Hill-Murray Pioneer Hockey: History 1996

With a roster that boasted eight future D1 players, Hill-Murray had one of its most dominant regular seasons ever. Their only loss was to unranked Burnsville, despite outshooting the Blaze 47-18, and came after three victories over top-three opponents.
On Dec. 23, the state's top three ranked teams all played at Aldrich Arena. Following a 2-2 tie between #2 Johnson and Hibbing, #3 Hill-Murray took on #1 Duluth East. Star forward Chris Locker injured himself while celebrating the game's first goal and did not return, and East eventually led 4-3 with time running out. But Hill-Murray tied the game with 21 seconds left in regulation, and won on Nate Mauer's third goal with 30 seconds remaining in overtime.
Following that, the East Side Showdown was held for the first time, a six team holiday tournament at Aldrich Arena. The same three teams were all scheduled into the same round-robin bracket, which Hill-Murray won by defeating Johnson 5-3 and East 4-3.
After the holiday tournament, Hill-Murray and Duluth East were co-#1 with Apple Valley third. Hill-Murray then went on a 15-game win streak that included a 9-2 win at Jefferson, which ended up losing the Section 5 final in overtime to eventual state champion Apple Valley.
The Pioneers lost again to White Bear Lake in the section playoffs, after beating the Bears 6-2 eleven days earlier. Freshman Shawn Roed scored twice including the winning goal, after Hill-Murray had scored twice in the third period to force overtime.

1995-1996 Hill-Murray Hockey