“The city of Duluth embraced this team when they were the Duluth Harbor Monsters. Going to all these games — for me to take that away from them would have been selfish.” -- New Minnesota Monsters owner Jacob Lambert
Hermantown delivered a three-sport statement Friday night, with the Hawks’ boys hockey, boys basketball and girls basketball teams all turning in convincing wins.
Duluth has always supported teams that show up honestly and invest consistently. The formula hasn’t changed. Don’t overpromise. Don’t disappear when things get hard. Build something people can recognize as theirs. When that happens, this city responds — not with blind loyalty, but with earned trust.
Leadership has mattered during the uneven stretches. Senior captains Bailey Hermanson and Aurora Decker have been the stabilizers — not just when the Hawks are rolling, but when they’re searching.
Denfeld had seen this movie before. Hermantown coach Patrick Andrews reminded his team before the Lake Superior Conference game that the Heritage Center has been tricky for his team in recent years — ties, slow starts, even a three-goal hole a season ago. This time, there was no messing around.
Four-time Minnesota Class A boys hockey state champion Hermantown closed a demanding stretch of its schedule with its most complete performance Saturday night,
Ham will show up somewhere that needs someone dependable, respected, and comfortable doing the hard work without applause. Which, if we’re being honest, means he’ll still fit right in around here.
This is a bet that Hughes ages cleanly, that his body cooperates, that the cap continues to rise, and that the surrounding cast can be managed without suffocation. It’s a bet that Minnesota can finally pull off the superstar contract that doesn’t end in regret.
With Derrizett Croop coaching both offensive and defensive fronts, Minnesota also gains a unified voice — consistent technique standards, shared terminology and a system built around player development rather than roster churn.
Stability is the real product. If teams stay in their markets, if players get paid on time, if the community sees the league year after year, the perception changes. But you can’t fix 30 years of history overnight.