News Archive

March 28, 2009

Highlights of the Eden Prairie game.

March 14, 2009

Congratulations to Eden Prairie and Breck on their state championships. First year Breck coach Les Larson was a standout defenseman on Hill's first championship team in 1970.

March 12, 2009

Articles on the Eden Prairie game.

March 7, 2009

Star Trib and Pioneer Press recap of the section final.

Historical notes on the section playoffs...This will be Hill-Murray's 23rd tourney in 35 years...All-time school records are 23-4 in section finals, 7-7 in multiple overtime games, and 23-14 in playoff overtime games...Four section titles in a row is the most since six from 1983-1988.

Senior captain Tyler Zepeda scored twice to surpass Nick Larson for the highest career points total in the last 25 years. Zepeda joins a select group of players to play in four state tournaments. The only other Pioneers to do that are Pat Ethier (1976-1979) and Ben Belde (1977-1980). Jason Godbout nearly did it also, but his 1994 senior team lost their section final in overtime.

For the second time in three years, Hill-Murray won a repeat section championship with only 5 returning players on its roster.

This was the second longest game in terms of elapsed time in school history. There have been three triple-overtime games, but those were all in the days of 15 minute periods. The longest games:

75:39 L 4-5 3OT vs. Apple Valley, 1992
73:40 W 5-4 2OT vs. Stillwater, 2009
73:26 L 4-5 3OT vs. Edina, 1997
68:55 L 3-4 3OT vs. Park, 1990

From Vintage Minnesota Hockey, one of the old Hill hockey jerseys from the 1960s. They have many other vintage team jerseys from around the state.

March 7, 2009

Articles on Hill-Murray here and here.
State tournament internet radio broadcasts here and here.
Television on Channel 45 or on the web here.

March 4, 2009

White Bear Lake was just the fourth team to outshoot Hill-Murray this season. The Pioneers won three of those four games.

Star Trib recap of the Section 4 semis.

The Minnesota Sports Broadcast Network will have a live radio broadcast of the section final on Friday. They also have an archived broadcast of the semifinal and many other playoff games from around Minnesota.

Hill-Murray is playing in the school's fourth consecutive section final. Their opponent is a former Twin Cities Suburban rival, Stillwater, which last played Hill-Murray in a section final in 1987, a 6-1 Hill-Murray win at the Met Center. Stillwater has never made the state tournament and last advanced past the section quarterfinal in 1999. The last meeting between the two schools was a 5-0 Hill-Murray victory in the 2004 section quarterfinal.

The fifth seeded Ponies come in with a record of 13-11-3 and a fifth place finish in the Suburban East. Stillwater beat and tied White Bear Lake and lost 4-2 to Tartan in the regular season, and advanced in the playoffs with a double overtime victory over Roseville and a 5-0 win over Johnson, which knocked out top seeded Tartan in the quarterfinal.

Hey, we saw you last year: The 6:00 game Friday will feature Blaine and Centennial. Five of Hill-Murray's last six section championships have proceeded a Blaine section championship.

February 8, 2009

Hill-Murray handed St. Thomas its first loss since December and pulled within a game of first place in the conference. Remaining games for both teams:
Hill-Murray: Tartan, Richfield, North St. Paul
STA: Richfield, Henry Sibley, South St. Paul, Mahtomedi

That win means that Tartan is still the only Classic Suburban school to win a season series against Hill-Murray, which they did in 2003 and 2005, the only years the Pioneers did not win the conference title. The teams tied 1-1 this season and play Thursday night at Aldrich, with the #1 seed in Section 4 possibly up for grabs.

January 31, 2009

Tyler Zepeda now has 50 goals and 100 assists over four seasons. The only Pioneer with more total points this decade is Nick Larson.

January 29, 2009

Joe Horwath played hockey at Hill-Murray from 1978-1981 and is back in the news. He and his daughter found the St. Paul Winter Carnival medallion Wednesday morning.

January 13, 2009

Latest article by Dean Spiros on Hill-Murray hockey.

January 9, 2009

Hill-Murray's JV scored four goals in the final eight minutes of the third period and tied St. Thomas 4-4.

January 1, 2009

Last week, the Pioneer Press ran this article about the history of the Fairgrounds Coliseum. Hill-Murray has played more games at the Coliseum than any other arena except Aldrich, and once had a streak of playing an overtime playoff game there six straight seasons.

Star Trib report of the Minnetonka game.

December 23, 2008

Schedules and stats for the holiday tournament that runs Dec 29-Jan 1. Last year, Hill-Murray took second in the gold varsity division and won the gold JV division.

Report on the White Bear game from Dean Spiros.

December 7, 2008

Photo gallery of the Edina game, courtesy of Michael Mingo at Twin Cities Photography.

Star Trib recap of the Edina game.

December 1, 2008

Tuesday's game at Burnsville will be televised live on FSN.

Pioneer hockey alumni currently playing junior, college, or professional hockey with last year at Hill-Murray, current team and league.

Brian Arrigoni (2006), Hamline (MIAC)
Jay Cascalenda (2004), Minnesota-Duluth (WCHA)
Dan Cecka (2008), Indiana (USHL)
Steve Czech (2000), Dayton (ECHL)
Tom Dickhudt (2001), Bentley (Atlantic Hockey)
Bo Dolan (2008), Sioux Falls (USHL)
Ryan Furne (2008), Green Bay (USHL)
Gabe Guentzel (2006), Colorado College (WCHA)
Ryan Guentzel (2005), Notre Dame (CCHA)
Mike Hoeffel (2006), Minnesota (WCHA)
Brian Kaufman (2002), Miami (CCHA)
Nick Larson (2007), Minnesota (WCHA)
Joey McEnaney (2006), St. Thomas (MIAC)
Jim McKenzie (2000), Binghampton (AHL)
Erik Morrow (2005), St. Olaf (MIAC)
Tom Morrow (2002), Bakersfield (ECHL)
Joe Phillippi (2008), Fairbanks (NAHL)
Mike Phillippi (2005), Nebraska-Omaha (CCHA)
Garrett Regan (2003), Notre Dame (CCHA)
Andy Singerhouse (2008), Okotoks (AJHL)
Bryant Skarda (2006), Army (Atlantic Hockey)
Dan Sova (2008), Waterloo (USHL)
Vince Unklesbay (2006), St. Mary's (MIAC)
Sam Yearsley (2005), St. Scholastica (NCHA)

November 1, 2008

Burnsville and Edina replace Wayzata and Park on the non-conference schedule this year, and Minnetonka is scheduled as the first round holiday tournament opponent. View the full schedule here.