Maple Grove Crimson Hockey

Crimson Hockey Clinics - Summer Registration Available NOW !

Crimson players and families:

Please see below for the dates and ice times of the summer program. I know the boys are getting anxious and I wanted to distribute this information for your planning purposes.

Details of the on AND off-ice training program are available at the following link, along with registration and payment info:

                             www.crimsonhockeyclinics.com

Boys: enjoy your rest in May …
              While participation in this program is optional,
                                           June 10 the work toward next season begins !

Coach Starkey

NEW COACHES @ MAPLE GROVE !!!

Coach Starkey

Tom Starkey, a Maple Grove Senior High alumnus and experienced hockey coach, has been named the new head hockey coach for the Crimson.

As a Maple Grove Senior High student, Starkey played hockey the first year the school opened. Starkey, a 2000 graduate of Maple Grove was the captain of the Crimson in his senior season and holds several Crimson records including most hat tricks in one season (4) in 1997-1998 and a shared record of most goals in one game (4). He is fourth on the career scoring leaders list with 62 goals and 59 assists.

He continued his hockey career with the US Air Force Academy, a Division 1 school. He graduated from the academy with a degree in business management and became a 2nd Lieutenant, US Air Force Officer.

More recently, Starkey served as junior varsity and varsity assistant coach for Wayzata Public Schools. He will start his new position this summer.

Coach Nycholat

Joining Coach Starkey as Assistant Coach is former professional hockey defenseman Lawrence Nycholat, who played in the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers, Washington Capitals, Ottawa Senators, Vancouver Canucks and the Colorado Avalanche.

Three's a crowd

Loren Nelson, MN Hockey Hub Editor

Section 5AA preview: Maple Grove figures to challenge top seeds Blaine, Centennial

Section 5AA was supposed to be all about Blaine and Centennial, the bitter north metro rivals who seemingly were on a collision course to meet in the championship.

Maple Grove? As recently as a week ago the Crimson were mostly an afterthought.

Maple Grove lost almost all of its top players from last season’s section championship team, then was rocked by an off-ice incident in mid-December that spurred a school investigation and led to two-game suspensions of 13 players.

There was little reason to believe the Crimson (14-11-0) would be more than a speed bump in the section playoffs until they sent shockwaves through the section on Feb. 14 with a wild 7-5 victory over powerhouse Blaine to close out the regular season.

Sophomore Josh Passolt and junior Nate Erickson each scored twice against the Bengals, and junior Sam Valerius registered five assists.

The section race is a whole lot more interesting now that Maple Grove has elbowed its way into the conversation. The Crimson were seeded third in a vote of the section coaches and appear to be on course for what could be a dynamite section semifinal showdown with No. 2 Centennial.

Valerius (18-16—34), Passolt (11-22—33) and Erickson (13-10—23) are Maple Grove’s top scorers, and senior Joe Franta (4-13—17) anchors the defense.

Sophomore Calvin McKenney (8-1-0, 2.14, .919) was in goal for the upset victory over the Bengals, when he made 28 saves.

No. 1 seed Blaine (19-5-1) rebounded from the loss to Maple Grove by beating Lake Conference champion Minnetonka 3-2 in overtime in its regular season finale.

Make no mistake, the Bengals remain the team to beat. Blaine has phenomenal team speed, and a superb sniper in junior Tyler Cline (25-21—26). The offense doesn’t stop there. Junior Joey Lau (14-22—36), Dallas Gerads (20-16—36), junior Brandon Notermann (17-18—35) and senior Jesse Norling (13-17—30) all are proven scorers.

Junior Bailey Ketola (12-4-1, 2.51, .888) has shouldered most of the workload in goal.

Centennial (19-4-2) has lost just once since late January, a stretch of 15 games. That setback, an 8-3 thumping against Blaine, was the Cougars’ second loss this season to the Bengals.

The good news for Centennial? It swept its season series with Maple Grove.

Seven players have scored nine or more goals for the Cougars, who are led by junior Ryner Gorowsky (18-30—48) and senior Hans Gorowsky (20-21—41). Most integral to Centennial’s success has been the superb play of senior goaltender Patrick Munson (14-4-2, 2.54, 924).

No. 4 Champlin Park (9-13-3) skated to a 3-3 tie with Centennial in late January and swept its two games with first-round opponent and No. 5 seed Anoka. Junior Luke Dalman (16-10--26) is the top goal scorer, and junior Bryce Plunkett is the leader in points (9-18—27). Senior Tyler Nelson (6-9-1, 3.63, .898) saw most of the playing time in goal.

No. 5 Anoka (5-19-1) had just five wins, but three of them came by shutout. The Tornadoes scored less than two goals per game (1.92) and have just one player, senior Chase West (10-7—17), with more than six goals.

No. 6 Irondale (10-14-1) finished the regular season by winning two of its final three games. Senior Jack Tuomie (8-8—16) is the top scorer, and senior Esko Aukee (8-14-1, 2.74, .903) had a solid season in goal.

No. 7 Coon Rapids (4-17-4) is led by two double-digit goal scorers in junior Seth Johnson (11-15—26) and senior Samuel Naegele (11-6—17).

No. 8 Osseo (3-19-2) has been a fixture in the section semifinals in recent years, but the Orioles would need a huge first-round upset over Blaine to advance that far again this season. Sophomore Mason Hautala (6-6—12) is Osseo’s top scorer.

CLICK HERE for the complete scoop and stats !!!