Section 6-1A: Unbeaten LF taking nothing for granted
Tony Couture isn't sold that a section title is in his team's future.
The head coach of the Little Falls Flyers boys' hockey team, the last remaining unbeaten team in the state, said the Section 6-1A title is up for grabs.
The top-seeded Flyers (25-0-0) open section play against eighth-seeded Prairie Centre (9-15-1) 7 p.m. Tuesday in Little Falls.
The winner of that game will face the No. 4 Fergus Falls/No. 5 St. Cloud Apollo winner Saturday.
"Nobody cares how many games you've won during the regular season," said Couture. "I do know having played in the state tournament and being section champions with all these seniors that does help us. These guys have been to state. They know that feeling and want to get back."
Couture's biggest concern will come in the section final were they could face either Alexandria and the section's top goalie, Matt Hemingway, or the upstart Sartell Sabres, who are enjoying the program's best season (17-7-1).
Section 6, Class 1A
Regular season standings
Team Section Overall
Little Falls 11-0-0 25-0-0
Alexandria 5-2-1 20-4-1
Sartell 5-3-1 17-7-1
Morris/Benson 2-1-0 11-10-1
Wadena-Deer Creek 4-4-0 12-12-1
Prairie Centre 3-4-0 9-15-1
Fergus Falls 4-7-0 8-15-1
Detroit Lakes 1-7-0 7-19-0
St. Cloud Apollo 1-8-0 4-19-2
Little Falls defeated Alexandria 4-3 in Little Falls and 1-0 at Alexandria and posted 4-3 and 7-2 victories over the Sabres.
With the media circus surrounding Flyers' senior captain Ben Hanowski's quest for the state scoring title now over, Little Falls can concentrate on getting better.
"We've been inconsistent like everyone else," said Couture. "We've had bad periods, bad shifts. As of late we've played pretty well, but we haven't put together three good periods.
"I'm never satisfied. You can always find something that you're not doing very well and try to improve upon that."
Scoring goals hasn't been a problem. Little Falls has scored 176 goals and outscored opponents by an average of 7.0-1.5.
Hanowski leads the way with 110 points (57 goals-53 assists). Riley Hirsch has 55 points (25-30) followed by Izaak Berglund 53 (16-37), Wesley Waytashek 48 (19-29) and Ben Nelson 44 (20-24).
Couture's concern is defense. He said because the Flyers have scored so much, they haven't had to worry about their defense.
"We haven't played in our zone a whole lot," he said. "We need to play better defense in our zone if we're going to make it to state. It's not just our goalie and defensemen, but all five guys on the ice.
"Our defense has played well, but we still need to improve if we want to make it to state."
Flyers goalie Michael Sperl owns a .931 save percentage and 1.5 goals against average. The Flyers' four-man defensive rotation includes seniors Berglund, Logan Kalis, Jordan Gosiak and Joe Rydeen.
"I asked one of our players about the playoffs and he said, 'We're ready,'" said Couture. "That's a good sign when you ask and they give you the right answer."
Wadena-Deer Creek (12-12-1) picked up the No. 7 seed and will face Alexandria, while No. 3 Sartell hosts No. 6 Morris-Benson.
Section 6, Class 1A
Leading scorers
Name Goals Points
Ben Hanowski, LF 57 110
Riley Hirsch, LF 25 55
Peter Lindblad, M-B 35 55
Izaak Berglund, LF 16 53
Trevor Ness, WDC 33 53
Tanner Lane, DL 24 49
Wesley Waytashek, LF 19 48
Ben Nelson, LF 20 44
Lucas Gervais, FF 17 44
Dustin Christen, SCA 25 43
Andy Worzala, Sar 17 43
Power play goals
Name Total
Ben Hanowski, LF 9
Dustin Christen, SCA 9
Steve Theis, SCA 9
Riley Hirsch, LF 8
Tyler Resch, Alex 8
Shorthanded goals
Name Total
Ben Hanowski, LF 8
Wesley Waytashek, LF 4
Ben Nelson, LF 3
Matt Nahan, Sar 3
Peter Lindblad, MB 3
Brandon Wing, WDC 3
Leading goalies
Name GA avg. Save %
Matt Hemingway, Alex 1.4 93.7
Michael Sperl, LF 1.5 93.1
Tyler Muehler, WDC 3.1 90.9
Minutes played
Name Total
Michael Sperl, LF 1280.11
Matt Hemingway, Alex 1229.54
Brent Orndorff, Sar 1216.59
Shutouts
Name Total
Michael Sperl, LF 9
Matt Hemingway, Alex 4
Brent Orndorff, Sar 2
JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5856.