MINnetONKA

Head Coach: Sean Goldsworthy

Team Record: 24-2-2 

This Season: Losses to Edina (5-4 OT) and Rogers (6-1), and ties to White Bear Lake (2-2) and Edina (3-3)

Last Season: Section 2AA Semifinal Loss to Shakopee

Last State Title: 2023

Top Skaters: Cash Hardie (So., F, 16-15-31), Max Aronson (Jr., F, 15-16-31), Ethan Sturgis (Sr., F, 14-15-29, Dartmouth Commit, NHL Central Scouting List), Danny Browning (Sr., D, 3-26-29), Tate Hardacre (Sr., D, 12-16-28), Cameron Merrick (Sr., D, 2-4-6, Ferris State Commit)

Starting Goaltender: Chase Jerdee, Sr., Frank Brimsek Award Finalist, .927 SV%, 1.56 GAA, 6 SO

State Info: Minnetonka (No. 1-seed) vs. Gentry Academy (No. 8-seed) at 11 a.m. on Thursday, March 5

Keys to State: Stick to your game, don’t let a young Gentry team get any sparks of hope

Quotes from Coach Goldsworthy:

Q: How is this Minnetonka team different from in years past?

A: “I would say that, you know, we’re built a little differently than previous years, at least in recent memory. You know, I think in those years we had a little bit more high-offensive push with the likes of Javon Moore (now at the Univ. of Minnesota) and Hagen Burrows (Univ. of Denver) and Ashton Schultz (USHL / North Dakota commit) and John Stout (USHL / Wisconsin commit) and we had a lot of really good high offensive players. This year’s group is built a little differently. I think they’re very solid two-way players up front, they play and they don’t cheat much. Defensively, we’re as deep as we’ve ever been and we’ve been outstanding in net so probably a little bit different recipe to get things done.”

Q: Have you had to coach this team any differently this season? Are there any similarities to Minnetonka teams of the past?

A: “Historically, I look back at this team and this team reminds me of my second year, we had a group of kids coming back and we had a couple of defensemen named Josh Luedtke (St. Cloud State) and Grant Docter (Michigan Tech / St. Thomas) and a returning goalie that had won a state championship already in Charlie Glockner (Northern Michigan), so we’ve seen this before, I just think we try to play our game really simple. It’s hard to get through the Lake Conference, it’s hard to play the schedule that we play every day, day in and day out, and you have to be consistent and I think our kids have stuck to that. I don’t think we’ve done anything differently from a coaching standpoint, I think we’ve coached the kids up almost identically but it’s been an enjoyable year just because I think a lot of the kids have improved and I think a lot of the kids have gotten their opportunities rather than playing maybe a top-heavy lineup.”

Q: The defensemen this season seem to have played extremely well, talk a little bit about those guys.

A: “We suit up seven defensemen every night and they all play. We really feel like we have, you know, six Division I recruits/commits in that group, all seven will play college hockey at some point, and we feel like we’re pretty balanced there in three different units, you can play those guys in just about any scenario, so we’re kind of built for playing on the road or not getting last change back there and then I think we do a really good job of not cheating it. So, those kids do have some offensive flair, Danny (Browning) and Tate (Hardacre) in particular, but they do a good job of playing as a unit, so again I think if we cut them loose I think they’d have a little bit more offensive production but I think they’re more into playing tandem and as a unit.”

Q: Your goaltender has also been playing very well lately, talk about senior Chase Jerdee and the season that he’s been having?

A: “Chase has been outstanding, you know he’s a kid that played a year and a half of JV for us and then last year kind of came into the zone as a varsity player and then kind of took the reins as the No. 1 this year and never really let it go … Chase has had just an all-time senior year and in my opinion, he’s earned it. He’s worked really hard in his game. To be quite honest with you, I don’t know what more the kid has to do to get more looks, he’s 6-foot-5, he takes up a lot of net, he plays the puck well, he’s mentally as mature as any kid we’ve had in net the last, you know, nine years for me. So we’re built, like I said - all year I’ve told everybody, we’re built from the back-end out, and it starts with Chase.”

Q: Talk a little bit about your top line. It seems like you have a lot of forward depth and there are seven guys with 10 or more goals on the team right now, but what makes your top line special this year?

A: “We knew that group was going to be good and Cash (Hardie) and Max (Aronson) both play with Liam Schultz and that line is as good as any in the state and they’ve been effective all year as well. Liam is as good a center that I’ve seen in the high school league this year as a junior and he’s got a really bright future ahead of him as well. Max and Cash have really blended well with Liam, and Cash has the ability to finish plays and he always seems to put him in a position to score, so you know, we see bright futures for those guys. Cash has really had a great year, developing right around Game 15, which is when most of these kids kind of hit their stride, and Cash seemed to do that.”

Q: Ethan Sturgis, a senior forward, he’s committed to play college hockey at Dartmouth and he’s been listed on the NHL’s Central Scouting list for top prospects for the 2026 NHL Draft - what can you tell people about him and his style of play?

A: “Ethan plays a really simple hockey game and I think people overlook that. I think his game will translate better as he leaves high school hockey. He’s big, strong, he’s fast, shoots the puck a ton and spends a lot of time in front of the net, he really does. So that’ll all translate with him to junior and into college and obviously Dartmouth saw something that other people didn’t and jumped on him early and that’s a great opportunity for him but Ethan’s another kid that I think if we gave him more ice time and shortened our bench that his point totals would be significantly higher but that’s not what he’s about, he’s about playing as a unit and playing as a group and he’s been an outstanding captain this year. Can’t ask much more from Ethan as a person or even as a player.”

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