Here are some of my favorites, presented in chronological order. The stories are linked in the headlines, and I wrote a brief summary about each below.
Husky Highs: Andover managed expectations ahead of Hockey Day Minnesota debut - Minnesota Hockey Magazine, February 2019
Last year's Hockey Day Minnesota may have been one of the coldest days around, but it's still always a fun experience for the prep hockey teams that get to be a part of it. This time, it was two of the top boys' teams with Andover against Minnetonka. I talked with Andover defenseman Wyatt Kaiser and his grandpa, Blaine Comstock, who played for Bemidji State.
Breck has a solid girls' hockey program, which is evident by its back-to-back Class 1A championships. But there's something about the pressure and the spotlight that attracts forward Ally Qualley and brings her game to another level. The year before, she won the section title with a goal in overtime against Orono. This year, the end result wasn't in doubt. Qualley scored a pure hat trick in the first period on the way to a Breck 7-0 shutout.
In another twist, the co-head coaches of Breck, Steve Persian and Keith Radloff, coached Orono in 2018. It was much better to have Qualley on their side this time.
Hero's Welcome: OT winner caps off Donato's dynamite home debut - Minnesota Hockey Magazine, Feb. 24, 2019
Last season for the Minnesota Wild was marked by trades from then-GM Paul Fenton as he dealt parts of the "young core" away (Nino Niederreiter, Charlie Coyle, Mikael Granlund) for players like Victor Rask, Kevin Fiala and Ryan Donato. It was a Boston-for-Boston trade when Coyle, a Boston native, was dealt back home in exchange for the youngster Donato. How was Donato going to do with the Wild? Well, he came in with a bang.
Donato's first home game with the Wild came in late February against the St. Louis Blues, the eventual Stanley Cup Champions. Donato got the nod during overtime in a 1-1 game and scored the game-winner. It earned him the Hero of the Game honors bestowed on him by his new teammates.
Totino-Grace alum Matt Olson recalls high school memories - Star Tribune/Hockey Hub, March 2, 2019
Boys' high school hockey section finals are what makes Minnesota the "state of hockey," in my book. The venues are packed, competition is fierce and a trip to the coveted state tournament is on the line. I've covered a few at the Roseville arena the past few years, including the Class 1A, Section 4 championship. Last year, it was between Mahtomedi and Totino-Grace, with Mahtomedi once again returning to state.
As I was set up with my laptop, I noticed a young man near me taking in the game. He looked familiar, though we had never met: It was Matt Olson, a former Totino-Grace hockey star who played with the team in 2014. He was there to support his high-school team, watching from his wheelchair; he suffered a severe injury to his neck and spinal cord after he fell headfirst into the boards during a junior-league game three years earlier in Chicago.
I enjoyed meeting Matt and talking with him about hockey, his memories playing for Totino-Grace and what he's been up to in the time since his injury.
Winny Brodt Brown and Brooke White-Lancette are still playing professional hockey. Not only that, but I'm amazed to hear their stories about how much adversity they had to overcome as female hockey players growing up, when girls really didn't play hockey. For Brooke, it's obvious how much the sport means to her. Finally getting to play in a professional hockey league was a big deal, as it should be.
Winny and Brooke are the two original Whitecaps from 2004, when Winny's dad Jack and Dwayne Schmidgall started the team as a way for their post-college daughters to continue to play hockey. It really came full circle to see all the success and fan support the Whitecaps had in 2018-19 during their first NWHL season.
'On a cloud': Isobel Cup win is a dream years in the making for Whitecaps - The Athletic, March 18, 2019
It was pretty fun to follow the first season of professional women's hockey in Minnesota. Sure, the Whitecaps had been around for years, but 2018-19 was the first season they joined the National Women's Hockey League, becoming the fifth team and the first outside of the east coast. This story was actually a bit challenging for me to piece together, simply because of how storybook it was. I wanted to make sure I did the moment justice.
Lee Stecklein scored the overtime winner for the Whitecaps to give them the NWHL championship - the Isobel Cup - in their first NWHL season. It was quite the scene to take in during the celebration and trophy presentation out on the ice. And the sold-out crowds at TRIA rink loved it, too.
SCSU falls to UMD in double OT, finishes as NCHC Frozen Faceoff runner-up - St. Cloud Times, March 24, 2019
Take opportunities when they come to you. I wore my freelance hat to cover the NCHC Frozen Faceoff final between defending national champion University of Minnesota-Duluth and St. Cloud State. With a double-overtime ending at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, this one was fun to watch and cover between two very talented teams.
Covering state tennis is one of the tournaments I enjoy quite a bit, especially in spring because it's really the only preps coverage I can do in between the MLB season. This time around, freshman Bjorn Swenson won the Class 2A singles title. He won in straight sets, but the other part of the story was that there was a missing face from his cheering section. His sister Marit died in August 2017 from an aggressive pediatric brain tumor. She and Bjorn grew up playing tennis together.
I talked with their mother, Jennifer, as well, who was very willing to talk about her daughter and the tennis connection she shared with Bjorn.
Rocky Mountain Rival: Walz, Stalock reflect on Avs rivalry from diverse perspectives - Minnesota Hockey Magazine, Nov. 21, 2019
The Minnesota Wild got off to a rough start for the 2019-20 season. They lost their first four games, including the home opener. Top players couldn't get on the scoresheet. So, I decided to get creative with some of my feature-story ideas on the beat.
With the Wild set to face the Colorado Avalanche, it got me thinking about the long history between these two teams. Colorado is the only team that's been in Minnesota's division since the Wild joined the NHL as an expansion team in 2000. And with a few playoff series along the way, there's always been a rivalry there.
Specifically, I was thinking of the 2003 playoff run, when the Wild won their first playoff series in Colorado in Game 7 with that pretty goal from Andrew Brunette. I talked to current Wild goaltender and St. Paul native Alex Stalock about it. I also interviewed former Wild player and current FSNorth Wild analyst Wes Walz, asking him about the Colorado rivalry and NHL rivalries in general. It was a very interesting conversation.
I've been off the Gophers men's basketball beat for a couple of seasons now. But when my friend Sam Ekstrom asked if I would fill-in for him while he covered a road Vikings game, I agreed. I, like I'm sure many people out there, prepared for a blowout game. The Gophers were hosting Ohio State, ranked No. 3 in the country. And the Gophers were coming off a pretty bad loss in Iowa.
Instead, the evening ended with a court storming. The Gophers took control of the game with a lead in the first half. They kept their foot on the gas in the second half and never let Ohio State get close, even though I kept waiting for a second-half surge from a team that had a No. 3 next to its name. The Gophers got a stunning performance from Marcus Carr, who put up a career-high 35 points. His moves to the basket and the shots he took were simply dazzling.
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Thanks, as always, to anyone who's read my content or interacted with me on social media (@hlrule on Twitter and Instagram). See you in 2020!
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