Goalie transfers her cool to golf course

Chloe Billadeau doesn't just stop pucks, she makes putts.

The senior at Blake made a name for herself as the Bears' starting goaltender, helping Blake win the Class 1A state championship as an eighth-grader in 2007 and again in '09.

Once the ice melts, Billadeau ditches the goalie gear for her golf clubs. Last week, she shot a career-best 40 at Goodrich Golf Course in St. Paul. That was good for medalist honors in the Tri-Metro Conference event, a score she split with Breck standout Anna Laorr.

Billadeau dropped a 30-foot putt for birdie on her first hole, then took double bogey on her next. She then played the next seven holes 3 over par.

"She didn't even known [she had won] until I texted her later that night," Blake coach Bryan Skavnak said. "She just said, 'Oh really? Cool.' She's competitive to the point where she'll do her best, but she's not overly concerned about being No. 1."

Like her days with the hockey team, Billadeau has been a staple on the girls' golf team since she was a youngster. Skavnak, a PGA teaching pro by day, has been working with Billadeau since she was in eighth grade. She joined the Bears' varsity squad a year later.

"In the last two years especially she's stepped up big time," Skavnak said. "It's been pretty cool to watch."

Through the first six games of the season, the righthanded batter slugged four home runs -- a stunning improvement for a kid that had just one extra-base hit, a double, last season.

"He's never really been a long-ball hitter," said his coach, Darby Carlson. "But right now, he's swinging the bat well -- he has a lot of confidence."

Carlson said Naasz -- who did more weightlifting in the offseason than he had in the past -- has sprayed his bombs all over, including to the opposite field. But in the classroom, "You'd never know anything was going on, on the field," Carlson said. "He's not a guy that blows his own horn. He just comes out, plays hard, has a smile on his face and it's 'Let's get on to the next at-bat.' It's a real neat thing to see."

Maple Grove took a 7-0 record into the week.