Come back often for updates.
Minnesota boys hockey state tournament: updates, game stories, how to watch and more
Underdogs Grand Rapids and Cretin-Derham Hall record upsets to reach semifinals, where heavyweights Edina and Chanhassen await.
By David La Vaque and
Heather Rule
March 8, 2024 at 12:43PM
Class 2A quarterfinal schedule
Tap each Class 2A quarterfinal matchup below for live stats.
Game 4 / 10:54 p.m.
White Bear Lake hoped to apply its winning playoff formula against Grand Rapids in Thursday’s final Class 2A boys hockey state tournament quarterfinal at the Xcel Energy Center.
Instead, the Bears had the script flipped. Grand Rapids grabbed an early lead and goaltender Carter Casey appeared poised to make the one-goal advantage stand. When the Bears drew even late, Grand Rapids sophomore Nathan Garski scored the winning goal even later – with 1.6 seconds remaining in the game.
In fact, the only constant in the Thunderhawks’ 2-1 victory was a White Bear Lake quarterfinal loss.
The Bears are a perfectly imperfect 0-20 in first round games going back to the first state tournament held in 1945.
No. 5 seed Grand Rapids (18-11) grabbed the early lead on William Shermoen’s goal at 4:04 of the opening period. No. 4 seed White Bear Lake (20-8-1) could not find the equalizer until Jack Stanius buried a shorthanded goal at 15:26 of the third period to tie the game 1-1.
Overtime seemed likely, until Garski tipped a puck to himself and swept it past goalie Leo Gabriel.
White Bear Lake previously defeated Grand Rapids 2-0 on Jan. 19.
Game 4′s key numbers
0-20: White Bear Lake’s record in the state tournament. The Bears haven’t won a quarterfinal since appearing in the first state tournament in 1945.
1.6: Seconds remaining when Nathan Garski swept the puck home for a 2-1 victory.
25: Saves by Thunderhawks goalie Carter Casey.
DAVID LA VAQUE
Game 3 / 8:27 p.m.
Edina ends Elk River’s eight-game winning streak
In what’s been a common theme in the 2024 boys hockey state tournament, the goal-scoring floodgates opened in the second period.
This time it’s Edina, and the second period is when the top-seeded Hornets were buzzing the most. The result was a five-goal middle frame that led to a 6-2 victory over unseeded Elk River/Zimmerman in Thursday’s first Class 2A quarterfinal of the evening session at Xcel Energy Center.
Sophomore Casey Vandertop bookended the second-period scoring with a hat trick in a game-time span of 8:06. He completed his hat trick after Edina took a 5-0 lead on four goals just 4:43 apart in the second period.
Freshman Freddie Schneider gave Edina a 1-0 lead only a few minutes into the game. Senior John Halverson made it 3-0 only 39 seconds after Vandertop’s first goal. Vandertop made it 4-0, and to keep the youth movement going, sophomore Mason West perfectly picked a top corner for the Hornets’ fifth goal.
Vandertop came into the game with nine goals on the season and no multi-goal games for the Hornets (24-4-1).
Elk River/Zimmerman senior forward Danny Babcock capitalized on a turnover in the Elk River zone, picking a corner of the net for his 12th goal of the season and making it a 6-1 game just before the second intermission. Senior Cole Mears made it 6-2 late in the third period.
The loss for the Elks (18-10-1) snaps an eight-game winning streak. Elk River last appeared in the state tournament in 2005.
Game 3′s three stars
Casey Vandertop, Edina forward: Recorded a hat trick in about eight minutes in the second period. He came into the game with nine goals this season and no multi-goal games.
Freddie Schneider, Edina forward: The freshman scored the first goal of the game and had an assist for his ninth multi-point game of the season.
Danny Babcock, Elk River/Zimmerman forward: Scored a highlight-reel goal for his 12th of the season, plus added an assist on the second Elks’ goal.
Game 3′s key numbers
2: Edina scoring plays reviewed for offsides. The first one, with 4:59 remaining in the first period, was no goal. The second one, with 10:40 left in the second period, was a good and gave the Hornets a 3-0 lead.
5: Goals in the second period for Edina.
10: Edina players with at least a point in the quarterfinal game.
HEATHER RULE
Game 2 / 4:29 p.m.
Cretin-Derham Hall upsets Centennial in double overtime
For the second consecutive state tournament, Cretin-Derham Hall played spoiler and pulled off a Class 2A quarterfinal upset of a seeded team.
This time the victim was No. 3 Centennial. Max Anderson scored at 12:23 of double overtime to complete a string of four unanswered Raiders goals to defeat the Cougars 4-3 in Thursday’s second quarterfinal at Xcel Energy Center.
Last year, Cretin-Derham Hall’s 3-1 victory knocked Maple Grove out of the tournament.
The Raiders didn’t look the part of spoiler early on Thursday. Centennial built a 3-0 in the first period and held a 3-1 margin for nearly the entire second period.
Centennial (19-8-2) took a 1-0 lead 56 seconds into the game from Harper Searles, and then cashed on special teams. The Cougars entered the matchup converting at 31.8% on the power play and quickly capitalized on two opportunities in the first period for a pair of goals from sophomore Nick Carls. His first was on a juicy rebound in front of the net midway through the first period, and 1:19 later, he tipped a shot in front to give Centennial a 3-0 lead.
Luck struck Cretin-Derham Hall with 55.1 seconds remaining in the second. Chuck Owens’ shot hit the post, sending the puck bouncing out of the goal and off Centennial junior goaltender Easton Cody’s back before trickling over the goal line.
That made it a one-goal game heading into the third period. The Raiders tied the game 3-3 early in the period with a power-play goal from Anderson, who finished with two goals.
The Raiders outshot the Cougars 50-32 in the game and 30-12 from the third period on, helping them record an overtime victory for the second time in three games. Cretin-Derham Hall (18-10-1) defeated Eastview in the Section 2 semifinals before defeating St. Thomas Academy in the championship game.
The Cougars returned to the state tournament for the first time since 2018, when they took fourth place, and used three shutouts to win the 2004 Class 2A tournament.
HEATHER RULE
Game 2′s three stars
Max Anderson, Cretin-Derham Hall forward: The sophomore scored the tying and overtime-winning goals for his unseeded team. He leads the Raiders with 14 goals.
Easton Cody, Centennial goaltender: Made a season-high 46 saves and helped extend the game from the third period on when his team was outshot 30-12 in the third period and overtime.
Nate Chorlton, Cretin-Derham Hall forward: Assisted on the tying goal and send a pass over to Anderson for the 2-on-1 play for the game-winner. Also had six shots on goal.
Game 2′s key numbers
2-for-2: Centennial’s success on the power play, and sophomore Nick Carls, who scored those goals just 1:19 apart in the first period.
2: Upset victories in the past two state quarterfinals for Cretin-Derham Hall.
50: Shots on goal in the game for the Raiders, while Centennial had 32. The Raiders outshot their opponent 12-2 in double overtime.
HEATHER RULE
Game 1 / 1:10 p.m.
Chanhassen’s chase continues
Chanhassen will finish its first boys hockey state tournament appearance at the Xcel Energy Center as planned.
The Storm took control of Rochester Century/John Marshall and won 7-0 in the first Class 2A quarterfinal game played Thursday. No. 2 Chanhassen (24-5) sought to overcome the same fate as the past two second-seeded teams — Maple Grove in 2023 and Cretin-Derham Hall in 2022 — which lost in the Class 2A state tournament quarterfinals.
Jack Christ got the scoring started with just 21.2 seconds remaining in the first period. His teammates kept the momentum going in the second period. Goals by Tyler Smith, Caden Lee and, on the power play, Gavin Uhlenkamp. The Storm advance to Friday’s semifinal and face Cretin-Derham Hall.
Rochester Century/John Marshall (22-5-2) goaltender Kyle Lappi made 31 saves before getting replaced with 3:11 to play in the third. His team was outshot 42-12.
Game 1′s three stars
Jack Christ, Chanhassen senior forward: Scored with 21.2 remaining in a first period that was more competitive than expected.
Kam Hendrickson, Chanhassen senior goalie: The Storm does not get the shutout if not for some key saves with his leg pads in the first period.
Caden Lee, Chanhassen senior forward: Had his first goal waved off when official video ruled it to be offside. Tallied another goal to make it 3-0 — and this one counted.
Game 1′s key numbers
2: Number of victories Chanhassen needs to capture its first boys hockey state title.
16:38.8: How many minutes the Panthers held the Storm scoreless in the first period. The game changed when Jack Christ scored with 21.2 remaining, sparking Chanhassen’s dominant play in the final two periods.
22: Kam Hendrickson’s win total on the season (22-5). He’s two behind the state leader, Warroad’s Ben Norris.
DAVID LA VAQUE
Semifinals
Friday
Championship games
Class 1A: noon Saturday
Class 2A: 7 p.m. Saturday
. . .
Tournament brackets
. . .
Tickets, TV
Ch. 45 will stream all three rounds for free and will televise the semifinals and championship games. Link to the streams and find other details on how to watch here. Tickets to the event range from $13 to $20 and are available at mshsl.org/tickets.
. . .
More coverage
The Star Tribune will be publishing stories and other content related to these state championship games and more this week. Keep up by checking startribune.com/preps each day. Thank you for reading and subscribing.
Tournament information
Six players plus head coach Garrett Raboin and assistant coach Ben Gordon are from Minnesota. The tournament’s games will be televised starting Monday.
