Coming into section play the Blake Varsity Hockey team had a record of 16-9-0. They entered the Section 2A bracket as the No. 3 seed behind Delano (No. 2 seed) and Breck (No.1 seed), two teams that they had seen during the regular season.
Blake’s first section game came against the No. 6 seed St. Louis Park. Blake, the favorite in the game, entered the locker room at the end of the first period down 1-0 despite outshooting the Orioles by 14 shots. The second period ended with a similar shot total for the Bears, but a completely different result. Christopher Chute ‘13 scored a goal four and a half minutes into the second period, and from there on out it was all Blake. Spencer Naas ‘14 scored a goal a little under three minutes later on a powerplay, followed by a Jack Devries ‘12 goal two minutes later. After the Devries goal, Naas took over, scoring another goal on a powerplay with a minute and a half left in the second period. After the intermission, Naas came out flying once again with a goal four minutes into the period to complete the hat trick and added another goal six minutes later as the Bears cruised to a 6-2 victory.
The Bears second game pitted them against the No. 2 seed, and 10th best team in the state, Delano. The Bears struck first, with a powerplay goal by Max Harrington ‘12 eleven minutes into the game. That would be all of the scoring for the first period as both teams were very focused on their defensive play.
After a missed pass by the Tigers on the powerplay, Mark Lyman ‘15 took the puck up the ice going one-on-one against a Tiger defender. Lyman crossed the blue line and took a wrist shot from the top of the circle to beat the Tiger’s goalie for a shorthanded goal.
However, quickly after the goal the Tigers came right back to get a powerplay goal. Two minutes later, after a nice pass from Chute in the slot, Lyman one-timed the shot top-shelf pass the Tiger’s goalie for his second goal of the game. The Tiger’s scored one more goal at the end of the period to make it 3-2. After a fantastic third period from Blake goalie Devon Johnson ‘12, the Bears were able to complete the upset with a 4-2 victory, the fourth goal coming on an empty-net goal by Johnny Austin ‘14 late in the third period.
The section final matched Blake against long-time rival Breck. Breck opened the scoring with two goals just seven minutes into the game. But Blake kept their composure and after a Breck penalty, Naas was able to get the Bears on the board during a powerplay to make it a one-goal game. With under a minute left in the first period Breck scored a goal to make the game 3-1. Nine minutes into the second period Naas scored his second of the game, and after a five minute major penalty called on Breck, Zach Doerring ‘12 was able to tie the game up at three.
A minute into the third period, Breck scored to make it 4-3 Breck. But, four minutes later Doerring scored the most improbable of goals and tied the game back up at four. Three minutes later, Naas was sprung on a breakaway and made no mistake as he gave the Bears their first lead of the game. Unfortunately, Breck scored three more goals at the end of the game to get the victory over the Bears.
Blake did not make it to the state tournament, but after an incredible performance like that against Breck it can only mean that good things are in store for Blake hockey. In addition to going 2-1 in section play, the boys team broke four team records this year. Naas broke the record for all time offensive goals scored and offensive points scored. Doerring broke the record for offensive assists and Austin broke the record for defensive points.
