AA Championship: Hill Murray v Eden Prairie

[north_bear]

Eden prairie taken to the wood shed tonight.

Congrats Hill!!

[hockey59]

Congratulations to Hill Murray. They were clearly the better team What a game by Charlie Strobel & the entire HM Pioneers squad ...a VERY IMPRESSIVE victory

[raidergrad72]

No goals with an empty net for 5 min.? If there weren't goalies in this game for either side Eden Prairie would've won going away!
Congratulations to HM. Both of my picks won today.

[northwoods oldtimer]

Heck of a game by a Hill Murray team! Congrats on a well deserved State Championship!

Spar and ESPG enjoy a few in celebration tonight!

East Side Pride

[sachishi4]

Pioneers pioneers!!! Let’s go!!!

[goldy313]

The TRME brings home both championships! the East side put the much more hyped West side to bed.

Hill Murray was fun to watch, you don’t see teams pass that well very much anymore. Lou Nannie was right on.

An old bored member coined “Championeers” when referring to Hill-Murray....I wish I could remember who it was to give credit where credit is due.

[wolfman]

I’m having dinner tonight in the great town of Hill Murray...

[SEC Scotty]

Congrats Pioneers! You were the better team from the drop of the puck tonight.

[kpryan88]

I’ll be buying a couple of beers on the way back to my hotel to celebrate that win!! Glad to see the boys get it done again!!

HM class of ‘97 here.

[Sparlimb]

I can do it, I can do it, I can do it. GO EAGLES!

Thank you so much my man. Everything had to go my teams way, and your dedication to the other teams was KEY.

[Nostalgic Nerd]

Remember the Strobel's from the day and now their kid wins it. The '91 team I remember at Aldrich beat someone 17-2 and than beat Forest Lake in the semis 6-5 in 2 OTs. Then they were down 3-0 to Bonin's White Bear in the section finals and came back with four straight goals. I think that will forever haunt WB more than just about any game. Then at state rolled over Johnson 7-1 and Rapids 11-3. They were on fire, and then came back to beat Randolph's Duluth East 5-3 for the title.

Charlie's made quite the name for himself. Congrats Pioneers!

[Sparlimb]

And Lee. Believe it or not, 1 year short of our consecutive decades streak. Who would have thought. And I'll tell you this. I'm getting to the point where I wonder if I'll see another one. Every 10-15 years is a long time. Maybe one more...

[Sparlimb]

Remember the Strobel's from the day and now their kid wins it. The '91 team I remember at Aldrich beat someone 17-2 and than beat Forest Lake in the semis 6-5 in 2 OTs. Then they were down 3-0 to Bonin's White Bear in the section finals and came back with four straight goals. I think that will forever haunt WB more than just about any game. Then at state rolled over Johnson 7-1 and Rapids 11-3. They were on fire, and then came back to beat Randolph's Duluth East 5-3 for the title.

Charlie's made quite the name for himself. Congrats Pioneers!

That quarter final game against Forest Lake is legendary. I was in Aldrich that night. Hill was 17-0 all time versus Forest Lake. And we were up late in the 2nd 5-0. And the comeback started. And at once it hit 5-4. the Hill goalie was shaking in his boots. And Forest Lake came right down after goal 4 and threw it at the net and I don't think the goalie moved. It went right in. Then, somehow, the game made it to a 2nd OT. Some idiot in front of me who had been cheering FL the entire game finally said after the first OT that he was going to go sit on the FL side. I, immediately, took that to be a damn good sign. We win. We beat #1 in state, 2nd seeded in sections, Park-Cottage Grove the next game and then come back from 3-0 down against Mr. Hockey Brian Bonin and #1 ranked for most of the season WBL. And then go nuts in the first two games of the state tourney vs Johnson and Grand Rapids. In retrospect, how were Rapids and Duluth East in the same tourney? East had upset Richfield, who had one Darby Hendrickson on the team and looked really good all tournament long. I still remember the whining from the Richfield coaches as East played exactly the game I like to see. Hill somehow beats them after being down 2 goals twice to win the title. The Strobels have now cemented their names in HM lore...

[Nostalgic Nerd]

Remember the Strobel's from the day and now their kid wins it. The '91 team I remember at Aldrich beat someone 17-2 and than beat Forest Lake in the semis 6-5 in 2 OTs. Then they were down 3-0 to Bonin's White Bear in the section finals and came back with four straight goals. I think that will forever haunt WB more than just about any game. Then at state rolled over Johnson 7-1 and Rapids 11-3. They were on fire, and then came back to beat Randolph's Duluth East 5-3 for the title.

Charlie's made quite the name for himself. Congrats Pioneers!

That quarter final game against Forest Lake is legendary. I was in Aldrich that night. Hill was 17-0 all time versus Forest Lake. And we were up late in the 2nd 5-0. And the comeback started. And at once it hit 5-4. the Hill goalie was shaking in his boots. And Forest Lake came right down after goal 4 and threw it at the net and I don't think the goalie moved. It went right in. Then, somehow, the game made it to a 2nd OT. Some idiot in front of me who had been cheering FL the entire game finally said after the first OT that he was going to go sit on the FL side. I, immediately, took that to be a damn good sign. We win. We beat #1 in state, 2nd seeded in sections, Park-Cottage Grove the next game and then come back from 3-0 down against Mr. Hockey Brian Bonin and #1 ranked for most of the season WBL. And then go nuts in the first two games of the state tourney vs Johnson and Grand Rapids. In retrospect, how were Rapids and Duluth East in the same tourney? East had upset Richfield, who had one Darby Hendrickson on the team and looked really good all tournament long. I still remember the whining from the Richfield coaches as East played exactly the game I like to see. Hill somehow beats them after being down 2 goals twice to win the title. The Strobels have now cemented their names in HM lore...

The goalie for Hill was Kevin Powell. I didn't attend but am guessing the section final was at the old Met??? Hill was so extremely close to losing that game I felt for FL. It must have been 91 or 92 and seeing Jefferson's I think JV team, maybe it was varsity, outshoot WB like 41-8 or something ridiculous. Had to been JV. Bonin would've given em more chances.

Charlie's last goal was like "Here, let me take over!" Just a power rush and blew it by him.

[goldy313]

And Lee. Believe it or not, 1 year short of our consecutive decades streak. Who would have thought. And I'll tell you this. I'm getting to the point where I wonder if I'll see another one. Every 10-15 years is a long time. Maybe one more...

Hill Murray has benefited from extremely good coaching over the years, from Skrypek to Whistler (?), to Lechner. It wasn’t that long ago Lechner kicked some kids off the team for breaking the rules. He took a lot of heat for it and at many private schools that would have been the end of him, either the school would have gotten rid of him or the high end kids would go elsewhere. That he is still going strong is a credit to him as a leader and the school for sticking up for their standards.

Now that Lechner has retired as AD and baseball coach it is natural to wonder how long he stays as the hockey coach. Once he retires then what? STA went to a non educator as their coach and the pressure will be on to hire the next big thing.

Hopefully he stays for many years to come.

[Nostalgic Nerd]

Is that Jason Blake's kid on EP?

[Sparlimb]

And Lee. Believe it or not, 1 year short of our consecutive decades streak. Who would have thought. And I'll tell you this. I'm getting to the point where I wonder if I'll see another one. Every 10-15 years is a long time. Maybe one more...

Hill Murray has benefited from extremely good coaching over the years, from Skrypek to Whistler (?), to Lechner. It wasn’t that long ago Lechner kicked some kids off the team for breaking the rules. He took a lot of heat for it and at many private schools that would have been the end of him, either the school would have gotten rid of him or the high end kids would go elsewhere. That he is still going strong is a credit to him as a leader and the school for sticking up for their standards.

Now that Lechner has retired as AD and baseball coach it is natural to wonder how long he stays as the hockey coach. Once he retires then what? STA went to a non educator as their coach and the pressure will be on to hire the next big thing.

Hopefully he stays for many years to come.

For a long time I missed Steve Rohlik (now head coach at Ohio St) as he did some innovative things as coach at Hill. But it was all pushing the offense and the expense of defense. And you see tonight what Lechner coaches. The forwards back checking and supporting the defense is really the way to win games. You don't blow everyone out that way, but you win against teams that have more talent. White Bear fans and us Hill guys always talk about why Lechner's teams seem to get better and why Sager's teams always seem to start so strong and fade as the year goes on. Don't ask me, I'm some stupid fan. But I like teams when I see the forwards skating hard towards the defensive zone. And getting dirty to dive in front of passes and block shots. Lechner is a good coach. And I can't imagine he's got that many year's left. But Hill was lucky to get him (he was an assistant on the 1983 undefeated team). I just like that style.

[goldy313]

Thursday night the Hill line with #7 was getting worked in the Hill end of the rink, badly. Moorhead turned the puck over and Hill went down and scored. TV showed a shot of the bench after the goal and while I am no lip reader it was pretty clear Lechner was teaching/chewing the kids out about what happened in their own end of the rink. The kids smiles disappeared quickly, then he pats them on the back at the end of the conversation. That is coaching......and respect.

[WestMetro]

Well Done Pios ! A dominating performance !

[O-townClown]

I know where Langenbrunner and Blake are from. Where are Steeves and Busby from? How long have they been at EP?

Blake & Busby are from Eden Prairie. For Nostalgic Nerd, yes it is Jason's son.

Steeves is from New England and played last year on a very good Oakland Grizzlies 16U team. His brothers were in town tonight as well for Notre Dame.

[grindiangrad-80]

Congrats Spar- I’m glad to see an old school team win it.

All is right with the world.

[hm88]

Congrats Pioneers! A well played tourney! You made many alumni very proud!

[Crusty]

Is that Jason Blake's kid on EP?

YES

[BlueLineSpecial]

Congrats to Hill! You made all of us proud! You could just see the pride on some of these 2nd generation Pioneers, to be able to continue this tradition of excellence. To bring a championship to the Hill family is amazing. As an alum, I have many fellow Pioneers reaching out and connecting over this. Thank you guys, for giving me so much joy the last couple of weeks.

[goldy313]

This is the first tournament since 1993 I have not attended a session.....maybe aside from Grand Rapids no team has a more passionate following than Hill-Murray, generationally speaking. Unlike most west metro schools Hill-Murray people actually don’t wait until Saturday to show up......I am looking at you EP, Wayzata, Minnetonka, etc.