Greenway's 2-1 win over Hibbing-Chisholm in the Section 7A boys hockey semifinals on Saturday night was more than a season-saving victory against a longtime rival.
It was a testament to the Raiders' perseverance.
They've been through the ringer this winter - turbulence on the ice, tragedy off it.
On Jan. 10, they dealt with the death of a classmate. Sierra Matthews, a 16-year-old Greenway junior, was killed in a car crash with an Itasca County sheriff's deputy that morning when the vehicle she was driving slid across an icy U.S. Hwy 169 and into oncoming traffic. The sheriff's deputy, whose emergency lights were activated, was responding to a call.
About a month later, the Raiders' Wesley Johnson was sidelined when he was struck from behind by a car while getting out of his truck before school. The freak accident occurred in mid-February and cost Johnson, a junior forward who had six goals and eight assists, the remainder of his season.
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He continues to recover from a knee injury, but, as senior Grant Troumbly said, "It could have been way worse."
Troumbly was speaking from just outside the Raiders' locker room at Amsoil Arena on Saturday. On his right foot was a small, black brace - the result of a broken fibula suffered during a late-December practice when an errant shot drilled him just above the skate.
The forward, who tallied 57 points as a junior, missed more than a month. Losing his offensive production hurt, of course, but Troumbly's value goes beyond goals and assists. He's a glue guy, a locker-room leader.
"Guys lean on him," Greenway coach Grant Clafton said.
Troumbly's return coincided with an ugly 6-0 shutout loss to Breck, the Raiders' third straight setback. They would lose four of five before steadying the ship. Greenway (18-7-1) since has won six straight, and streaks into tonight's Section 7A final against Goliath Hermantown (25-1-1).
Few outside of Coleraine will give the Raiders a chance against an opponent that hasn't lost to a Class A team outside of the state tournament in more than four years, especially considering they were rocked by the Hawks 11-2 on Jan. 3. But this is a group that believes in itself - the product, perhaps, of having endured so much adversity.
They haven't come through it unscathed. But they have come through it standing up. And now Greenway is in its first section championship affair since 2001.
"Hockey is a great sport because there are a lot of life lessons that you can learn here," Clafton said. "There are a lot of growing pains along the way. It's learning that if you overcome adversity and you keep your head, you can accomplish a lot of things."
It wasn't always easy, senior Taylor Lantz said. After Matthews' death, for example, Lantz said he had a difficult time focusing on hockey.
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"It was a rollercoaster the whole year, but everyone's pulled together, everyone's stuck together," Lantz said.
That, Troumbly said, made Saturday's win over Hibbing-Chisholm even sweeter. Hockey can't bring back a classmate, but it can provide a brief diversion.
"It feels good to win for our community," he said that night, not long after notching the game-winner on a beautiful give-and-go with Lantz in the third period.
The Raiders, who were forced to reschedule five games, played seven times in 12 days to close the regular season. The busy stretch could have resulted in tired legs and sub-par hockey. Instead, Greenway is peaking.
The Raiders will need to be at their absolute best tonight. Hermantown has a way of turning even the smallest mistake into a goal. Things can get out of hand in a hurry. Greenway has witnessed that firsthand.
Saturday, Clafton said the Raiders were ready to "take a shot at it," regardless of popular opinion. He then invoked America's all-time greatest underdog, the 1980 Miracle on Ice team.
"I've been using this all night and I think guys are getting tired of hearing it, but 37 years ago everybody bet on Russia," Clafton said. "How'd that work out?"
Down the hall, Troumbly uttered a sentence that would have made Herb Brooks beam.
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"It's our time," Troumbly said.
GREENWAY (18-7-1) VS. HERMANTOWN (25-1-1)
- What: Section 7A title game
- When: 7:30 p.m. today
- Where: Amsoil Arena
- TV: WDIO Ch. 10
- Radio: WKLK-FM 96.5
