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Hermantown (16-5-4) is the No. 2 seed in the Section 7A high school boys hockey tournament and will open postseason play at NorthStar Ford Arena Monday at 6 p.m. against No. 7 North Shore (6-15-1).
Quarterfinal games will be played at the higher seed, with the semifinals scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 21 at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth. The section championship game is set for Feb. 25 at AMSOIL.
The Hawks enter the tournament behind top-seeded Hibbing-Chisholm (20-2-2), the defending section champion. The Bluejackets will face the winner of the Saturday's play-in game between No. 8 Ely (7-14-0) and No. 9 Moose Lake (1-21-0).
On Hermantown’s side of the bracket, No. 3 Cloquet (13-12-0) hosts No. 6 Greenway (12-12-0) in the other quarterfinal. The winner of that game will advance to face Hermantown in the semifinals if the higher seeds advance.
In the top half of the bracket, No. 4 Proctor (11-12-1) hosts No. 5 International Falls (21-1-2). The winner is scheduled to meet Hibbing-Chisholm in the semifinals.
Hermantown is seeking a return to the section championship game after falling short of a state tournament berth last season. The Hawks have reached the Section 7A final multiple times in recent years and enter the postseason with 16 victories against a competitive schedule. Hermantown was 0-3-1 in its final four regular season games.
The Hawks led by senior forward Ford Skytta, a team captain and four-year varsity player, senior goaltender Bryce Francisco and freshman defenseman Nickolai Zhokov. Junior forwards Beau Christy and Mick Martalock tied for the team scoring lead with 38 points.
Hermantown was fourth in the Lake Superior Conference at 4-2-1 with nine points. Hibbing-Chisholm 6-1-1 first with 13 points, followed by Grand Rapids and Duluth Marshall with 10 points each.
The Hawks defeated the Bluestreaks 2-1 in their only meeting on January 13 in Hermantown.
