2012 AA High School Hockey Tournament Memories

[Sparlimb]

I wondered if it was time to remember the 10th anniversary of the 2012 tournament in which all 4 quarterfinals went to the underdog. We haven't seen that again. I'm sure its not a happy memory for the East fans who went down in a game they were heavy favorites to Lakeville South (who lost 10-1 the next night to BSM).

Do you think we'll see 4 upsets in the Quarters ever again?

[WestMetro]

we were there for all 4 that year. maybe the best qfinal day i’ve ever seen .

tough loss for MG also as well as Deast , only had 1 or 2 losses that season

if there ever was a year for 4 underdog wins again , this could be it with all the parity .

[bardown27]

every single team that year entered the state tournament with 20+ wins too, which doesn't happen all too often.

[Sparlimb]

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the biggest upset in sections that year (and probably since). Which I was lucky enough to attend.

Coming back from 5-1 down with less than 5 minutes to go in the 3rd period. And never pulled the goalie...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2Z31jEuEYQ

[Brodziak Fan Club]

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the biggest upset in sections that year (and probably since). Which I was lucky enough to attend.

Coming back from 5-1 down with less than 5 minutes to go in the 3rd period. And never pulled the goalie...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2Z31jEuEYQ

You just can't help yourself, can you?

[Brodziak Fan Club]

The 2012 Edina team is my favorite one that didn't win it all. Malmquist as a 9th grader and Hurley as a 10th grader were absolute dynamite together. They scored some of the prettiest goals I've ever seen.

I may be a homer, but I believe Edina outplayed Benilde for large stretches of their state quarterfinal game. 9th grader Jack Walker absolutely took the game over on the back end. Gave the eventual champs easily their toughest game.

That Hornet team only had two seniors, with one being the backup goalie. They set the table for the back to back championships in the years to follow.

[ChrisK]

That was a tough tourney for me, but not for anything hockey related, as my dad had just died at the beginning of the month. He was not a hockey or sports fan at all, but he took me to a bunch of Bemidji high school games in the early '70s which made me a hockey fan for life. I'll never forget watching the start of the first game of the tourney that year tilting a glass with Neutron at McGovern's as he said something along the lines of 'That's what a good dad does for his kid, he goes to things he has no interest in.'

I had little interest in the Hill-Benilde AA final, so even though we had tickets, my buddy and I never made it across the street and ended up watching it at the Eagle Street Grille. We didn't miss Grant Besse's historic five goal performance, but we didn't see it in person...

[ChrisK]

And even though the upset was fun and I'm not a big East fan, that East team was a really fun team to watch. Plus I think a Benilde-East semifinal would've made a much better game than the 10-1 Benilde blowout of Lakeville South.

[ChrisK]

And finally, thanks for sharing that video Sparlimb, the amazing Johnson comeback over White Bear that year is probably my favorite hockey experience ever. It just came out of nowhere and unless you were from White Bear, you couldn't help but cheer for Johnson, they were such an underdog.

[Sparlimb]

And finally, thanks for sharing that video Sparlimb, the amazing Johnson comeback over White Bear that year is probably my favorite hockey experience ever. It just came out of nowhere and unless you were from White Bear, you couldn't help but cheer for Johnson, they were such an underdog.

I'm not sure I've seen anyone come back from 5-1 with under 5 to play. And for it to be a 7 seed over a 2 seed, that was amazing. Granted it wasn't the best squad WBL has had to offer, but sitting there, with you, right above the Johnson student section, with Govs, was amazing. Glad I got to witness it. Some of my best hockey memories had nothing to do with the teams I cheered for.

[northwoods oldtimer]

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the biggest upset in sections that year (and probably since). Which I was lucky enough to attend.

Coming back from 5-1 down with less than 5 minutes to go in the 3rd period. And never pulled the goalie...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2Z31jEuEYQ

Holy cow that was something else to see on a video highlight, thanks for sharing!

[StanleyCup55]

Curious why Johnson was playing AA that year. They played Class A in 2011 and in 2013. How did they play AA for just one year?

[Sparlimb]

Curious why Johnson was playing AA that year. They played Class A in 2011 and in 2013. How did they play AA for just one year?

I don't remember exactly, but I think maybe they had a co-op that year that put them above the threshold. That team really had one line with one good player. They had maybe 2.5 lines total.

[east hockey]

Curious why Johnson was playing AA that year. They played Class A in 2011 and in 2013. How did they play AA for just one year?

I don't remember exactly, but I think maybe they had a co-op that year that put them above the threshold. That team really had one line with one good player. They had maybe 2.5 lines total.

Could be because the St Paul Saints, a class AA team the previous two seasons, had stopped their program; this is likely the co-op you're referring to.

Lee

[LASERBLUE135]

If I recall correctly that was the first “ranking” year. Everyone was so upset calling it unfair to rank teams. Then all the “favorites” lost. It was a good reminder that just because EVERYONE doesn’t necessarily like something that its possible that change can be OK.

[East Side Pioneer Guy]

I don't think it was the first year of state tournament seeding, but I could be wrong. (As my kids remind me every day.)

Hill drew #2 seed Maple Grove, and I liked Hill's chances. I think MG had had one other tournament appearance, but these kids weren't on that team. So the #2 seed seemed a bit of a heavy weight for a team and coach with little state tournament experience.

Contrast that with some HM players with tournament experience, and more importantly, Lex experience. I think having a coach who has taken teams to the tournament a few times is underrated. Knowing when to keep your kids settled down, when to get them pumped, these are important. Given you can play any time between 11:19 and 9PM, there are a lot of variables there.

MG jumped out to an early 1 - 0, and HM scored the next 5. Lex has a sperate game plan for every playoff game, based on the opponent; and I would expect less experienced coaches have too much on their minds to do that. But again, I could be wrong on that score.

After all the seeded teams lost that day, there was a lot of chatter about "Well this seeding thing is a sham." As of now, three of three higher seeded NFL teams have lost this weekend, but you won't hear anyone telling us seeding the NFL playoffs is all wrong.

Also, at that time, the seeding was done 1 - 4. And there were a lot of people who thought that BSM should have been #4, ahead of Edina.

Funny thing, 2012 was so long ago, Edina still had a mascot then. (I know, hard to believe, right?)

[east hockey]

If I recall correctly that was the first “ranking” year. Everyone was so upset calling it unfair to rank teams. Then all the “favorites” lost. It was a good reminder that just because EVERYONE doesn’t necessarily like something that its possible that change can be OK.

Seeding started in 2007 according to Wikipedia. I could pull out some DVDs to see if that's true but no reason to believe it isn't.

Lee

[WestMetro]

ES Pio Guy

Not saying u wrong and i didn’t check Lee’s site history , but just going by memory I thought 2012 was Crimson first trny appearance

[East Side Pioneer Guy]

ES Pio Guy

Not saying u wrong and i didn’t check Lee’s site history , but just going by memory I thought 2012 was Crimson first trny appearance

I said that with 51% confidence.

[Sparlimb]

ES Pio Guy

Not saying u wrong and i didn’t check Lee’s site history , but just going by memory I thought 2012 was Crimson first trny appearance

It was their first time there. That was the year I sat through them beating Blaine like 15-1 in the section final. They had never got past Blaine before. It felt, going in, that they had won their title. And no one saw Besse coming.

[WestMetro]

i probly saw BSm 4-5 times that year before the tourney . Even got to know Grants grandpa a bit . He definitely overachieved expectations . Final game at X was unbelievable .

Saw MG 2-3 times . Incl Deast at MGCC . Both were either undefeated or 1 loss i think at the time . Got there about 5.45 and we barely made it in b4 sold out

[LASERBLUE135]

Lee is correct (of course) 2007 was first seedings 1-4 seeded. But back to the thread. Grant Besse, Grant Besse, Grant Besse. What a show! I think in 2062 people will still think about that performance.

[BlueLineSpecial]

Lee is correct (of course) 2007 was first seedings 1-4 seeded. But back to the thread. Grant Besse, Grant Besse, Grant Besse. What a show! I think in 2062 people will still think about that performance.

Grant scored all 5 goals for BSM in the final that year versus Hill, 3 being shorties. Another pretty good one played in that game - Jake Guentzel. Guentzel has had quite the career so far. Stanley cup winner, all-star, and a stat that for some reason I still remember: in his 1st NHL game he scored on his first two shots. Not a bad way to start your NHL career!

[BlueLineSpecial]

And finally, thanks for sharing that video Sparlimb, the amazing Johnson comeback over White Bear that year is probably my favorite hockey experience ever. It just came out of nowhere and unless you were from White Bear, you couldn't help but cheer for Johnson, they were such an underdog.

I'm not sure I've seen anyone come back from 5-1 with under 5 to play. And for it to be a 7 seed over a 2 seed, that was amazing. Granted it wasn't the best squad WBL has had to offer, but sitting there, with you, right above the Johnson student section, with Govs, was amazing. Glad I got to witness it. Some of my best hockey memories had nothing to do with the teams I cheered for.

That WBL team had a (very) young man named Jake Wahlin on their team. As a freshman he ended up with like 50 pts that year. Sophomore year was even better. Junior year was spectacular. I had to look it up to get the numbers, but his junior year Jake scored 39 goals and ended up with 70 pts for the season. Good for an average of almost 3 pts per game.