not many people get to experience that. Just getting a chance to soak it all in. It was great. A lot of kids ask for that and don’t get it. Gotta be grateful.”

HEATHER RULE

9:49 p.m.

Edina won both the boys and girls state championships for the second time. The Hornets also pulled off the sweep in 2019.

The Hornets won the girls title 2-0 over Hill-Murray on Feb. 24.

The boys title Saturday was the third in a decade for Edina. The Hornets also won in 2014.

HEATHER RULE

9:45 p.m.

The Class 2A Herb Brooks Award went to Centennial senior Harper Searles, and the Class 1A award went to Northfield senior Jake Geiger.

The award is presented by the MSHSL to a state tournament participant who strongly represents the values, characteristics and traits that defined famed Minnesota hockey figure Herb Brooks.

HEATHER RULE

8:44 p.m.

The total announced attendance for the boys state tournament across four days was 140,422, a record. It shattered the previous record of 129,643 set in 2008.

Both sessions on Saturday set records. Attendance was announced at 9,919 for Saturday’s Class 1A afternoon session for the championship and third-place games. That beat last year’s record of 9,083.

For the evening session including the Class 2A third-place and championship games, announced attendance was 20,346. The previous record was 18,682 in 2008.

Here’s how the attendance played out:

Announced attendance for the evening session of Class 2A semifinals Friday was 20,956, a record for the session and the first time it cracked 20,000. The previous record was 19,964 for the 2016 Class 2A semifinals.

Friday’s afternoon session for the Class 1A semifinals set a record with an announced attendance of 13,319. That beats the mark of 11,795 set last year.

Records fell for both Class 2A sessions Thursday. The first two quarterfinals drew an announced attendance of 19,765. The record was 19,232, a mark that had stood since 2008.

The attendance for the evening session was 20,208. The previous record was 18,878 set in 2012.

Only Wednesday’s sessions set no records. The morning session was announced at 5,488, and the evening session number was 6,203.

HEATHER RULE

5:54 p.m.

Warroad and Mahtomedi, state title game combatants in 2023, hooked up in the third-place game on Saturday at the Xcel Energy Center. The Warriors lost in double overtime last year but closed out this season with a 4-1 victory. Power-play goals from senior forwards Murray Marvin-Cordes and Mr. Hockey award finalist Carson Pilgrim accounted for two of Warroad’s three goals in the opening period. Senior goalie Ben Norris stopped 30 shots. Mahtomedi senior forward Jake Hodd-Chlebeck scored in the third period.

Orono won the consolation game 1-0 against Northfield on junior forward Trey Landa’s goal at 8:44 of the second period. Senior goalie Peyton Anderson stopped all 26 shots faced and secured the narrow victory on Saturday at Aldrich Arena in Maplewood.

Northwest Suburban Conference rivals Centennial and Elk River/Zimmerman played a memorable regular-season game — a wild 7-5 home victory for the Elks.

The Cougars drew even in Saturday’s consolation game rematch. Centennial won 3-2 in a lower-scoring game with drama of its own. Power-play goals from senior forward Harper Searles and senior defenseman Austin Petersen built a 2-0 Centennial lead. Elk River/Zimmerman responded with goals by senior forward Kole Mears and senior defenseman Cooper Anderson.

The game stayed tied 2-2 until the final minute of the third period. Senior forward Heath Nelson set the Cougars fans home happy from Aldrich Arena on a goal scored with 44 seconds remaining.

Cretin-Derham Hall defeated Grand Rapids 6-3 in the third-place game at the Xcel Energy Center. A pair of goals by Grand Rapids senior forward Jacob Garski gave the Thunderhawks a 2-1 lead in the second period. Then the Raiders returned fire. Sophomore forward Max Anderson scored twice and Cretin-Derham Hall posted four consecutive goals. Senior goalie Leo Miller made 28 saves to earn the victory.

DAVID LA VAQUE

4:56 p.m.

St. Cloud Cathedral players showed up to the postgame news conference as state champions often do, with their gold medals around their necks. Coach Robbie Stocker carried the team’s championship trophy and placed it on the table in front of him.

But senior goaltender Nick Hansen brought something else along: a small stuffed animal. Rubble from the children’s TV show “PAW Patrol.”

“We call it the Dog of the Game,” Hansen said. “It’s for the hardest worker on the team, per se.”

The implication was that he earned the “dog” after making 28 saves to help his team win a state title. Although, he didn’t take all the credit.

“I think the whole team earned it,” Hansen said. “We called it the team dog today.”

The dog has made its way around to various Cathedral players, passed around, Stocker said, to “whoever did the selfless things that were needed to win the game.”

“I’d say Hansen got it a lot,” Stocker said.

Hansen missed 11 games during the season because of a dislocated left shoulder. So he wasn’t in net for the team’s first meeting with Hermantown during the regular season, a 3-1 loss on Jan. 11 that ended up being the team’s last blemish of the 2023-24 season.

Hansen was on the bench when he was injured, his longest stretch off the ice since he started playing hockey 10-12 years ago, he said.

“It was really hard for me,” Hansen said. “But the guys around me made sure to keep my confidence up and get ready to go back in.”

Stocker jumped in to say Hansen was being modest. The Crusaders started the season without a captain; they wanted to see who would step up and be the leader. Stocker said he “kind of always knew that it was going to be Nick.” Stocker presented Hansen with the captain’s “C” before the Northfield game Jan. 26.

The ship has been steady since then, Stocker said. Senior defenseman Vince Gebhardt also spoke highly of Hansen on Saturday.

“It’s unreal the amount of times he’s bailed me out,” Gebhardt said. “He bailed me out once big-time today, backdoor on the penalty kill. Which we talked about. It’s unreal.

“Those games he wasn’t there, me and Griff [sophomore defenseman Griffin Sturm] knew that we had to play our ‘A’ game. And with him back, there’s a little bit of relief.”

Added Sturm: “Took the words right out of my mouth.”

When Hansen went down injured, he was still at every practice and game, acting as a second goalie coach, and was the “ultimate teammate in picking up everybody,” Stocker said.

“That set the tone when he came back, what this group was going to be moving forward,” Stocker said.

Goaltenders aren’t the ones scoring goals. But Stocker said Hansen’s presence and confidence led to goals for the Crusaders this season, that the team’s offense, along with its defense, picked up when Hansen returned from injury.

“He’s not scoring those goals, but what he brings to the group elevated everybody’s play, everybody’s work ethic,” Stocker said. “Just the positivity of the group and the leadership that he brings pushed us all that way.”

HEATHER RULE

11:41 a.m.

Four days of hockey have played down to two games and four teams. We’ll determine champions Saturday at the Xcel Energy Center, starting in less than an hour.

The action begins at noon, when St. Cloud Cathedral takes on Hermantown for the Class 1A championship. We’ll know soon enough about the health of Hermantown senior defenseman and team leader William Esterbrooks, who missed a large portion of the semifinal against Mahtomedi. Coach Patrick Andrews called it an upper-body injury and called Esterbrooks “our heart and soul” and “our psycho competitor.”

St. Cloud Cathedral counts on junior John Hirschfeld, whose 81 points lead the team. He scored his 26th and 27th goals of the season Friday, including the one that won the game in overtime His coach indicated he’ll show up ready.

“Yesterday, I had to tell him, ‘You can’t work this hard in practice, because we have the state semifinal tomorrow.’ Which, as a coach, that’s a great problem to have,” coach Robbie stocker said. “And we’ve got a lot of guys like that on this team, which is probably why we’ve been so resilient with whatever adversity has been thrown at us this season.”

Hermantown is making its 14th state tournament appearance in the past 15 years and its 19th overall. St. Cloud Cathedral is in its ninth appearance overall and its second in a row.

The Class 2A championship game, pitting perennial power Edina and first-time state tournament team Chanhassen, is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Edina is as familiar as tournament teams get. The Hornets will be playing for their 14th state championship, including three won by Edina East in 1974, ‘78 and ‘79.

Chanhassen is aiming to become the first team since 2004 to win a state title on its first trip to state. Centennial pulled it off in 2004.

STAR TRIBUNE STAFF