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Pioneer Hockey History
[ 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 ]
[ 1970 1971
1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 ]
[ 1980
1981
1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 ]
[ 1990 1991
1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 ]
[ 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
]
--- Historical rosters and scores researched by Jim Just ---
| Minnesota playoff scores by year | All-time roster |
Highlights
| 1961-1974 | 1975*-2008 |
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An Overview of Hill-Murray Hockey
They are there, it seems, almost every year. When discussions over Thanksgiving dinner turn to the upcoming Minnesota high school hockey season, people wonder what the boys in green will be up to at Aldrich Arena through the winter. And, more often than not, they will find their way back to St. Paul in March, playing in front of 18,000 spectators at the state tournament.Hill-Murray has put together a tradition of hockey excellence matched by few other schools. As much as its on-ice success, the team has also come to be renowned for its sportsmanship and enthusiastic fan support. The pep band, directed by Mr. Frank Asenbrenner in his green jacket, was a mainstay at home games for many years, and following the green and white Pioneers has become a rite of winter for many in the St. Paul area.
Although raw numbers tell only part of the story, those stats alone are impressive: 34 state tournament appearances, 4 state championships, 11 times runner-up in a state tournament, and an all-time winning percentage of over .770.
Many Hill-Murray graduates have gone on to play college, professional, and Olympic hockey. Its teams are consistently among the state’s best, bringing home conference, regional, and state championships. Each year brings new faces, challenges, and accomplishments, but the excitement of a section playoff game never gets old.
The 1960s
Pioneer hockey began at the all-boys Hill High School in 1960-61. The first ever game against St. Cloud Cathedral was shortened to two periods because the Cathedral bus had trouble getting to the game, and, like many to follow, ended with a Hill victory, 3-0. Not many indoor rinks existed in the Twin Cities at the time, so most games were either at the Minneapolis Auditorium, outdoors at Hill High School, or, in a few years, at Aldrich Arena as they are now.
The State High School League did not allow private schools to compete in its tournaments until 1974-75, but private schools fielded strong teams and hosted their own state tournaments held at Minneapolis, Wakota Arena, Duluth, and Aldrich Arena. Duluth Cathedral, Cretin, Blake, Benilde, St. Paul Academy, Hill and later Hill-Murray would play and often beat top public schools during the regular season.
Hill played in the Central Catholic Conference, in which it would be a member until 1976. At the time, the CCC and Minnesota Independent School League hosted an eight team postseason tournament called the Minnesota Prep School Tournament. Hill improved to 3rd in the CCC thus qualifying for the tournament in 1962.
In 1964, Hill played in its first postseason championship game, losing to Blake 4-2. The next year, the team had its finest season to date, going 18-2-1 during the regular season and sharing the CCC championship with St. Agnes. In that year, the MN Prep School Tournament was replaced by the State Catholic Tournament, which matched the top six teams from the CCC against outstate powers Duluth Cathedral and Crookston Cathedral. Hill made the final again, but lost in double overtime to Duluth Cathedral. The next day, they played MISL champion Blake to a 0-0 tie at Williams Arena in the Twin City private school championship game.
The 1970s
The program made strides during the ‘60s, but really reached elite status after the arrival of Andre Beaulieu as coach prior to the 1968 season. The Pioneers won the new Independent State Tournament in 1970 as Hill and 1972 as Hill-Murray. Their run was interrupted only by a 4-2 loss in the 1971 championship game to their nemesis at the time, Blake. The 1971 team finished the regular season at 23-0-1, including victories over MSHSL tournament entries Alexander Ramsey and St. Paul Johnson. Dave Langevin, a 1972 graduate, was part of a superb defensive core in those years and later had his name engraved on the Stanley Cup four times as part of the New York Islanders’ dynasty of the early ‘80s.
Terry Skrypek became the coach in 1973-74, and in 14 years as head coach, his teams amassed a 325-44-3 record. One year after Skrypek took over, Hill-Murray joined the State High School League. Backstopped by future Olympian Steve Janaszak, the team allowed 33 goals in 27 games and qualified for the state tournament at the Met Center. In what would become a recurring theme, they lost to to Grand Rapids in the semifinal, but defeated Bloomington Lincoln the next day to win third place.
Hill won the CCC outright for the first time in 1970 and never relinquished the title. They were part of the Minnesota Independent School Hockey League for one year only in 1977 before joining the St. Paul City Conference. For the decade, the school won every conference and region championship, winning all four independent regional games and going 20-0 in Section 3 play after 1975. The Section 3 streak would be stopped at 26 games in 1981, the first time in 20 years that Hill-Murray did not play in a postseason state tournament.
The 1980s
Now regarded as one of the state’s powerhouses, Hill-Murray was part of an elite core of schools including Edina, Burnsville, and Bloomington Jefferson and Kennedy that dominated high school hockey during the ‘80s. In 1980, Hill-Murray won their first 27 games and reached the state championship game. But they again faced Grand Rapids, and netminder Jon Casey turned away 31 of 32 shots to defeat the Pioneers 2-1. That would start a string in which Hill-Murray reached the championship game seven times in a fourteen season span.
Hill-Murray was at it again in 1983, taking a 19-game winning streak into Rochester to play John Marshall. The Pioneers fell behind 7-2 before making an incredible six-goal rally to win 8-7 in overtime, preserving their third undefeated regular season in school history. This time, however, they reached the mountaintop, defeating Burnsville 4-3 to cap a perfect 28-0 season. This is the only undefeated season by any school in the all-inclusive, single-class tournament era.
Jeff Whisler became the first former player to coach the Pioneers during the 1987-88 season and coached in two state championship games during his four year tenure. Also that year, Hill-Murray joined the very competitive Twin Cities Suburban conference, and went 13-1 to finish in a familiar position atop the standings.
The 1990s
Simmering throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, the Hill-Murray-White Bear Lake rivalry really intensified during the ‘90s. The two schools had always been linked geographically, but their inclusion in the same conference, combined with the Bears’ first ever postseason defeat of Hill-Murray in 1989, turned this into one of the best rivalries in all of Minnesota. From 1983-2003, no other school won a Section 3 title.
In 1991, the Pioneers took a team-first, balanced scoring approach all the way to another state title. In that year, Section 3 was its own mini-state tournament, with Park ranked #1 in the final statewide coaches’ poll but seeded #2 in the section behind the Brian Bonin-led Bears of White Bear Lake. Hill-Murray squandered a five goal lead against Forest Lake and won in double overtime to barely get through the quarterfinal. They gave up a last second goal before dispatching Park in overtime and fell behind 3-0 but rallied to defeat White Bear Lake in the section final. The dramatic run climaxed when Hill-Murray became the only team to come back from a two-goal deficit in the state championship game, beating Duluth East 5-3 to become the last one-class state champion.
Another former player, Steve Rohlik, became the third coach in as many years to take the team to the state tournament in 1993. A memorable three goal comeback against Moorhead sent Hill-Murray to yet another championship game, where they lost to undefeated Jefferson.
In 1995, Hill-Murray helped organize the East Side Showdown holiday tournament at Aldrich Arena, and it turned out to be a blockbuster when the state’s three top-ranked teams were all scheduled in the same round-robin bracket. Before capacity crowds, Hill-Murray defeated Johnson and Duluth East twice, all in the span of a week, and finished the regular season 21-1 before losing in the playoffs to White Bear Lake for the third straight season. In 1997, the Pioneers returned to the state tournament, losing a triple overtime heartbreaker to eventual champion Edina in the semifinal.
The 2000s
By now, the face of high school hockey was changing. No longer was the state tournament field almost identical from year to year. Up and coming suburban and outstate programs created unforeseen parity and competition. Still, some things don’t change; Hill-Murray and White Bear matchups continue to be as passionate as ever, despite the teams not playing in the same conference after 2001 when Hill-Murray entered the new Classic Suburban.
Former longtime JV coach Bill Lechner took over the program prior to the 1997-98 season, and coached Hill-Murray back to the state championship game in 2002, now at the new Xcel Energy Center. The Pioneers came close but fell to a talented Holy Angels squad, 4-2. In 2006, Hill-Murray reached the MSHSL state tournament for the 20th time, the most appearances by any school since they became eligible in 1975.
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