Scoggins: Nobody ever says, ‘We want to get to Mariucci’

Every kid on every varsity hockey team in Minnesota begins each season dreaming of one place. That big building with the glass facade in downtown St. Paul.

Xcel Energy Center represents the Holy Grail of high school hockey, home to the state tournament. The X marks the spot where a fun, spirited party is taking place this week.

Players say it all the time in discussing team goals: “We want to get to the X!”

Nobody ever says, “We want to get to Mariucci!”

Oh, the Gophers' home rink is a cool setting for sure, but playing there this week sounds as appealing as after-school detention.

The 7.7 miles that separate the X and 3M Arena at Mariucci stand as a boulevard of shattered dreams.

Teams that win their first game stay at the X. Teams that lose their first game head to Mariucci for consolation games.

“There’s no sugarcoating it,” Mahtomedi coach Jeff Poeschl said. “The student sections have a Mariucci chant when teams lose because it’s the land of misfit toys. No one wants to be there.”

I fell in love with this grand event the first time I covered it in 2000. As a newbie to Minnesota, I didn’t understand what the hullabaloo was all about until I stopped outside the locker room of a winning team.

The door swung open and a group of sweaty, smelly teenage boys with their hair dyed blond was singing Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” at the top of their lungs.

Suddenly, I got it.

Reaching that pinnacle brings an overwhelming joy, excitement and satisfaction that only those privileged enough to play in the tournament can truly understand.

I’ve often wondered what it must feel like when a team loses and the dream dies but the season isn’t over yet. Consolation games at Mariucci await.

On Thursday morning, I took in that scene, along with a crowd that could not have exceeded 150 fans in an arena that holds 10,000.

“It’s a wrench in your side having to wake up early when you’ve dreamed of playing in the X all year and your goal is to win the state championship,” Northfield senior captain Griffin Kennelly said. “When that gets cut short and you have to come play another game less than 24 hours later, it’s obviously hard.”

The alarm clock went off at 6:45 a.m. The team bus left the hotel at 7:45 a.m.

Northfield coach Mike Luckraft described the contrast of emotions from one day to the next: “The bright lights, the big building, the bands, the whole thing. It’s just an experience that’s indescribable. When you lose in that arena, you have to really focus on what’s still there for your program.”

Northfield, the No. 3 seed in Class 1A, lost to Orono 8-2 in the quarterfinals. The Raiders had entered the tournament on a roll, winning eight of nine.

The lopsided loss was deflating. Players feasted on cheeseburgers in a banquet room at the team hotel that night as coaches dissected what went wrong in the game and encouraged them to regroup emotionally.

“It took a while,” Luckraft said.

Said Kennelly: “We made sure once we left that room, we were focused on [Thursday].”

Dejection isn’t easily discarded. Only a sprinkling of fans witnessed Northfield and Mahtomedi take the ice for warmups at 9:30 a.m.

No pep bands. No pomp and circumstance.

Poeschl has won two state championships in his 28 seasons as Mahtomedi coach. He calls the Mariucci games “character building” and a life lesson. Yes, players might be heartbroken, but they have to pick themselves up and move forward.

Luckraft tried a new motivational tactic. For the first time in five seasons, he didn’t show players video of the opponent before the game. Instead, Northfield coaches preached the importance of finding the fortitude to play hard.

“There is a lot of, ‘Can you get into the moment?’ ” Luckraft said.

Then warmups started.

“Brutal,” he said. “We looked terrible. Absolutely terrible.”

Luckraft joked that he thought goalie Gavin Winter was trying to inflate teammates' confidence because pucks kept going past him. The entire warmup was a mess.

Back at the locker room, coaches asked junior captain Bridger Riley to join them outside. They told him to address the team because the coaches had done enough talking. Riley went back inside.

“All we heard was the music go off,” Luckraft said.

Riley’s message?

“If we come out like that,” he told teammates, “we’re going to get killed.”

They found their mojo. Kennelly scored less than four minutes into the game and the Raiders rode that fast start to a 4-2 win. Winter was terrific with 33 saves.

The Raiders’ goal is different now. They can’t win the state title, but Luckraft reminded his players that only three Class 1A teams will win their final games: the champion, the third-place winner and the consolation champ.

“We’ve still got hardware to play for,” senior captain Will Cashin said. “Just playing for the guys coming up behind you and setting a good example for the rest of Northfield.”

Music blasted from inside the locker room after the game as players celebrated. It wasn’t the X, but the boys had a good time nonetheless.