Classic Class 1A boys' hockey matchup nods to the past, and 2A pairing heralds the future

Championship Saturday for high school boys' hockey took place again at Xcel Energy Center, and it turned out to be a generational doubleheader.

First, early-times tradition met recent-times tradition when Warroad and Hermantown played for the Class 1A title. Then came a potential predictor of the sport's new face with the meeting of Andover and Maple Grove for the Class 2A title.

Warroad played in its first state championship game in 1948, losing to Eveleth. Hermantown played in its first in 1998, losing to Eveleth-Gilbert in Class 1A.

Andover arrived as the fifth and newest, fast-growing high school in the enormous Anoka-Hennepin School District 11. Maple Grove is the third and newest, fast-growing high school in the neighboring Osseo Area School District 279.

Edina went out 5-2 in the first round to Maple Grove. And the Crimson followed that with a 6-2 win over Prior Lake, another place with amazing growth.

This was followed by Andover beating Hill-Murray, 4-2 with an empty-netter, in the other semifinal.

OK, it's a bit early to say see-you-later to those green-and-white blurs, Edina and Hill-Murray, as teams to beat in state tourneys ahead, BUT …

Andover and Maple Grove both come out of the Northwest Suburban Conference and what they offered was a title game that shouted: You have seen the future and it's spectacular.

Maple Grove seemed to have the conference rival up against it on three difference occasions — very early, at the end of the first period, and then at the end of regulation.

Andover was down 2-0 in the opening three minutes. It gave up a goal with 17 seconds left in the first to make it 3-1, and then Jacob Pierson scored with three second left to make it 3-2.

The action remained primarily intense and Maple Grove squeezed ahead 5-4 in the final minutes on a goal by Chayton Fisher, more of a physical presence than a scorer.

About the time the Huskies would hold that goal to an end, Gavyn Thoreson — the leader of Andover's big line — managed to muscle in a tying goal with 1:50 remaining.

That turned out to be Andover, on captain Logan Gravink's goal nine minutes into that full, second overtime.

Which leads to the following message for those dedicated whiners over Hermantown's title in Class A. This resumed after the Hawks won their fourth state title with a 3-2 victory over Warroad.

Here's the message: Hermantown is doing absolutely the correct thing by remaining in Class 1A and competing for titles. The Hawks have no obligation to get in the same ring at tournament time with suburban monsters that probably are going to get more monstrous.

Hermantown's latest championship came with two goals from Zam Plante (right … Derek's kid) and the outstanding defensive pair of Ty Hanson and Beau Janzig. It was 3-2 entering the third period, and coach Pat Andrews' solution for holding on to the lead was to ride Hanson and Janzig for close to the entire period.

Hermantown's last Class A title came in 2017, which was the last season for coach Bruce Plante, the builder of the Hermantown powerhouse.

First title, so the helmet went to the coach.

Andrews mentioned the "hard time" that Hermantown receives from many rivals and much of hockey fandom.

What's the hard time, coach?

"They want us to go up," he said. "They want us to go up … want us to go up."

Along with all the success, Bruce Plante brought a share of this on Hermantown with his complaints about being forced to play against Twin Cities private schools in the Class 1A tournament.

No matter. Hermantown isn't 2A by size. The Hawks do play a tough regular-season schedule and compete strongly with 2A schools, and congratulations for that.