Hearts in Hawai'i
My 36 Favorite Duluth East Hockey Games
11/30/2021
Why 36 games? Oh, I don't know--maybe I thought three dozen was a nice number 
#36: East (17-7-1, #15 in PageStat) 5, Grand Rapids (12-11-2, #44) 2 (2004 7AA Finals) East had a senior laden team that Mike Randolph was looking forward to coaching. Until he was “fired” the by ISD #709 administration. Former Bantam coach Todd Wentworth coached this year’s team.
Rapids wanted revenge for last year’s 7AA Finals loss to the Hounds; it wasn’t to be. East came out hard, grabbing the early lead and never let up. The Thunderhawks closed it to 2-1 midway through the 2nd period, and then tied it in the first minute of the 3rd. Hope sprung eternal, but East crushed those hopes with three goals in the final period.
#35 East (23-3-1, #8 in PageStat) 4, Elk River (17-8-1, #19) 1 (2009 7AA Finals) High scoring forward Max Tardy led the top-seeded Hounds’ charge into the 7AA playoffs, but Forest Lake gave them a huge scare in the section semifinals. This game wouldn’t be as suspenseful, although Elks goalie Anders Franke kept the score closer than it otherwise would have been. Considering the shots were in favor of East 11-1 after one period, 29-4 after two, and 42-10 at the end, the score could have been much worse.
#34 East (20-4, #4 in PageStat) 4, Cloquet (17-7, #12) 1 (2000 7AA finals) In the midst of a 16-game winning streak against the Lumberjacks, this was one of the more satisfying wins. Like the 2009 Section Final, the 4-1 lead didn’t truly indicate how much East dominated this one, outshooting Cloquet 13-1 in a surprisingly scoreless 1st period. Cloquet had tied the game at 1-1 late in the 2nd period, but a shot from just outside the blue line by Mike Stellmaker bounced off and over Josh Johnson’s glove hand in a fluke goal which gave East a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
#33 East 7 (22-2), Greenway 2 (1996 7AA finals) Greenway, backed by goalie Adam Hauser, had scored a major upset over Grand Rapids in the 7AA semifinals, but they didn’t act as it they were just happy to be here—they wanted to top that upset with a much bigger upset. East wasn’t going to let that happen as the defending State Champions, but they started slowly. Greenway scored in the first minute of the 2nd period to take a 2-1 lead, but the Hounds took over from there, scoring four times in the 2nd and twice in the 3rd period to ensure their third straight trip to State.
#32 East (21-4) 3, Minnetonka (19-5-1) 1 (1994 State Class AA Quarterfinals) East had a mix of seniors such as Clint Johnson, but it was their youth movement of players such as Spehar, Locker, Mills and Matthias which would set the tone for the next few years. This was only East’s second trip to state in the past nineteen years, and they got things off on the proper foot by upending the Skippers. Spehar and Johnson led the way
#31 East (22-4, #7 in PageStat) 4, Grand Rapids (19-4-3, #11) 3 (2013 7AA finals) After losing their very talented senior class from the prior season, questions surrounded East heading into the season. East came out hot in this one, outshooting Rapids 16-5 in the 1st period while and leading 1-0. Jack Forbort’s goal with 0:27 left in the 2nd was huge and gave East a 3-1 lead and a 31-17 shots edge after 2. Rapids never quit, though and made this one helluva game in the 3rd period, with East just holding on.
In response to the controversial non-call midway through the third—yes, Alex Toscano flattened Avery Petersen just before he touched the puck. Regardless of the call which WAS made immediately after that against the Thunderhawks, this one should have been called
#30 East 2 (14-8), Cloquet 1 (1975 Section 2 Finals) This was the first section final I watched, and it featured future Olympian Phil Verchota leading the Hounds. When the final seconds counted down and East was sent to the State Tournament for the first time in eleven years, the surge of celebration which went through half the crowd was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. They did lose to Hill-Murray in the State Quarterfinals but came back strongly to capture the Consolation hardware.
#29 East (18-5-4, #13 in PageStat) 5, Elk River (17-7-3, #23) 1 (2010 7AA finals) Elk River was seeded first due to their regular season win over East and was favored in this game. But the game was at the DECC—advantage East, even though it wasn’t their home ice. This was the final section final to be held at the DECC; in 2011 it was moved to Amsoil Arena. Brazerol gave East a 1-0 lead after 1, outshooting the Elks 13-7. It was the 2nd period when the real fun began, Welinski scoring at 6:34. Lutzka followed at 13:25, Meyer at 15:21, and Toninato at 16:24. 5-0. Game over.
#28 East 3 (23-0-1), Hibbing 2 (1997 7AA finals) East’s only regular season blemish had been a tie versus Hibbing, and they were the section top seed. But they had to play this game on Hibbing’s home ice. East’s goalie, Kyle Kolquist, was suspended for this game, so Adam Coole was playing (as of that time) in the biggest game of his life. Matt Matthias’ short-handed goal in the 2nd gave East the 2-0 lead but Hibbing stormed back to tie the game late in the period. Matthias’ second goal put East up 3-2 in the 3rd and they hung on for their 4th straight trip to State.
#27 East (13-10-4, #14 in PageStat) 2, Grand Rapids (15-10-2, #39) 1 (ot) (2003 7AA finals) After not making it to State the previous two years, it took an overtime effort for East to upend the Thunderhawks. After sitting 3-8-4 in early January, the Hounds had gone 10-2 leading up to this game. Rapids had upset #1 seed Cloquet in the semifinals 5-2, with Alex Goligoski tallying four assists. East had easily handled Greenway 6-1 in their semifinal game. East had the edge on shots 26-13 after regulation—it only took 36 seconds of overtime before Tom Knutson won it for East.
#26 East (20-6-1, #11 in PageStat) 3, Elk River 2 (20-6, #10) 2 (ot) (2014 7AA finals) This was a rematch of the December game which the Elks won 3-2. Tonight’s score was the same—in reverse. Reggie Lutz scored first, the Elks taking a 1-0 lead just 14 seconds into the 2nd period. East tied it with 0:37 left in the period but Elk River re-took the lead just 16 seconds later. Alex Spencer scored a power play goal to tie the game with 2 minutes left. In OT, Nick Altmann provided the heroics sending East to their sixth straight state tournament.
#25 East (17-11, #16 in PageStat) 3, White Bear Lake (23-2-3, #6) 2 (State Class AA Quarterfinal) This was one of the best chances White Bear Lake ever had to escape their State Quarterfinal misery. The Bears had won the Schwann’s Cup and also defeated defending state champ Centennial in their section finals. This was a very good team.
East’s first shot of the game found the back of the net just 0:31 in and it seemed they were well on their way. It seemed. WBL tied the game on a shorthanded goal and had a 12-3 shots edge after 1. The Bears took the lead 1:28 into the 2nd period and we started wondering—was this going to be the year WBL broke their 16 game quarterfinal losing streak?
The Bears had a 22-6 lead in shots after the 2nd period and it looked grim for East, until Mike Schumacher tied the game at 3:57. Rob W Johnson stunned the Bears 1:16 later, and East held on tenaciously for a 3-2 win, including having to kill of a penalty in the final two minutes. White Bear Lake’s curse would continue, despite outshooting East 29-13 for the game. Goalie Chris Sall was East’s savior this day.
#24 East 2 (21-6), Burnsville 1 (15-8-3) (1991 State Semifinal) Rusty Fitzgerald had been the overtime hero in their section final against Cloquet, so why not again? His game winner against the Braves in overtime was hotly contested—Burnsville faithful were sure he had smacked in the puck with a high stick. No replay existed back then, so it’s up to the individual viewer to watch the tape and judge.
#23 East 3 (19-6), Cloquet 2 (ot) (1991 Section 2 Final) Another fierce game between two storied rivals. Silver Bay’s loss was certainly Duluth East’s gain, as everybody found out this afternoon with transfer student Rusty Fitzgerald scoring the game winner in overtime to take out the Hounds’ heated rival.
#22 East (20-4) 2, Cloquet 0 (1994 7AA Final) Two big story lines behind this one—Chris Locker’s suspension for the playoffs, and the pre-period battle the two teams had engaged in during their regular season meeting in Cloquet. Clint Johnson’s ritual of tapping the opposing team’s goal with his glove during the skatearound was taken as a challenge by Cloquet. Gloves off, the battle was on. Cloquet won both regular season games, but East was seeded #1. Now Mike Randolph had to shuffle lines to cover for Locker’s absence. Freshman Matt Matthias was moved up to the top line, centering senior Johnson and sophomore Dave Spehar.
Johnson and Matthias did all the damage in this one for East, as goalie Cade Ledingham shut out the Lumberjacks and sent East to State in what would be the first of five consecutive State appearances.
#21 East 3 (21-3), Grand Rapids 2 (1995 7AA Final) Amazingly, this was the first time the two teams had met in a section final. In fact, they had gone thirteen years (1975-88) without meeting at all, due in large part to the State League putting them in different sections during that time. While this was their first meeting in a section final, six would follow in the next 22 years. A huge rivalry was ignited tonight and Rapids would, in time, become East’s biggest hockey rival, replacing Cloquet.
This was Spehar and Locker vs. Miskovich. East had won a tense 6-5 game in January and was the top seed in 7AA. Senior Cade Ledingham had been shaky in goal as of late—he was pulled in favor of Sophomore Kyle Kolquist for this game (and their section semifinal). Kyle came up with saves when he had to in both games.
Rapids came out fast, scoring first, but goals by Flaherty and Locker gave East a 2-1 lead after one period. Aaron Miskovich tied it in the 2nd period. Spehar had been checked closely and kept off the board—until the final period when his tie-breaking goal turned out to be the game winner. Classic game between two great teams!
#20 East 7 (21-3, #1 in PageStat), Elk River 1 (18-3-3, #6) (1998 7AA Final) Why is this game, such a blowout, on the list? First, because it’s a list of my favorite games, not closest games! Second, Elk River had endured turmoil during the season (Think Tony Sarslund vs. Joel Bailey), but bounced back and deserved to be facing the Hounds in the Section Final.
Drama? It was close in the 1st period, East only leading 1-0 while outshooting Elk River 15-9. After East added to it early in the 2nd period, Elk River nearly halved the advantage during an early 2nd period power play, and a shot had in fact gone into East’s goal, but Adam Coole, trying to get back onto his skates after being down, had “inadvertently” pulled the top of the goal downward, and the shot went through the raised backside of the net. The officials quickly called the goal off, causing a chorus of boos from the Elk faithful.
The Elks did cut the margin to one goal later in the period, but East responded a half minute later to take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission. The 3rd period was all East, as they unleashed a barrage of four unanswered goals to secure their fifth straight trip to State.
#19 East (21-5, #4 in PageStat) 2, Grand Rapids (23-3-1, #12) 1 (ot) (2011 7AA Final) In our final game involving Grand Rapids, East was trying to punch their third straight ticket to State. Rapids stood in the way and a defensive battle had the Thunderhawks with a 1-0 lead after two periods, outshooting East 20-17. This score would hold up until 1:31 left when Meiers Moore snapped a wrister to tie the game, and sending it to overtime.
The overtime didn’t last long, only 27 seconds for a perfect passing play to take place, with Trevor Olson netting the game-winner from the slot.
#18 East (23-2) 7, Blaine (19-4-1) 1 (1996 State Class AA Quarterfinal) East was back to defend their State title with what many (including me) thought was an even better team than the previous year. Dave Spehar picked up where he left off in the 1995 tournament (three straight hat tricks) with a slap shot just 17 seconds into the game. Blaine would tie the game later in the period, but their excitement was short-lived. A power play goal by Andy Wheeler and Spehar’s 2nd goal of the night gave East a 3-1 lead after one.
Spehar was far from done—two more goals would assure his fourth straight hat trick in State Tournament action, and the Hounds won this one easily, outshooting Blaine 33-19
#17 East (22-2-3, #4 in PageStat) 3, Andover (22-5, #10) 2 (ot) (2018 7AA Final) While Andover came into this game with a very good squad, East was the clear favorite. So it surprised many people to see the Huskies with a 2-0 lead after two periods! Their goalie, Ben Fritsinger, had been playing stellar in the nets and was the difference (so far) as East had outshot the Huskies 25-14.
East brought tons of pressure in the 3rd period and finally closed the gap to a goal when Brendan Baker scored with 12:03 left. Fritsinger had to make a few huge saves after that—and then Ryder Donovan tied the game with 1:13 left. East outshot Andover 21-5 in the 3rd period. Headed to overtime!
A Luke Lamaster shot deflected by Logan Anderson ended Andover’s season at 4:50 of overtime. Fritsinger had been the story of the game despite Andover’s loss, saving 49 of 52 shots.
#16 East 3 (16-11, #16 in PageStat), Cloquet (21-5-1, #22) 2 (2 ot) (2005 7AA Final) It may have been the star for each team (Rob W Johnson for East, Mitch Ryan for Cloquet) trading goals through regulation, but it took a defenseman scoring the first goal of his high school career to end it in the 3rd OT.
Before Kyle Michela stole the show, East had been steadily wearing down Cloquet’s D. Injuries had thinned the blue line corps for the Lumberjacks and turned what had been a fairly large advantage in SOG for them to a slim 41-37 edge.
#15 East (13-10-4, #29 in PageStat) 5, Elk River (22-4-1, #7) 4 (2 ot) (2015 7AA Finals) After surviving a huge Grand Rapids attack in the semifinal, which saw Hounds goalie Gunnar Howg virtually stealing the win, East had a bigger task at hand against top seed Elk River. East was outmatched in this game—their top scorer, Nick Altmann, had only 26 points so far in the season. The Elks had six players with more points.
That Elk River was up 3-0 after the 1st period wasn’t a surprise to many. Then things started going wrong for the Elks in period two. Peter Jones, fresh out of the box after taking a penalty, raced across the ice and rammed Shay Donovan into the boards. East scored twice on the resulting five-minute major and was back in the game. Nick Funk’s goal at 13:03 of the period tied it up.
Reggie Lutz put Elk River ahead again with two minutes left in the 2nd period, but East was undeterred. Ryan Peterson scored to tie it again with 4:17 left in the 3rd, and the teams played on tied until the 2nd overtime.
Garret Worth scored 94 goals in his high school career, but this may have been his biggest, ending an epic game at 1:48 of the 2nd overtime.
#14 East (22-5, #3 in PageStat) 4, White Bear Lake (21-5-2, #16) 3 (2 ot) (2011 State Class AA Quarterfinals) After a scoreless 1st period, East came out and grabbed the 1-0 lead just two minutes into the 2nd. The lead increased to two later in the period and East seemed to be on their way.
The Bears cut the margin to one goal late in the period and then tied it early in the 3rd. The teams traded goals and headed to overtime knotted at three.
WBL’s dreams of breaking their state tournament losing streak were crushed by Zac Schendel at 1:19 of the 2nd OT.
#13 East (22-3, #1 in PageStat) 5, Hastings (22-1-2, #6) 4 (1998 State Class AA Quarterfinal) Hastings had their super duo of Jeff Taffe & Dan Welch, East had tons of depth and two of the best D in the state (Patrick Finnegan & Nick Angell). The Raiders jumped out to a 2-1 1st period lead before East rattled off four straight goals in the 1st and 2nd. Hastings scored twice late in the 2nd, cutting East’s lead to 5-4 and setting up a nail-biter of a 3rd period. East held on and had to kill off a Finnegan penalty in the final two minutes to edge Hastings for their fifth straight State Quarterfinal win.
#12 East (17-6-2, #12 in PageStat) 4, Andover (24-2-1, #4) 3 (ot) (2019 Section 7AA Finals) Andover was hungry for revenge after the previous season’s heartbreak and had a clear advantage over East. The WMD line had graduated from East along with a number of other principal players. Andover had nearly everyone returning from the previous year.
Ricky Lyle got East on the board first, but Andover came back just a minute later, for a 1-1 1st period score. Andover grabbed the lead early in the 2nd, but East tied it back up later in the period.
Less than three minutes into the third, East took the lead, only to relinquish it when Andover scored a power play goal eight minutes later. This was where it stood heading into overtime.
You can argue the penalty call on Dunleavy from Andover just 27 seconds into overtime wasn’t legit. What you can’t argue was the beauty of the perfect pass which Ryder Donovan scored on ten seconds into the power play which sent East back to State.
#11 East (23-5, #3 in PageStat) 2, Edina (19-7-2, #6) 1 (ot) (2011 State Class AA Semifinal) This was the 3rd time the teams had met in the State Semifinal, with East holding a 2-0 edge. East’s top line had 81 goals on the season heading into this game, but it was sophomore Alex Toscano providing the heroics in overtime for the Hounds.
In case you were wondering, five of my 11 favorite games involved Edina.
#10 East (23-3) 6, Edina (20-5-1) 2 (1995 State Class AA Semifinal) Continuing the Edina semifinal theme, this one wasn’t close. Ryan Engle scored 15 seconds in and East was off to the races. The only real question was, could Spehar repeat his hat trick of the previous night? He could and did, scoring once in each period.
#9 East (22-4, #3 in PageStat) 4, Edina (19-7, #15) 2 (2000 State Class AA Semifinal) With the two top teams in the state (Elk River & Eden Prairie) knocked out in section play, the field became more wide open. East had won both of their regular season games with the Hornets.
East went up 2-0 before Edina halved the lead in the 2nd period. Nick Licari gave East their two goal lead back on a nice effort, but Edina again closed the lead to 3-2. A penalty with 2:04 left hurt Edina’s chances. Licari killed their chances with 43 seconds left.
#8 East (23-3, #1 in PageStat) 3, Bloom. Jefferson (24-2, #2) 2 (ot) (1998 State Class AA Semifinal) It would have been interesting to see where the teams would have been seeded but seeding teams at State was still years away. PageStat (and the teams’ records) suggest this would have been the championship game, and it was a good one. For two teams with as much firepower as they had, the Jags and Hounds skated through a scoreless 1st period. Jefferson scored in the 2nd, East scored twice, the Jags tied it up in the 3rd. On a nice saucer pass from linemate Gabe Taggert, Kevin Oswald scored the game winner in overtime
#7 East (24-2-3, #4 in PageStat) 4, Edina (27-2, #1) 2 (2018 State Class AA Semifinal) Here we go with another East-Edina seminal! This one featured East’s WMD line against top-ranked Edina’s depth and star power. The hype didn’t disappoint and the outcome was in doubt until Garrett Worth’s empty net goal with 1:17 left.
#6 East (24-3, #1 in PageStat) 3, Anoka (22-3-2, #5) 1 (1998 State Class AA Championship) A landmark game in that it was the final high school game played at the old St. Paul Civic Center. The regular season meeting had been an offensive blast, East winning 6-5 in OT. This was a more sedate, defensive affair, the SOG being even. A team with questions coming into the season answered every question in resounding fashion.
#5 East (14-10-4, #23 in PageStat) 6, St Thomas Academy (24-4, #3) 5 (ot) (2015 State Class AA Quarterfinal) After achieving two upset wins to get to State, East faced a bigger challenge here. As in the Elk River game, East gave up a three goal advantage. Not once, but twice. Terrible D by East led to a 3-0 Cadets lead in the 1st period. East scored twice and was down 3-2 after one. STA retook the 3 goal lead in the 2nd period. In the 3rd period, Hounds goals at 2:34, 14:17 and 15:04 tied it up. OT heroics were provided by Ryan Peterson.
This was the biggest comeback in East hockey history.
#4 East 3, Edina 1 (2015 State Class AA Semifinal) East, a big underdog, held off Edina’s high powered offense. East surrendered the early lead, as usual, but Luke Dow tied it late in the 1st period. The Hounds took the lead in the 1st minute of the 2nd period, and added a huge goal late in the 3rd on an Ash Altmann breakaway. The Xcel Energy Center exploded when he scored. Edina’s bid for a three-peat was dead.
#3 East (20-6) 5, Richfield (21-2-1) 1 (1991 State Quarterfinal) Richfield had speed and talent, East had power. And size with several players over 6’. The game plan was simple. Check the Spartans silly, tire them out and take control late. That’s exactly what happened. Darby Hendrickson, Richfield’s biggest star, scored first in the 2nd period. That was all they would score, as East tied it up then scored four times in the 3rd period.
#2 East (22-3) 5, Bloom. Jefferson (22-1-2) 0 (1995 State Class AA Quarterfinal) Two story lines here; could Jefferson four-peat? Who was Dave Spehar? By the end of the firt period where East went up 4-0 and Spehar scored a natural hat-trick, the answeres to both questions was apparent.
#1 East (24-3) 5, Moorhead 3 (1995 State Class AA Championship) Two evenly matched teams. Again, Dave Spehar was the difference with his third straight hat trick. His penalty shot goal in the 3rd period was the epitome of drama, and broke a 3-3 tie. He scored once more to lead East to their second state title.
It was a coin flip for my favorite. #2 was because of who they beat and how, but this one had to be #1 because of the stakes and because it was East’s first title in 35 years.
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last updated november 30, 2021
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