Warroad, the hockey-mad small town 7 miles south of the Canadian border, offers skating opportunities day and night. But Jay Hardwick, head coach of the Warriors boys, has found that time away from the rink brings benefits.
Still, bucking his own experience as a Warroad player felt strange to Hardwick, a 1998 graduate. In his day, hockey problems were solved through more skating. A less-is-more approach took some adjustment.
No point in arguing the results. Warroad (27-0-1) begins Class 1A state tournament play against St. Cloud Cathedral (16-12) at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Xcel Energy Center. The Warriors are the No. 1 seed and hope to better last season's runner-up finish.
"It's taken me a while to grow into that," said Hardwick, 43. "But it can be counterproductive to try and do too much. So we give them a day off and say, 'Let's get back after it tomorrow.' "
Hardwick's evolution owes to the example set by his former Warroad coach Cary Eades. A study in intensity, the 6-2, mustachioed Eades is a cowboy hat away from resembling an Earp brother. Stern and authoritative, Eades led the Warriors to seven Class 1A state tournaments and three championships from 1994 to 2004. Hardwick was a defenseman on the 1996 state championship squad.
Years later, home from Minnesota Duluth for an alumni practice during the Christmas season, Hardwick noticed a different side to his former coach.
"He asked, 'What do you think?' and I was like, 'What happened to the old Coach Eades?' " Hardwick said. "I couldn't believe it. But it's like he told me that day, 'You've got to adapt and stay current.' "
Eades worked behind the Warroad bench for 11 seasons. Hardwick reached the same milestone this winter. In the past month, Hardwick and his coaching staff gave players extra days off and encouraged them to rest, hydrate and eat nourishing meals.
"This time of year, you're not going to reinvent the wheel," Hardwick said. "I used to want to go longer at practice because I was worried I was missing something. But my assistant coaches have pushed me to make some practices shorter, or even give the boys a day off."
To reciprocate, Warroad's players haven't taken a game off.
Signature victories this season included a 3-1 defeat of visiting Hermantown that ended the Hawks' ridiculous unbeaten streak of 103 regular-season games against Class 1A opponents dating to 2013. Six days later, Warroad blanked Wayzata, then the No. 1 team in Class 2A, by a 3-0 score.
"If any of our kids weren't believers going into that Wayzata game," Hardwick said, "they were when we won."
On the final leg of the regular season, Warroad faced five games in six days, including back-to-back days against Section 8 rival East Grand Forks, and won them all.
Even an unexpected 1-1 tie at Sartell-St. Stephen, while a frustrating way to end the regular season, didn't overly concern Hardwick.
"I was still proud of their effort," he said.
Hardwick knows finishing an undefeated season with Warroad's first state title since 2005 carries its own motivation — and pressure. A greater quantity of practices changes nothing, so long as the quality doesn't suffer. Hardwick ensures his teams' efforts are of a championship level.
"If we're not skating or we're not as sharp as they should be, I'll remind them of that," Hardwick said. "Once we got into the playoffs, I told them, 'Nobody is going to care you were undefeated all season if we lose one of these next few games.
"Everyone wants to go undefeated. But when you keep winning, the talk starts building. Our kids feel some pressure to not lose, but it's been fun."
