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The East Greyhounds gathered at Essential Heritage Center after beating Andover 9-3 for coach Mike Randolph’s 600th career coaching victory. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Coach Mike Randolph was in high spirits next to Garrett Worth in the team’s celebration. Photo credit: John Gilbert

The first couple of hockey coaching jobs Mike Randolph had were actually assistant coaching jobs. He remembers them well - much better than he remembers whether he really has won 600 games as long-standing coach at Duluth East, the landmark he celebrated last Saturday when the Greyhounds whipped previously undefeated Andover 9-3.

His high school coach and mentor, Del Genereau, had left Duluth Cathedral and started the hockey program at St. Scholastica back in the 1970s. After he left, becoming athletic director, influential St. Scholastica boosters had gotten a successful businessman named Max Ramsland installed as coach. That was shortly after Mike Randolph had finished a glowing high school playing career at Cathedral, and played junior hockey in Canada, and was a candidate to make the 1976 U.S. Olympic team.

“I got cut from the Olympic team,” Randolph recalled. “I was in Fort Wayne, and I was going to play there, when Del calls me. He said Max Ramsland had been hired to coach, and ‘I need you to come back and assist Max.’
“I did. We won the national (small college) championship. Then they fired Max and brought in Kevin Hoene as athletic director and coach. I went to UMD and assisted in Gus Hendrickson’s last year. When he got fired, I stayed on and assisted Mike Sertich with Jim Knapp.”

Hermantown goaltender Cole Manahan stopped a late breakaway by Marshall’s George Grannis. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Marshall’s George Grannis (7) who had two goals, was denied a game-winning hat trick by Hermantown goaltender Cole Manahan. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Marshall goalie Cam Brandt got lots of help to stop Hermantown’s Tyler Watkins at the crease in the 3-3 tie. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Next, Randolph hooked up with Bill Vukonich at Denfeld, and Vukonich turned all the tactical training over to Randolph. It didn’t hurt that Mike Vukonich was a star forward, and the goaltender was a kid named Robb Stauber, and Denfeld went to the state tournament. When Vukonich decided to stay on, Randolph went up to coach Cathedral, which had moved up to its palatial new campus on the hill.

“We flooded the tennis courts to skate, because we wanted to do it like Del did,” Randolph said. The Duluth East job opened up, and Randolph got a job teaching elementary school and coaching the Greyhounds. After two state championships and almost annual Section 7AA routes back to the state, Randolph has a powerhouse team this season. When they beat Andover 9-3 last Saturday, it was heralded as Randolph’s 600th coaching victory.

“I don’t even know, for sure,” Randolph laughed, because he had left, by pre-arranged agreement, to go watch his son, Jake, play for Nebraska-Omaha more than a dozen times in the last three years. The Greyhounds won some of those games, lost others, and he didn’t keep track of such things, and it appears nobody else does, either.

“It was a really nice thing they did for me out at Heritage after we won, so we’ll go with that as the 600th,” he said. “I could tell that even though we never talked about it, everybody else was, and our guys really seemed to want to win that 600th game for me.”
The top line, realigned a couple times by Randolph two games earlier, came through big against Andover. Wingers Ian Mageau (3 goals) and Garrett Worth (2 goals) and center Ryder Donovan (1 goal, 5 assists) led the way, and defenseman Luke LeMaster (1 goal, 3 assists) might have had a hat trick, too, but two of his missiles from the point were deflected in.

While Randolph deeply appreciated the tributes, especially by his players,  his biggest objective was Thursday night, at Cloquet, and then next Tuesday when Centennial comes to Essential Heritage Center. That’s the way it is with Mike Randolph. He’ll keep the Hounds winning, and when anybody thinks he deserves a tribute, he’ll show up.

One of East’s biggest challengers this season, of course, is Cloquet-Esko-Carlton, but also Marshall. The Hilltoppers have a powerhouse team, and they put it on display Tuesday night in a scintillating 3-3 tie against arch-rival Hermantown.
The Hawks are still Class A, while Marshall has moved up to take on AA, but their rivalry knows no class limitations.

Marshall, armed with the sizzling scoring touch of George Grannis and a first unit bristling with big guns, gained a 1-0 first-period lead when Grannis scored his 17th goal of the season on a power play in th efirst period. Hermantown tied it 1-1 when Blake Biondi made a hard rush for a shot and converted his own rebound. Then Jacob Herter put the Hawks ahead on a slick 2-on-1 goal-mouth feed from center Tyler Watkins.

Willy Stauber tied it 2-2 with a blast from the right point in the first minute of the third period, and Biondi was perfectly positioned in the slot when a mis-hit Marshall clearing attempt went right to him and he drilled it at 2:03 to reclaim the lead at 3-2 for Hermantown.

A Hermantown penalty midway through the third period gave the Toppers their chance. Levi Stauber, Willy’s cousin, was on the right boards and fed deep to Nolan Krenzen, who made a perfect pass across the goal-mouth where, of all people, Grannis was positioned for a one-timer, his second goal of the game and 18th of a spectacular start to the season.

Grannis had a late breakaway that would have been his hat trick, but junior goaltender Cole Manahan came up with a huge save and also blocked another try by Grannis, among his 24 saves. Cam Brandt made 20 saves in the opposite net after they failed to settle things in overtime. Strangely, they played a 5-minute overtime, although since the high schools went to 17-minute period, overtimes are supposed to be 8 minutes. Whatever, the teams have a chance to meet again, AA class or A, overtime or not, in the Hilltopper Classic holiday tournament.