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Howie: Clark building Monsters to make a deep run in the AF1

A veteran emphasis may define the Monsters’ identity more than anything else. Clark said he deliberately avoided inexperienced arena players, opting instead to load camp with proven winners. At least 16 players on the current roster, he said, have won arena championships.

4-minute read
Sports

Howie: Bulldogs fighting for home ice in the playoffs

Home ice is there for the taking. The Bulldogs will either take points from Denver, survive North Dakota, and handle their business against Miami and Colorado College — or they’ll finish fifth, look back at a missed weekend or two, and tell themselves they were close.

4-minute read
Sports

Plante brothers, Hanson on Hobey Baker fan ballot

For Hermantown, the impact is already unmistakable. A high school program in northern Minnesota placed three of its own among the nation’s best college hockey players — simultaneously, on the sport’s biggest individual stage — reinforcing a legacy that now stretches far beyond state lines.

3-minute read
Sports

Howie on local prep hockey

I’m not handing Hermantown a boys hockey state trophy in January. I’ve been around too long for that. But when the Section 7A tournament begins and the pressure turns real, I know who I’m riding with. I’ve seen this movie before. It usually ends with everyone else wondering how they missed it.

5-minute read
Sports

Howie: Bulldogs, Prep Hockey Notebook

UMD men's hockey is surrounding its future core with the kind of balance you rarely see in a single signing haul: scoring up front, size and skating on the back end, and a top-flight goaltender to anchor the whole operation.

7-minute read
Sports

Howie: Northstar Ford Arena opens January 3

For the broader community, Northstar Ford Arena is a gathering place — the kind that small towns understand better than anyone. Rinks aren’t just buildings here. They’re living rooms. Story banks. Time machines. They hold memories whether they’re supposed to or not.

3-minute read