For victorious Blake, the 'holy grail' of 2A hockey is where it's at

For Blake players taking part in the program's first Class 2A state tournament appearance Thursday, the experience outweighed whatever additional trips they might have made playing among the small schools in Class 1A.

"There was talk last year that if we had stayed in single A, we would definitely have been at state," senior forward Jack Sabre said. "But this is the holy grail. This is the pinnacle of high school hockey, and this is where we wanted to be."

Blake opted up to Class 2A before the 2017-18 season and plays among the largest schools by enrollment. It's curious timing, since the Bears had not made a Class 1A tournament since 2007-08.

"It was a decision that was given a lot of time and there were a lot of people that weren't in favor of it," said coach Rob McClanahan, who credited his predecessor, Greg May, for preparing the program for a bigger challenge.

After defeating Maple Grove 7-5 in front of an announced crowd of 18,124, no one seemed to mind.

"I'm very happy we made the switch," senior forward Gavin Best said. "We'd rather have the opportunity to be here and chase the double-A championship than go win in A."

Two generations of grinders

"Halfway through the year he was playing defense, and we needed to make a change to get heavier against bigger, stronger teams," Eden Prairie coach Lee Smith said. "We've been talking about him being the difference-maker down the stretch. And today he was."

Stansberry's father, Dave, was a third-line forward on Bloomington Kennedy's 1987 state championship team. He tallied a hat trick in the Section 5 final.

"My dad has just told me about all his stories, about how sweet it was," Kai said.

Penalty-shot pass

The penalty shot might be the most exciting play in hockey — but not always the most prudent.

"I liked our odds on the power play to be able to control the puck," McClanahan said.

Blake was leading 6-5 with 1:46 remaining when Maple Grove's Henry Nelson was called for a penalty shot-worthy delay-of-game penalty after launching the net off its moorings. Best scored into an empty net with 1:05 left on the ensuing power play.

Maple Grove coach Todd Bergland endorsed the strategy.