2020-2021 Hill-Murray Hockey
Metro East Co-Champion
- This bizarre season was played during the most bizarre era of modern history. A maximum 18 game regular season schedule was instituted, which went from January to mid-March, with playoffs following and the state tournament running into April. Fan attendance was severely limited to mostly parents, though many games were broadcast online. Face mask and contagion protocols were in force, which disrupted many teams' seasons and canceled many games.
- On ice, the Pioneers were excellent, especially on defense, allowing 21 goals in 20 games, the best goals against average in school history. Nine of those goals came in two games against St. Thomas; no other team scored more than two goals in a game against Hill-Murray. The Pioneers shut out Edina in back-to-back games for the second year in a row. Joe Palodichuk and Matthew Fleischhacker were the team's top defensive pair, anchoring a 45% power play, and Palodichuk was a Mr. Hockey finalist.
- Hill-Murray blitzed White Bear Lake 5-0 in the section final. Following the Wed game, a White Bear player was diagnosed with covid, which deemed Hill-Murray, who had no players diagnosed with covid, ineligible to play for one week per state Department of Health protocols. The state tournament quarterfinal was scheduled for the next Wed morning (which was within the seven-day exposure period), with a one-day break followed by semifinals on Friday. Quarterfinal opponent Wayzata and other tournament schools agreed to move the game to Thursday, which satisfied the DOH, but the MSHSL wouldn't budge. Thus defending champion Hill-Murray became the first team ever to qualify for the state hockey tournament but not actually play in it.
| Day | Date | Opponent | Score | Location | Time | ||
| Sat | 1/16 | Mahtomedi* | 2-1 | W | St. Croix RC | 7:00 | |
| Tue | 1/19 | Chaska | 3-1 | W | Chaska CC | 7:00 | |
| Sat | 1/23 | Grand Rapids | 1-2 | L | Aldrich | 3:00 | |
| Fri | 1/29 | Edina | 1-0 | W | Aldrich | 7:15 | |
| Sat | 1/30 | Edina | 3-0 | W | Braemar Arena | 7:00 | |
| Tue | 2/2 | Mahtomedi* | 5-2 | W | Aldrich | 7:15 | |
| Sat | 2/6 | St. Thomas Academy* | 5-6 | L (OT) | Aldrich | 7:15 | |
| Tue | 2/9 | Tartan* | 2-1 | W | Tartan Arena | 7:30 | |
| Sat | 2/13 | Moorhead | 2-0 | W | Aldrich | 2:30 | |
| Wed | 2/17 | Holy Family | 6-0 | W | Aldrich | 7:15 | |
| Sat | 2/20 | Wayzata | 3-1 | W | Plymouth Ice Center | 2:30 | |
| Tue | 2/23 | Simley* | 10-1 | W | Veterans Center (IGH) | 7:00 | |
| Sat | 2/27 | Benilde-St. Margaret's | 5-0 | W | St. Louis Park RC | 7:00 | |
| Tue | 3/2 | Henry Sibley* | 8-0 | W | West St. Paul Arena | 5:00 | |
| Thu | 3/4 | South St. Paul* | 10-0 | W | Aldrich | 7:15 | |
| Sat | 3/6 | Hastings* | 8-1 | W | Aldrich | 7:15 | |
| Tue | 3/9 | St. Thomas Academy* | 7-3 | W | St. Thomas Arena | 7:00 | |
| Sat | 3/13 | Blake | - | Aldrich | 5:15 | ||
| . | |||||||
| Section 4AA Playoffs | |||||||
| Thu | 3/18 | Irondale | 7-0 | W | Aldrich | 4:00 | |
| Sat | 3/20 | Stillwater | 3-2 | W | Aldrich | 7:00 | |
| Wed | 3/24 | White Bear Lake | 5-0 | W | Aldrich | 7:00 | |
| . | |||||||
| State Tournament | |||||||
| Wed | 3/31 | Wayzata | - | Xcel Energy Center | 11 AM | ||
Final Record 18-2-0
Varsity Roster
Assistant: Pat Schafhauser, Mark Tollefsbol, Tony Flint
| No. | Name | Pos. | Grade | Height | Weight | Goals | Assists | Points |
| 1 | Nick Erickson | G | 11 | 6' 3" | 155 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Joe Palodichuk (C) | D | 12 | 6' 0" | 175 | 9 | 24 | 33 |
| 6 | Brendan Bonin | F | 11 | 5' 8" | 160 | 7 | 4 | 11 |
| 7 | Anthony Madigan | F | 11 | 5' 6" | 155 | 11 | 5 | 16 |
| 8 | Triston Tabucol | F | 12 | 5' 11" | 185 | 6 | 8 | 14 |
| 9 | Nick Mountain | F | 12 | 5' 11" | 200 | 7 | 10 | 17 |
| 11 | Leo Gruba | D | 11 | 6' 2" | 195 | 4 | 11 | 15 |
| 12 | Jared Jensen (C) | F | 12 | 5' 10" | 165 | 10 | 11 | 21 |
| 14 | Matthew Fleischhacker (C) | D | 12 | 5' 6" | 160 | 7 | 21 | 28 |
| 15 | Brady Ingebritson | F | 10 | 6' 0" | 150 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| 16 | Marcus Kaufman | F | 11 | 6' 1" | 175 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 17 | Dylan Godbout | F | 11 | 5' 11" | 180 | 9 | 17 | 26 |
| 18 | Max Zupfer | F | 12 | 5' 8" | 160 | 5 | 17 | 22 |
| 20 | Gianni Hurley | F | 11 | 5' 11" | 185 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| 21 | Ben Karr | D | 11 | 6' 1" | 195 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| 22 | Hunter Laschinger | F | 12 | 5' 10" | 165 | 8 | 9 | 17 |
| 24 | Luke Hause | D | 11 | 6' 3" | 170 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Matthew Whisler | D | 10 | 5' 9" | 155 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 26 | Axel Begley | D | 11 | 6' 2" | 190 | 4 | 14 | 18 |
| 27 | Jack Senden | F | 11 | 6' 1" | 180 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 30 | Nate Gist | G | 12 | 6' 1" | 190 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Jack Erickson | G | 10 | 6' 0" | 160 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Goalie | Min. | GA | GAA | Saves | Save % | Record | ||
| Nick Erickson | 820 | 19 | 1.18 | 284 | 93.7 | 14-2-0 | ||
| Nate Gist | 51 | 0 | 0.00 | 5 | 100.0 | 1-0-0 | ||
| Jack Erickson | 153 | 2 | 0.67 | 35 | 94.6 | 3-0-0 | ||
| Team Stats | Goals | Goals/G | Shots | Shots/G | PP % | PPG | ESG | SHG | ENG |
| Hill-Murray | 96 | 4.8 | 812 | 40.6 | 45.7 | 16 | 79 | 1 | 1 |
| Opponents | 21 | 1.1 | 345 | 17.3 | 25.0 | 8 | 11 | 2 | 0 |
Mr. Hockey finalist: Joe Palodichuk
AP All-State: Joe Palodichuk (1st team)
Star Tribune All-Metro: Joe Palodichuk (1st team)
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