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#2 seed (8A) Warroad Warriors (23-5-0)
Warroad enters the state tournament for the 3rd straight year and for the 25th time overall. They will look to get back to the State Title for the 3rd year in a row but this time get their elusive 5th program State Championship. This group has been playing for something bigger all year after an offseason stricken by tragedy within their hockey community. The Warriors will attempt to ease that pain by honoring those who are now gone by bringing home some more championship hardware to Hockeytown USA after the girls just did so 2 weeks prior.

Warriors Leaders- Seniors #5 Carson Pilgrim (29-34-63 pts.) & #22 Murray Marvin-Cordes (24-27-51 pts.) and Junior #15 Taven James (20-37-57 pts.) make up the engine of the Warrior machine. Seniors #25 Ryan Lund (18-22-40 pts.) & #27 Will Hardwick (0-10-10 pts) and Sophomore #21 Broden Hontvet (6-26-32 pts) are experienced defenseman who play big minutes and are excellent at getting out of their own end.

Warriors Goalie- Senior #30 Ben Norris (23-5-0) 2.16 GAA .895 SV% has played every minute in net this winter and has gotten steadily better over the season he has been solid so far in the 8A playoff run.

Warriors Drive for Title #5- This Warriors team had a very tough offseason as back in July they woke up to news that their beloved Assistant Coach Michael Tveit, age 38, had passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. Now 6 months later Warroad heads back to the Tourney playing in his honor and in search of State Title #5 which just so happens to be the number that Michael wore when had the honor of putting on the Warrior sweater in his high school days. The drive for Title #5 for their fallen and beloved #5 seems like destiny for these Warriors.

Warriors Special Teams- The Power Play is at 30.6% and Penalty Kill is at 81.2 %

(3A) New Ulm Eagles (23-5-0)
New Ulm enters the state tournament for their first time since 2019 and for their 7th overall appearance. The Eagles got steadily better over the season and were able to put their Section Final demons behind them by winning the 3A title this year after coming up just short the 2 years prior. New Ulm’s senior class has been incredibly successful going (66-16-2) over their three years and now they will look to cement their legacy as the best class in Eagles hockey history by doing something that has never been done in program history by winning a game at State.

Eagles Leaders- Seniors #5 Austin Uecker (39-40-79 pts), #21 Kaden Larson (25-33-58 pts.), #22 Bryer Lang (21-34-51 pts) are the trio of veterans that lead the Eagles two line attack. Senior #18 Landon Barstad (4-14-18 pts) and converted forward to defenseman Junior #10 Ian Brudelie (17-16-33 pts) are the top defensive pair that have been key to getting New Ulm out of their own end.

Eagles Goalie- Senior #1 Bryer Hoffmann (21-5-0) 2.11 GAA .911 SV% enters this game with 3 years of experience in the net and he has over 1000 career saves and he will need to be at his best in this one as he will be peppered in net.

Eagles Tourney Misery- New Ulm has been one of the more successful program’s in Class A in Southern Minnesota as they have now qualified for State 7 times. However, it has not been enjoyable for them once they get to St Paul. The Eagles are 0-12 at the state tournament and have been outscored 77-14 in those previous six contests. They will have their hands full again this week as drawing the experienced and talented #2 seed Warroad Warriors will not be an easy task but this is an experienced team looking to make some program history.

Eagles Special Teams- The Power Play is at 27.2% and Penalty Kill is at 81.2%

The only thing that shocked me about this matchup is that usually the 3A squad gets Hermantown in the first game. What happened?

Below are are the links to the 15 Questions in 60 seconds that YHH does.

Always enjoy these allows you to get to know the players more:

New Ulm Senior #1 Bryer Hoffmann
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeAqbAfs1YU&t=3s

Warroad Senior #27 Will Hardwick and Sophomore #21 Broden Hontvet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNdsP02C5sw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQXXiDdDaCs&t=1s

LPH Preview of the New Ulm vs Warroad Game
Warroad Warriors (23-5-0)

Record: 23-5

Goals Leader: Carson Pilgrim (29)

Assists leader: Taven James (37)

Points leader: Carson Pilgrim (63)

Warroad capped off a strong regular season with a 23-5 record overall. They narrowly squeezed themselves into the state tournament after defeating East Grand Forks 4-3 in the section final. They will now go up against New Ulm in the first round of the state tournament at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

The Warriors may have lost their two best players from a season ago in Jayson Shaugabay and goalie Hampton Slukynsky but they still had the best player in the 2023 tournament, Carson Pilgrim. He didn’t take any steps back, scoring 29-34-63 this season and leading the Warriors in goals and points. Taven James and Murray Marvin-Cordes are also huge components of the great season Warroad has put together. These three forwards have been alongside the team in their past two tournament appearances, and have big a big part of making it to the championship game in both years.

“They have experience of playing at the biggest stage in high school, and I know they want to get back there and finish the job,” said Head Coach Jay Hardwick.

The Warroad community has mourned a couple of very influential figures in the community this year, including one of their coaches, Michael Tveidt.

“Carson (Pilgrim) was his stepson, and our starting goalie Ben (Norris) was his nephew. Those two certainly have that in the back of their mind, along with the entire team who grew up with Ben and Carson. They will be playing for something more special,” said Hardwick.

Carson Pilgrim is a finalist for Mr. Hockey a year after Shaugabay took home the award.

“I think you ask Jayson or Slukynsky if they would trade those accolades for a state title they would do it in a heartbeat, so I know Carson is focused on winning the whole thing for the community more than an individual accolade.”

Warroad is a different looking team than they were a season ago, but they all have the same goal in mind.

“We’re much younger than last year, but we found a way to still have success, it’s been very rewarding,” said Hardwick.

New Ulm Eagles (23-5)

LPH Final Rankings: Unranked

Goals Leader: Austin Uecker (38)

Assists leader: Austin Uecker (41)

Points leader: Austin Uecker (79)

New Ulm finished second in the Big South conference with a 14-2 record right behind Luverne. The Eagles earned themselves a spot in the state tournament after defeating Marshall 4-2 in the section final. They will now go up against Warroad in the first round of the state tournament at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

The Eagles are led by their star senior forward Austin Uecker, who has scored 38-41-79. They also have some serious depth behind Uecker with Kaden Larson and Bryer Lang who have scored over 50 points themselves. With these strong forwards, it’s easy to see why they average almost six goals per game, but the other stat is just as good, allowing two goals per game. That is thanks to their good defensive game and goaltending. Bryer Hoffmann has been solid in net, stopping nearly 600 shots, with a 0.910 Sv% and six shutouts.

Not only have the Eagles won 13 of their past 15 games, but they’ve also scored five or more goals in nine of those games. They also started their season hot, winning their first four games and going 8-2-0 through their opening ten games.

StarTribine Preview of Warroad vs New Ulm

New Ulm (23-5-0) vs. No. 2 seed Warroad (23-5-0), 11 a.m.
SCOUTING THE NEW ULM EAGLES

State tournament trips: seventh.

Top three scorers: Austin Uecker, senior F (38 goals, 41 assists); Kaden Larson, senior F (25 goals, 33 assists); Bryer Lang, senior F (20 goals, 34 assists).

In goal: Bryer Hoffmann, senior — 19-5-0, 2.20 GAA, 91% saves, six shutouts.

Did you know? New Ulm is in search of its first state quarterfinal win in program history; the Eagles are 0-12 overall at state.

SCOUTING THE WARROAD WARRIORS

State tournament trips: 25th.

Top three scorers: Carson Pilgrim, senior F (29 goals, 34 assists); Taven James, junior F (20 goals, 37 assists); Murray Marvin-Cordes, senior F (24 goals, 27 assists).

In goal: Ben Norris, senior — 23-5-0, 2.16 GAA, 89.5% saves, four shutouts.

Did you know? Carson Pilgrim is one of two Mr. Hockey finalists from Class 1A programs.

Warrior go up 1-0 1st period

Warriors top line gets them on the board #22 Murray Marvin-Cordes from #5 Carson Pilgrim to put them up 1-0

BHS Class A State QF #1
#2 Warroad 1
New Ulm 0
End of 1st Period
Warroad in control early but New Ulm made a push in the mid part of the period. The Warriors top line gets them on the board late but Eagles hanging around.
SOG- 12-3 Warroad

Warriors #5 Carson Pilgrim to puts them up 2-0 early in the 2nd period off the opening draw

Warriors Top line again off of a D zone draw #22 Murray Marvin-Cordes scores with helpers from #15 Taven James & #27 Will Hardwick 3-0 now

#2 Dominic Anthony pulls off the "Michigan Goal" WOW and the Warriors are pulling away quickly! 4-0 2nd period

Two more Quicks ones From Lund and Pilgrim (His 2nd) and its all Warroad 6-0 2nd Period

BHS Class A State QF #1
#2 Warroad 6
New Ulm 0
End of the 2nd Period
Warroad takes over the game early and often in the 2nd Period. All Warriors they are in full control in this one.
SOG- 27-4 Warroad

*Yawn I really wish they could figure out a way to get the actual best teams to state so we could watch the best matchups, instead of snooze fests in the quarterfinals

Warriros #22 Murray Marvin-Cordes short handed Hatty
its 8-1....

BHS Class A State QF #1
#2 Warroad 8
New Ulm 1
Final
Warroad gets big efforts from its Stars Murray Marvin-Cordes & Carson Pilgrim and they pull away with a big 5 goal second period and they cruise into the Semifinals on Friday!

Thank god these guys made it over EGF