Bears beset by blizzard best Eagles; Return to State
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What do you get when you add Birkholz, Barnes, a blizzard, and the Blake Bears? You get another trip to the state tournament.
After a scoreless first period and giving up a power play goal in the second the Bears headed into the final intermission needing to find the twine a couple of times or call it a year.
During the first two stanzas the Bears threw 22 shots at TG's stalwart, senior goalie Jack Ries to no avail, but at 6:36 of the third sophomore forward Josh Birkholz went top shelf to beat Ries for the tying goals from seniors Steve Steinhauser and Mike Louwerse.
Four minutes later junior forward Jack Barnes muscled in the game winner from juniors Jordan Seivold and Erik Olson.
After giving up six goals in the semifinals the Bears defense stiffened and junior goalie Peter Johnson stopped 21 of the 22 shots he faced propelling the Bears into the 62nd annual Minnesota State Boys' Hockey Tournament.
The Bears are heading to the State tournament for the second consecutive year and a fourth over all appearance. At this point all the Bears really know is that they will play on Wednesday March 7th in the Xcel Center.
For the first time in state hockey history the teams will be seeded. This selection process replaces a previous algorithm that involved rotating sections and time slots. The seeding plan will involve the coaches of the 16 section champion boys' hockey teams. Each coach will vote to seed the 2007 state tournament. The selection process will be the same for both Class A and Class AA. The voting will establish the top four teams and their opponents will be chosen by blind draw.
The seeding session was originally scheduled for Saturday morning March 3 and has been moved to Sunday morning to accommodate those Sections that chose to postpone their championship games due to this week's inclement weather.
The quarterfinals for each class will have the No. 2 seed and opponent opening at 11 a.m., followed by No. 3 seed and opponent. The No. 1 seed and opponent will open the second session at 6 p.m., followed by the No. 4 seed and opponent.
Go to Kare11.com to view highlights
First: No Scoring
Second: T-Schlagel (Landsem, Graffunder), 7:56, power play.
Third: B-Birkholz (Steinhauser, Louwerse), 6:36; B-Barnes (Seivold, Olson), 10:35.
Saves: B-Johnson 4-10-8-22; T- Ries 15-7-8-30.
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