The state hockey tournament always stirs the public’s passions, but there’s extra juice when Edina, Roseau and Warroad make the trip to St. Paul. Welcome to something special in 2008 with the Hornets and Rams in the Class 2A tournament, and the Warriors in Class 1A. The script could get even better if Edina (in the Class 2A upper bracket) meets Roseau (lower bracket) in Saturday’s finals.
Edina, perceived as the affluent school with all the advantages, has long been viewed as Public Enemy No. 1 in the state tournament. Roseau and Warroad, the small town schools from up north, rank at the top among all-time underdog darlings.
Former Gopher and North Star coach Glen Sonmor, who now scouts the high schoolers for the Minnesota Wild, remembers the zesty rivalry of 1969 when the Henry Boucha-led Warriors lost to the Hornets in a state tournament game for the ages. Boucha was injured by an Edina player in the game and wasn’t around when his teammates lost 5-4 in overtime.
It was hard work finding someone who didn’t live within the Edina city limits that wanted the Hornets to win. “They all rooted for Boucha and Warroad,” Sonmor agreed. “Nobody wanted Edina to win.”
To this day a whole lot of hockey people believe that had Boucha played the entire game the Rams would have won. He was a prep superstar who later played in the NHL. Sonmor remembered that for years there’s been a tale that Boucha, who did suffer a punctured ear drum, wasn’t injured badly enough to leave the arena but had to because an “EDINA doctor” sent him to the hospital.
Sonmor laughed while recalling how years ago the innovative Edina student section padded its reputation for snobbery during player introductions. “They all read newspapers when the opposing team’s players were introduced and then they would put the papers down and yell, ‘who cares!’”
Sonmor said on Wednesday he thinks “there’s a good chance” Edina and Roseau will meet in the championship game. He begins any discussion of the tournament’s elite players with Roseau star defenseman Aaron Ness. “He may be good enough to lead them (to the finals),” Sonmor said.