Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1212390
26 M H J ON L I N E . C O M | M A R C H 2 0 2 0 Photos / Mike Thill, Scott A. Schneider, USA Hockey Magazine Ties to Warroad's fabulous 1969 state runner-up team were numerous. Senior wing Kyle Krahn, sophomore center Aaron Marvin, and junior defenseman J. P. Boucha all had famous fathers (Frank Krahn, Mike Marvin, and Henry Boucha) who played starring roles for the 1969 Warriors squad that lost the one-class state title game in overtime to Edina. Senior defenseman and co-captain Kyle Hardwick was the grandson of Dick Roberts, Warroad's coach in 1969 and, before that, a star Warriors player in his own right in the years (early to mid-1940s) just before the founding of the state tournament. Oshie came from hockey blood, too. His great-uncle Max Oshie led Warroad to the 1948 state title game as a senior and is best known for scoring what is believed to be a single-game state record 12 goals in a January 6, 1948, matchup against Thief River Falls. Oshie's grandfather, Alvin "Buster" Oshie, was another stand - out player for Warroad in the late 1940s. Those family ties, along with years of incessant coaxing from Henry Boucha, T. J.'s second cousin, led to Oshie finally moving with his father from Everett, Washington, to Warroad for his sophomore season. "Instantly, I fell in love with the town, fell in love with the guys," Oshie said. "Back in Washington, in the ninth grade, I was the only kid in the school of twelve hundred kids who not only played hockey but probably who knew how to skate. I was spending three hours, minimum, in the car each day just getting back and forth from practice. "It was a really cool thing in Warroad, having all the ice you wanted for free." Hasbargen managed Warroad's hockey arena, which was built in 1993 for $3.5 million, has 1,454 theater-style seats (a capacity nearly equaling the northern Minnesota town's pop - ulation of about 1,700), and is named the Gardens. As the high school coach and rink manager, it was easy for Hasbargen to monitor Oshie's daily activities, since it might have been a tossup who spent more time at the arena. "He was at the rink all the time; he just loved the sport," Hasbargen said. "In fact, there were a lot of times when he would be at the rink when he wasn't supposed to be at the rink." Hasbargen said it wasn't uncommon for him to open the building in the morn - ing and see the ice, which he had left in pristine condition after resurfacing it and locking up for the night, all carved up. "I don't know how he was getting in there, but I knew somebody was letting him in there," Hasbargen said. Said Oshie: "We might have had a key we weren't supposed to have." Warroad's superb class of seniors tasted suc - cess at every level. As Bantams, they played in both the VFW and Minnesota Hockey state tournaments, a rare achievement for even the largest of Minnesota's youth pro- grams. The arrival of Oshie only bolstered an already winning lineup, and the Warriors won the state Class 1A championship in 2003 with several of its eight sophomores making heavy contributions (Oshie was named to the all-tournament team). TOURNEY TIME: STORIES FROM THE MINNESOTA BOYS STATE HOCKEY TOURNAMENT BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! 2005 STATE TOURNEY Dates: March 2-5 Location: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul Attendance: 123,809 Class 2A Championship: Holy Angels 6, Moorhead 4 Class 1A Championship: Warroad 4, Totino Grace 2 (2OT)