Benilde-St. Margaret's Boys' Hockey

Benilde-St. Margaret's handed out its boys hockey awards at the team's annual banquet, held at Jax Cafe in Minneapolis.

Earning Red Knigh Scholar-Athlete Awards, for having a grade point average of 3.00 or better were: Varsity team members Sam Anderson, Pat Cron, Patrick Daly, John Duda, Bryan Glynn, Jake Horton, Dan Kuenzi, Evan Miller, Chase Mlnarik, Will Nelson, Brett Patterson, Ben Sauer, Pat Steinhauser, David Tranvik; junior varsity team members Michael Blessing, Anthony Brask, Adam Clark, Alex Dale, Chris Flood, John Kernan, Ryan Minkoff, Sean O’Toole, Evan Peterson, Taylor Topousis, Henry Williams; and student managers Joe Jetland, Matt Kearney, Dan Scallen, Michelle Sturlaugson, Jack Tift.

Ben Sauer was the Red Knights' representative on the North Suburban Conference all-academic team while Chase Mlnarik was the recipient of the team's All Star Sports Academic Award for having the highest GPA on the team.

On the statistical side, Brett Patterson earned awards for leading the team in assists (31) and points (45) while Christian Horn was honored as the team's leading goal scorer (24).

Six players earn All-North Suburban Conference honors: Pat Borer, Patrick Daly, Bryan Glynn, Christian Horn, Jacob Meyers, Brett Patterson. Three more were named honorable mention all-conference: Will Nelson, Patrick Duda, and Pat Steinhauser.

Additionally, Borer has earned three other post-season awards. He was named to the Minneapolis Star Tribune all-metro third team along with honorable mention all-state recognition from both the St. Paul Pioneer Press and the Associated Press.

The following team award were also presented:

Hobey Baker Character Award: Patrick Duda
Best Defenseman: Pat Borer
Best Defensive Forward: Patrick Duda
Andrew Alberts (1998) Most Improved Player: Jake Horton
Most Determined Player: Ben Sauer
Vic St. Martin Coaches Award: Gunnar Knutson

The captains for the 2009-10 season were also announced. Leading next year's Red Knight squad will be Jacob Meyers, Will Nelson and Brett Patterson.

Head coach Ken Pauly also presented his season in review.

I have coached four teams that have taken that “magic carpet” ride that we call the state tournament – and in all of those cases I have never envied the task that lay before that next year’s team.

Expectations are high. Nothing less than a return trip to the state tourney becomes the final measurement of the following year’s team’s success.

There is a reason why “defending champions” is the most endangered of species – as championships usually follow seniors and seniors graduate. It falls to the next team to “retool”, “rebuild”, and establish its own identity – and at the same time WIN.

It’s easy to make repeated trips to the tourney when you have a weak section and you get an easy road to the section finals each year. We are playing in a section that has not had a repeat champion in 11 years. After graduating over 90% of our scoring from last season, our staff knew that it would be difficult to replace that type of production – and in the end it would be the primary reason that we came up short in our final game. After all, you don’t win a whole lot of games by scoring 1 goal!

There is no debating that we lacked some things this year – but with that said it didn’t keep our guys from slugging it out with the best all season and with a much tougher schedule than last year’s team.

It’s always a disappointment when you can’t say goodbye to your team in St. Paul, but it would miss the mark by a wide stretch to label this team’s season as a failure. It was anything but-

Measureable achievements:
• NSC Champions – fourth year straight – and only the 2nd time when that honor was not shared with TG.
• Thrilling victories over Minnetonka, Burnsville, and Hill Murray stand out
• We sent our seniors off the ice at the SLP Rec for the last time as winners as we beat Hopkins in the section quarter finals.
• IN the final regular season coach’s poll the team was ranked #10 in the state.
• The team finished with 20+ regular season victories for only the fourth time in school history.

Intangibles:
• Resilant – they just kept coming back (Edina then Hill Murray victory and the effort against Shattuck, Totino Grace/Holy Angels then the bounce back against Hopkins and the great effort against Eden Prairie)
• That is the classiest group of kids – heard it A LOT. Don’t take that granted.
• They continued to improve. Accepted their roles and moved forward.
• And they were crushed when the season ended

This was the 50th year for Red Knight Hockey. We celebrated the history of our program the entire season. There are only a few people in this room who remember what BSM hockey was like 20 years ago. It’s still a thrill for me to see our team considered as one of the state’s premier programs. AND THESE GUYS KEPT IT THERE! THE 2009 Red Knights can look back with great pride on the page that they wrote in that history.

Tom Klein and I were speaking last night as to how the Saturday of the state tourney is our least favorite day of the event because it really marks the end of the season for everyone. The excitement of Thursday is replaced with the finality of the last game.

Even if you win the championship someone still has to turn the lights off when it’s over. Everyone – including state champions – must be excused from the stage. After all, they have to get ready for the WCHA playoffs next week. NEXT!

And that’s why you always have to keep the journey in mind and why you are here at Benilde-St. Margaret's School. Our kids love playing the game, they enjoyed each other’s fellowship; they worked hard toward their goals and continued to get better. Some leave knowing that they were a part of something special and other return knowing that they need to refocus. Our final goal was not attained – but for all of them they will look forward to the NEXT challenge. And that’s what it really is all about.

Final Thoughts ––––––––––

Eden Prairie is the state champion. They played well and they deserve it. But I know that after our first period struggles, we played great hockey and the game just didn’t go our way. It happens. For those seniors who are leaving us they can hold their heads up with pride for the way that they played – not just that game but for the whole season. I heard nothing but praise for you guys for the way that we played that last game against Eden Prairie.

For those who are coming back next season, it will fall to you to make sure that the next time we get that team on the ropes – and we will – that you develop the capacity to deliver that knock out punch. All of us must accept that challenge.