Jackson Blake's youth hockey teams in Eden Prairie won a lot of games, just not when the stakes were high.
"We were known for getting second," Blake said.
Big-game troubles followed Blake's peer group into high school. The Eagles took runner-up at the Class 2A state tournaments in 2019 and 2020. No more of that, players vowed.
"We told everyone, 'We're not losing again this year,' " Blake said. "Guys took it seriously."
Blake and his linemates, Carter Batchelder and Drew Holt, backed their words as this season's championship game against Lakeville South extended into double overtime. All three played important roles in the goal that secured a 2-1 victory.
Batchelder gathered the puck at the red line near the team benches, drawing a defender toward him before he sent the puck ahead for Holt.
Entering the Cougars' zone with speed, Holt held possession along the boards for what appeared to be too much time.
"We preach getting pucks to the net in overtime, but Holty had a pretty bad angle," Eagles coach Lee Smith said. "But when he did shoot, he knew to keep it low to try and get some sort of rebound."
Hockey types talk often about puck luck. Eden Prairie received its share on Holt's sharp-angle shot. The puck hit the Lakeville South goaltender's right leg pad and popped straight into the slot. That's an area where many goals are scored, so long as offensive players are willing to pay a price.
"We call that bloody nose alley," Smith said.
Blake couldn't be fazed. Doctors had inserted screws in his broken ankle to keep his junior season going. All along, his instincts never faltered.
"I saw that rebound come out and I saw the defender in front of me, so I just tried to get one quick step away from him," Blake said.
The decision made the difference between a potential blocked shot and a game-winning goal.
The sequence reminded Smith of Eden Prairie's 2011 championship game victory in triple overtime, when a diving Kyle Rau scored on a rebound of brother Curt's shot from the point. Heck, both goals were scored on the same end of the rink.
"They both started out as kind of innocent plays," Smith said. "We teach habits rather than robotics. And if players get in the habit of being around the net, that's where the goals are scored."
Blake later joined the Chicago Steel of the U.S. Hockey League and scored what stood as the game-winning goal in Game 4 of the Clark Cup finals. Once again, Blake scored on a rebound. Scoring for Eden Prairie in double overtime, he said, meant a little more.
"That's the biggest goal," he said. "For sure."
