As coach Sean Bloomfield drives Chanhassen's boys hockey team, his past propels him

Chanhassen's Chase: Today's story is the third in an occasional Star Tribune series that will follow the Chanhassen Storm as they try to reach their first boys hockey state tournament. Tap here for the first story in the series. Tap here for the second story in the series.

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Thursday marks a hockey homecoming of sorts for Chanhassen coach Sean Bloomfield.

He brings the Storm to Chaska, where Bloomfield served nine years in various assistant coaching roles, free of the baggage or bitterness from being passed over for the Hawks' head coaching job before the 2021-22 season.

"It did hurt," Bloomfield said. "But it hurt for a day. And then you've got to wake up in the morning, know you've got a lot of other good things going, and figure out what's next. What was the plan for me as a coach?"

Two weeks later, the Chanhassen job opened.

"You couldn't have planned that better," Bloomfield said.

Chanhassen (17-4) holds the No. 4 ranking in the Let's Play Hockey coaches poll this week. Bloomfield, in his third year behind the bench, has the Storm building toward their first state tournament appearance. Top-ranked and defending Class 2A champion Minnetonka is a major obstacle in Section 2. But Bloomfield has lived the process of navigating a path to an ambitious goal. Of grabbing a paddle and setting a course against the current.

Bloomfield and close friend Colton Witte paddled a canoe more than 2,000 miles from downtown Chaska to Hudson Bay in 2008, a 49-day journey later chronicled in Bloomfield's book, "Adventure North."

"Sometimes things are hard," Bloomfield said. "But you've got to keeping working at it. We sat in a canoe for 12 to 16 hours a day. That was kind of boring; it was hard. But you just do it and you come out better on the other side."

Gathering storm

Bloomfield, 34, dedicated himself to researching the canoe route to Hudson Bay, scouring Google Maps to determine where to camp each night. His efforts went mostly for naught.

"What you find out real quickly when you're on a trip like that is nothing goes as planned," he said. "Day one, those plans went out the window."

Thus far, Chanhassen's season plans are on track. A few players have surprised in their expanded roles. Senior Coltin Wassengeso progressed from a third-pair defensemen at the end of last season to logging regular shifts with top blueliner Owen Buesgens, who is committed to play college hockey at St. Thomas.

Senior Chase Borene secured a spot among the top four defenseman after playing JV exclusively last season. And junior Ryan McPartland has become a fixture among the top nine forwards.

Even experienced players such as senior forwards Caden Lee and Gavin Uhlenkamp have elevated their levels of play.

Of Lee, Bloomfield said, "He's had such a great last 18 months and keeps getting better." Bloomfield praised Uhlenkamp for "his ability to play off the puck. It's been next-level this season. He's having the best year of his high school career."

Buesgens and senior forward Beau Delich recently won the team's highly sought doubles pingpong tournament title. When it comes to achievements with a paddle, however, they defer to Bloomfield.

Delich, who read "Adventure North," hears Bloomfield sharing applicable lessons to this day.

"He talks a lot about adversity with us," Delich said. "What he went through on the trip relates to us in hockey. Things like losing a game and bouncing back."

Meeting mentors

Long before Bloomfield's paddle broke the Minnesota River surface on April 28 in downtown Chaska and commenced the voyage to Canada, he set another journey in motion.

Patrick Bloomfield recalled his son, then a Chaska bantam team goaltender, stating, "I want to coach."

"I was proud that he set a goal and methodically went about achieving it," Patrick said.

Step one, Bloomfield earned his bachelor's degree from Minnesota State Mankato and later his masters degree in teaching and learning. Those academic pursuits led him to Tom Saterdalen, a health teacher at Bloomington Jefferson and coach of five state tournament championship teams.

"He was my teaching mentor," Bloomfield said. "He taught me to continually raise expectations on the kids. If they get what you're teaching, tell them, 'That's great.' But always ask them for more. That applies to everything, including coaching."

Step two, Bloomfield joined Dave Snuggerud's coaching staff at Chaska. In nine years, he evolved into a co-head coach. Those closest to Bloomfield said Snuggerud's influence is stamped on Bloomfield's approach to life.

"I always wanted to be a coach, but there was so much that I didn't know about coaching — and how much it involves coaching the whole kid — until I started working with Dave," said Bloomfield, who works as a principal at Breakaway Academy, a school co-founded by Snuggerud. "Whether coaching or teaching or even parenting, I've taken a lot from Dave. His kids aren't all hockey players, but they are good people."

The third pillar of Bloomfield's growth, the 2,000-mile canoe adventure, predated meeting Saterdalen and Snuggerud and made a lasting impression.

"That trip changed my perspective on everything," Bloomfield said. "I think it shaped who I am today. I don't know if I always have been a glass-half-full guy, but on that trip, I had to be. That was my way of coping with the hard times, and I'm still an optimistic guy."

Sarah Bloomfield married Sean in 2013 and heard many of the stories from Witte and her husband that ended up in the 2016 book. But a few of the more harrowing details, such as shooting rapids, were revelations to Sarah's parents. Sarah said her mother, Susan Mitchell, ran out of the house to hug Sean after reading about the rapids.

"I said, 'Spoiler alert — he lived,'" Sarah said with a laugh.

The Bloomfields are raising two young boys, Jack, 9, and Paul, 7. Jack has read the book, and it meshed with his adventurous spirit.

Jack grew up attending Chaska hockey games and balked at dad's career move.

"He said, 'I don't have to cheer for the Storm,'" Sarah said. "But now he is their biggest fan."