1913 South Playoffs



Mill City Hockey Club vs Austin Hockey Club
What was expected to be a blowout turned out to be a classic as the Mill City Hockey Club took on the visiting Austin Hockey Club at Nicollet Park. The Millers gave the thousands in attendance something to cheer about early when they took a 1-0 lead just 7 minutes into the contest. Mill City poured it on for the next few minutes, but Austin withstood the pressure and kept it a one goal game. The Packers would find the back of the net with a bit of puck luck after a centering pass took a deflection off a Miller’s skate and found the back of the net to level the score at one apiece heading into the first intermission. Mill City regained the lead in the second and added to it before the end of the period to make it 3-1 heading into the third. Austin pulled it back to within one just a few minutes into the third and were close to tying it, ringing a shot off the crossbar and getting a couple other good looks, but they were unable to convert and the Millers pushed their lead back to two midway through the frame. Austin refused to go quietly, going all in on the attack late and making it a one goal game once again. The Packers kept the pressure up, leaving it all on the ice as they tried to find the equalizer. In the end Mill City would hold on, knocking out Austin by a score of 4-3 to return to the Super Series for the 5th time in club history.

Stillwater Hockey Club vs White Bear Lake Hockey Club
Lily Lake Park was filled to capacity with fans from White Bear Lake making the 10 mile trip east joining the Stillwater natives in a sea of bodies surrounding the rink to watch the de facto SCHL Championship Game with the winner advancing to the Kellogg Cup Super Series. It was only fitting that two teams who ended the regular season tied atop the table would end regulation tied as well. The score was 4-4 as the puck was dropped for overtime. The first several minutes were rather slow with neither team wanting to make a mistake. Things finally opened up after a Stillwater shot was blocked by a Bear leading to an odd man rush the other way. White Bear Lake carried the puck up ice with speed, spread three across with just one Stillwater defender between them and the goaltender. The puck carrier took it to the middle before dumping a pass off to his teammate on the wing who collected it and fired a shot on goal. The Stillwater goalie got a piece of it, but not quite enough as it flopped behind him and trickled slowly across the goal line before the defenseman was able to clear it. The referee signalled it had crossed before it was cleared and the White Bear Lake players and fans erupted in celebration. White Bear Lake is heading back to the Super Series for the fourth time in team history, beating Stillwater in overtime by a score of 5-4.

Anoka Hockey Club vs Edina Athletic Club
The biggest surprise of the regional playoffs came in Anoka when the visiting Edina Athletic Club came to town and walked away with an upset win over the North Metro champs. Anoka got on the board first and everything was looking good until Edina capitalized on a bad turnover to tie the game at 1-1 that things started to fall apart. Edina would rattle off three quick goals after that to take a commanding 4-1 lead into the first period break. Anoka bounced back in the second with a pair of goals before Edina netted another to make it 5-3 heading into the third. Both clubs would score one more in the third, sending Edina Athletic to their second Super Series in a row with a 6-4 victory in Anoka.

Willmar Hockey Club vs Winona Hockey Club
While it started off evenly matched, things quickly got out of hand for Winona as they ran into the offensive juggernaut that is Willmar. The Willmar Hockey Club has only lost twice this year and they showed exactly why in this one. Winona did net a pair of goals in the first and one more in the third, but they were unable to keep pace with Willmar who unloaded 3 in the first, 2 in the second, and 3 more in the third to slowly bury their opponents in an avalanche of goals. When the referee blew his whistle after 60 minutes of play the scoreboard read 8-3 in favor of Willmar, sending them back to the Super Series for the second time in the last three years.

1913 Kellogg Cup Quarterfinals



Soudan Mine Hockey Club vs Edina Athletic Club
The Kellogg Cup Super Series kicked off with an ass whooping as the top seeded Soudan Mine Hockey Club sent the West Metro champs home with their tails between their legs. It was an absolute beatdown with Edina getting just 6 shots on goal for the game, squeaking one past the Miner goaltender. That goal would be essentially pointless though with Edina Athletic trailing by 7 at that point. Soudan Mine scored two more for good measure, advancing to the Semifinals with a dominant 9-1 victory over Edina Athletic.

Bemidji Hockey Club vs Willmar Hockey Club
Thankfully for those who paid for admission to the morning session, the second game of the day was more interesting than the opener. The tone was set right from the get-go with a Bemidji defenseman laying out a Willmar winger just a few minutes into the game, causing a bit of a scuffle. The physicality never relented but the game did open up, allowing both teams to show their offensive talents. At the end of regulation the score was tied 3-3, sending us to overtime in St. Paul. Both teams went back and forth with chances early on, flashes of blue & white and red & black streaking across the ice as the crowd watched from the ends of their seats. Finally, 13:21 into overtime, we had a winner. A Bemidji shot was stopped by the Willmar goalkeeper, but the rebound lay in the slot. The goalie floundered to cover the loose puck while his teammates scrambled to try and clear it and Bemidji forwards tried to smack it on goal. It was chaos with the puck bouncing off sticks and bodies for what felt like hours until a Bemidji player got good wood on a shot that beat the goalie under his arm to find the back of the net. The Bemidji players raced back to their goaltender to celebrate, handing Willmar just their third loss of the season with a 4-3 win in overtime.

Mill City Hockey Club vs East Grand Forks Hockey Club
The morning crowd had cleared out and the evening session was underway as the puck was dropped between Mill City and East Grand Forks. EGF drew first blood but it wouldn’t last long with the Millers rattling off three goals in under 5 minutes to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission. East Grand Forks wouldn’t get back on the scoreboard until the third and by then they were in a deep hole with Mill City up by four. The goal gave EGF a bit of momentum and they began to show their skill, pinning the Millers in their zone and peppering the goalie with shots. A slapshot from the high slot beat the Mill City goaltender to make it a 5-3 game with 7:40 left to play and suddenly we had ourselves a game again. East Grand only upped their pressure as the clock ticked away, taking more and more risks which led to a turnover and subsequent 3-on-1 break for the Millers. The lone defenseman tried to take away the middle, but it would be no use as the puck carrier opted to hold on and take the shot himself, ripping a shot into the back of the net to put the game on ice. The Mill City Hockey Club is heading back to the Semifinals, defeating East Grand Forks by a score of 6-3.

Eveleth Hockey Club vs White Bear Lake Hockey Club
The final game of the opening day of the 1913 Kellogg Cup Super Series turned out to be the highest scoring as well with Eveleth and White Bear Lake combining for 12 goals in what turned out to be a game to remember for years to come. It was about as even a match as you could get with neither team getting an edge in any category. Shots, hits, goals, didn’t matter. For 59 minutes of this game there was no lead by more than one for either team. The St. Croix champions led 3-2 after one and the second ended tied 4-4 after Eveleth took a brief lead in the middle frame. The White Bears regained the lead in the third only for Eveleth to get it right back a minute later. The Bears offense broke through again with 8:58 left to play, putting the Mighty Reds backs against the wall. Eveleth called timeout with just over a minute left to play to give their team some rest and time to draw up a plan, but it was all dependent on winning the offensive zone faceoff. The puck was dropped and it was won by White Bear Lake who took control and spread out to play keep away and kill the clock. Desperate, the Reds were forced to chase the Bears around the ice, losing any sense of positioning. The White Bear rover dipsy doodled around the ice, avoiding Reds with some nifty stickhandling and skating before dishing a perfect pass to his teammate who was all alone on the far wall. He took off on a breakaway, faking a shot to drop the goalie before pulling it wide and firing a shot into the wide open net to put WBL up by two with under a minute to play. Eveleth would have no response, White Bear Lake avenge their 1909 Semifinal loss to Eveleth and return to the Semifinals for the third time in club history, defeating the Reds in a 7-5 classic.



Who do you want? Who will advance to the Final? Let me know what you think, comments are always appreciated!

It's Championship or Bust for Bemidji

1913 Kellogg Cup Final



Soudan Mine Hockey Club vs Mill City Hockey Club
The St. Paul Hippodrome was filled to capacity as fans packed the stands to watch the Iron Range champs take on the Twin Cities champs for the Kellogg Cup. Soudan Mine drew first blood on a rebound 4 minutes into the game and extended their lead to 2-0 by the end of the period. Mill City got on the board in the second to make it a one goal game but that would be as close as things got from there with Soudan Mine unloading three unanswered goals in the back half of the period to take a commanding 5-1 lead into the third. The Miners were relentless on the offensive, striking again early in the third to make it 6-1 before the Millers finally got one back on a redirect in front. Mill City put it all out there after netting their second of the night, but Soudan Mine put the game to rest with their 7th goal of the game with under 5 minutes left to play. The Soudan Mine Hockey Club would opt to just play keep away for the last few minutes of the game, killing the clock while the Millers were forced to chase them around the ice. After 60 minutes of play the referee blew his whistle to signal the end of the contest.

The Soudan Mine Hockey Club has won the Kellogg Cup! The Miners join Mill City and Eveleth as 2-time Cup winners as they remain perfect all-time in the post season.

We have five new clubs joining three leagues this offseason so we will start off with our expansion teams from the north. There are two new teams set to join the West Central Hockey League. With the league now at 11 members, each team will play the rest of the league 3 times for a season length of 30 games.

Morris Hockey Club
The Morris Hockey Club is based in Morris, MN but also draws from nearby Hancock, Chokio, Cyrus & Alberta. Morris is a city of just under 2,000 and is the county seat of Stevens County. The city is situated on some of the most fertile soil in the world and farming has always been king, so the grasshopper plagues of the 1870s devastated the city. Despite the hardships, the city has grown into an agricultural hub of west central Minnesota.

The club opted for uniforms with a barberpole style stripe pattern of dark green, burgundy, and white and they will play their home games at the 250 seat Crystal Lake Rink.