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Hawks players swarmed to their fans to celebrate Saturday’s 3-2 victory over Warroad for the State Class A hockey championship at Excel Energy Center. Photos by John Gilbert.

Pat Andrews became a hockey fan Sunday. Before that, he was a hockey coach, feeling all the pressure it takes to direct a top-tier team like the Hermantown Hawks, from summer training regimens through games against the best teams from all around Minnesota, and the  Class A, Section 7 tournament.

The climax of Andrews’s coaching season came Saturday afternoon, when Hermantown beat an outstanding Warroad outfit 3-2 in a throwback all-Northern State Class A championship at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul.

It was the first state title for Andrews since taking over for the iconic Bruce Plante at the helm of perhaps the best-operated youth hockey program in the state. The celebration was an emotional high, a release of all the built-up energy of the season. Then came the return trip, to Hermantown.

It was only then that Andrews was able to become just a fan.

“I finally got to watch the game on TV on Sunday,” Andrews said. “I watched every detail so closely during the game, and I thought we played pretty well, but when I watched it all over again, I was really impressed at how we played. I couldn’t believe how well we played – how many 2-on-1s we created all over the ice, offensively, in the neutral zone and in our end, and how good we were defensively to shut down their top line.

 “Zam Plante’s line was outstanding, not only for all the goals and the offensive chances, but in going against Warroad’s top line. Our second line played so well, I had no qualms leaving them out there against their top line, and our third line was great, too, along with our defensemen. I guess the thing that impressed me the most was that everybody on our team played their best in the biggest game of their lives.”

Hermantown defensemen Ty Hanson (2) and Beau Janzig (13) cleared Warroad attackers to leave goalie Dane Calloway time to recover a threatening rebound.

Warroad, at its best, plays an intimidating attack style, with each individual doing his thing and finding ways to get it all to fit together. It’s sort of a refined and advanced rink-rat style, which worked for a 7-1 romp for the No. 2 ranked Warriors over Monticello, and a 5-4 overtime victory over No. 3 Mahtomedi in the semifinals, and it worked for a 1-0 lead over Hermantown”s No. 1 ranked Hawks in the final.

But Dominic Thomas tied it 1-1 before the first period ended on a brilliant move for the Hawks, where he came around the left of the defense and rushed the net, making a deft move that caused goaltender Hampton Slukynsky to honor the deke. Then Thomas, cat-quick, cut behind the net and scored on a wraparound at the right post.

Zam Plante’s amazing quickness gave the Hawks a 2-1 lead in the first minute of the second period, but Griffin Marvin tied it again at 1:41 for Warroad.

Barely a minute later, though, Zam Plante scored again for a 3-2 lead, and the Hawks were about to take control. No more goals, but a dazzling sequence of great plays and great chances through the rest of the second period and all of the third.

Warroad’s explosive offense simply never had the puck, getting just three shots in the final period. Dane Calloway came up with some big saves, when necessary, after giving up a couple of early goals that were not in his normal resume, and he got exceptional defensive play from the starting tandem of Ty Hanson and Beau Janzig, who played almost the entire third period.The stature of the state tournament rose incrementally a few more notches, as the technical excellence Hermantown showed in winning Class A was followed by one of the most wildly exciting Class AA finals in the tournaments history.

Andover, “our” AA representive from Section 7, beat Maple Grove 6-5 in two overtimes to claim the title. The mercurial Gavyn Thoreson, who looked totally out of gas in both the semifinals and final until the puck came to him, then he would generate a spectacular play, usually for a huge goal.

Thoreson, a junior, set up the first of two goals by Cayden Casey in the first period and Weston Knox in the second, he tied the game 5-5 with 1:50 remaining in regulation with a shot from near the right boards that could best be described as a double deflection off defenders.

Then it took until 8:59 of the second overtime before Logan Gravink sped past the net and found a rebound landing in the crease right in front of him.

The state tournament was a keepsake, but it was only one of several highlights during the weekend.

UMD’s women’s hockey team went through the weird new NCAA tournament regional structure by having to beat Harvard 4-0 last Thursday when Gabbie Hughes scored the first three goals, to get the chance to face the University of Minnesota – which had whipped the Bulldogs 5-1 in the WCHA playoff semifinals on the same Ridder Arena ice just a week earlier.

This time, Gopher coach Brad Frost a line to shut down Hughes and her prolific first line, and it worked for most of the game. But Hughes got loose in the third period for her first shot attempt of the game, and beat Lauren Bench for the goal that stood for a 2-1 victory, behind the goaltending of Emma Soderberg.

Sophomore Max Plante (26) and his junior brother Zam Plante (27), gave Warroad defenders fits throughout Hermantown’s final victory.

That sends the Bulldogs to their second straight Frozen Four, where they face Northeastern Friday at Penn State. It was Northeastern that beat the Bulldogs in last year’s semifinals before Northeastern lost to Wisconsin in the title game.

While all that was taking place, at Xcel; Energy Center and Ridder Arena, the UMD men’s hockey team went to St. Cloud for a best-of-three NCHC tournament quarterfinal series, with the loser probably on the bubble for NCAA consideration.

UMD has not swept a league opponent all season, which is why the Bulldogs finished out of title contention.

But they stunned the Huskies 5-2 last Friday, as Koby Bender broke a 1-1 tie with a pure hat trick in the second period, scoring at 9:09, 9:59, and 16:44, before Blake Biondi put the finishing touches on the victory. One night later, the Bulldogs trailed 2-0 in the second game of the series, but Noah Cates scored in the first minute of the third period to ignite the rally.

Dominic James tried it at 3:30, and after St. Cloud’s Nick Perbix reclaimed the lead for the Huskies at 3:41, Tanner Laderoute tied it with 2:57 remaining. Cates came through with the overtime game-winner for UMD and the 4-3 triumph sends UMD on to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul.

The Bulldogs, rated 10th and seeded fifth in the league tournament, face No. 3 Denver in a 4 p.m. semifinal Friday, with No. 5 North Dakota and No. 7 Western Michigan colliding in the 7:30 pm second semifinal. The winners play for an automatic NCAA berth at 7:35 on Saturday, although all four teams, and possibly St. Cloud State as well, are expected to make the 16-team NCAA field.

Before pandemic time, the NCHC Frozen Faceoff was a highlight for the best hockey games of the season. It might be this year, too, but they’ll have to beat the standard set by Hermantown, Andover and the Bulldog women.