By: Timothy Oshie
Publisher / Oshie Sports & Media
Since the inception of the Minnesota State High School League's division into both a Class A and Class AA for the 1993-94 hockey season, the Warroad Warriors have qualified in (14) of those Section 8A championship games with the Warriors entry last Saturday night after beating Crookston, 9-1.
Of the previous (13), the Warriors have represented Section 8A (10) times in venues such as the St. Paul Civic Center, the Target Center and now the palatial Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota.
Warroad, under Cary Eades, captured (3) Minnesota Class A championships in the seasons of 1994, 1996 and 2003. The Warriors, under co-head coaches Albert Hasbargen and Dennis Fermoyle, captured the 2005 title while steering Warroad to its only undefeated season in school history (29-0-2).
East Grand Forks, under the guidance of Jim Scanlan, represented Section 8A in the 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002 Minnesota State Class A Tournaments. Their best finish was a Runner-Up placing in the 1999 classic against Benidle-St. Margaret's.
In 2006, the Thief River Falls Prowlers ended a 40-year drought into the Minnesota State High School Tournament. Senior Michael Forney scored in the fourth-overtime at The Gardens Arena in Warroad against the Warriors. Forney's heroics propelled the Prowlers into the 2006 event where they lost to The Blake School in the Consolation final.
Warroad now leads with (14) Section 8A finals ('94, '95, '96, '97, '98, '00, '02, '03, '04, '05, '06, '07, '08 and now '09).
East Grand Forks has garnered (6) Section 8A finals ('94, '98, '99, '01, '02, '08).
Thief River Falls, before tonight's Section 8A semi-final game versus the Bemidji Lumberjacks, sits at (5) Section 8A finals ('99, '03, '05, '06, '07). The Prowlers can make it a half-dozen with a victory tonight over the 'Jacks.
Roseau (now in AA) participated in (3) Section 8A finals in 1995, 1996 and 1997. The Rams succumbed to the Warroad Warriors on each of those three finals before moving to Class AA in 1999.
The Crookston Pirates have participated in (2) Section 8A finals in back-to-back years of 2000 and 2001. Under the guidance of Jeff Perreault, the Pirates lost to Warroad in 2000 then the Green Wave of East Grand Forks in 2001.
The Lake of the Woods Bears participated in the 2004 Section 8A finals against the Warroad Warriors. The Bears eventually fell to the Warriors in overtime, 4-3, in a Section 8A hockey classic at the Civic Center in East Grand Forks, Minnesota.
Below is a chronological look at the annual Section 8A Championship games (teams/scores) and the Section 8A Champion's entry into the Minnesota State High School Class A Boy's Hockey Tournament:
1994 Section 8A Finals: Warroad 2 - EGF 1
1994 MN State Class A Finals: Warroad 5 - Hibbing 3
1995 Section 8A Finals: Warroad 3 - Roseau 0
1995 MN State Class A 3rd Place: Warroad 7 - Red Wing 2
1996 Section 8A Finals: Warroad 6 - Roseau 2
1996 MN State Class A Finals: Warroad 10 - Red Wing 3
1997 Section 8A Finals: Warroad 4 - Roseau 3
1997 MN State Class "A" Finals: Red Wing 4 - Warroad 3
1998 Section 8A Finals: EGF 5 - Warroad 4
1998 MN State Class "A" Consolation: EGF 6 - Mahtomedi 2
1999 Section 8A Finals: EGF 2 - TRF 1
1999 MN State Class "A" Finals: Benilde-S-M 4 - EGF 2
2000 Section 8A Finals: Warroad 3 - Crookston 2
2000 MN State Class "A" Finals: Breck 3 - Warroad 2
2001 Section 8A Finals: EGF 4 - Crookston 0
2001 MN State Class "A" Consolation: EGF 5 - Mound-Westonka 2
2002 Section 8A Finals: EGF 4 - Warroad 2
2002 MN State Class "A" Consolation: EGF 4 - Orono 2
2003 Section 8A Finals: Warroad 3 - TRF 1
2003 MN State Class "A" Finals: Warroad 3 - Simley 1
2004 Section 8A Finals: Warroad 4 - Lake of the Woods 3 OT
2004 MN State Class "A" Consolation: Warroad 9 - Albert Lea 0
2005 Section 8A Finals: Warroad 4 - TRF 1
2005 MN State Class "A" Finals: Warroad 4 - Totino Grace 3 (2 OT) **
2006 Section 8A Finals: TRF 3 - Warroad 2 (4OT)
2006 MN State Class "A" Consolation: Blake 4 - TRF 3
2007 Section 8A Finals: Warroad 2 - TRF 1
2007 MN State Class "A" 3rd Place: St. T-A 7 - Warroad 2
2008 Section 8A Finals: Warroad 2 - EGF 0
2008 MN State Class "A" 3rd Place: Warroad 2 - SC Cathedral 1 (OT)
2009 Section 8A Finals: Warroad vs. TRF
2009 MN State Class "A":
EGF Denotes: East Grand Forks
TRF Denotes: Thief River Falls
** Denotes: Longest MN State Championship Game In History From 1945-2008
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