Katie’s Beer

Lack of posts here at Katie’s Beer? Blame it, in part, on my interest in hockey and on a bittersweet turn of events. At one point, Hopkins Hockey (in its various forms) was a well-respected powerhouse in boys hockey. During my high school years, we made it to state twice. Sure I was influenced by my family’s hockey background, but hockey was THE sport in Hopkins and in the western suburbs back then. I grew up and moved away for a while, so I didn’t notice how hockey fell out of favor and suffered from a lack of interest. Fast forward to the mid-90’s when many of us former hockey devotees started our own kids in hockey and were happy to see they liked it. Soon, though we discovered that the high school program was in disarray. Thankfully, through the efforts of many, the youth program started to be infused with new interest and talent. I have had the privilege of watching these young men grow from Termites to Mites and on up to Bantams over the last ten years. Now, these boys who are so very passionate about hockey made it to the high school team and took us all for a ride that we will never forget…and we didn’t even make it to the state championship….YET. Our boys tied the school record for overall wins and set a record for season wins. We are losing only 4 seniors, though they will be sorely missed, so hope remains for another fantastic year in 2008-2009. Here’s a recap of our final game in the semi-finals of the sectional tournament which precedes the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament:

A spectator who parked about a quarter-mile from the entrance to Braemar Arena on Saturday before the Minnetonka vs. Hopkins boys’ hockey Section 6AA semifinal exclaimed to a writer on his way to the rink, “This is the event.”

It did not disappoint. Minnetonka, the No. 1 seed, defeated Classic Lake rival and No. 4-seeded Hopkins 4-3 in overtime, netting the winner a little more than three minutes into the extra session on standout Jake Gardiner’s second goal of the game.

The goal ended an entertaining contest that saw Minnetonka build a 3-1 lead in the second period and outshoot Hopkins 52-26, only to have a pair of Royals sophomores almost steal the show.

Forward Archie Skalbeck, who gave the Royals a 1-0 lead in the first period, tied the score 3-3 midway through the third period. Meanwhile, Hopkins goalie Alex Fons turned away 48 shots and was nearly impenetrable except for a four-minute stretch early in the second period when Minnetonka scored all three of its regulation goals. In overtime, Fons robbed the Skippers’ Paul Giel on a breakaway.

“I was thinking, ‘Maybe it just isn’t our night,’” Minnetonka coach Brian Urick said.

Moments later, however, Gardiner picked up the puck and scored on a wrist shot from the left faceoff dot. It brought a sense of relief to the Skippers, who split with Hopkins during the regular season and are attempting to navigate a loaded section. The top four seeds — No. 2 Benilde-St. Margaret’s and No. 3 Eden Prairie — were all ranked in the top 11 of Class 2A.

“It doesn’t get any easier from here,” Urick said.

Tags: hockey //