It’s Tournament Time
It’s tournament time and that’s always an eventful time in Warroad.
Warroad High School Boys Basketball had an impressive season, with a record of 15-2 going into the section tournament. Though they did not advance on to state, four of their players were named to the All-Conference team, and their coach, Vichita Ounchith, was named the 2021 Northwest Conference Coach of the Year.
The Warroad High School Boys Hockey team has had an impressive 13 appearances at the state tournament since 1994. This year they were the number-one seed with a record of 13-4-2, but they narrowly missed their chance at going back to state with a 5-4 loss in double overtime in the section final. Their future is bright though, with this year’s Bantam team winning second place at the state tournament.
The Warroad High School Girls Hockey team is down at the state tournament now, for the sixth consecutive year. Having a 10-0 shutout in the quarterfinal game, they will compete in the semifinals on Thursday, April 1. This year, forward Genevieve Hendrickson is the tenth young woman from Warroad to be in the running for the Ms. Hockey Award, with the title going to a Warrior in 2011 and in 2005, when Gigi Marvin was the first to claim this honor for Warroad.
Gigi would advance to play Division I with the Minnesota Gophers, scoring a career 195 points, and go on to win three Olympic medals with Team USA. She continues to play and coach today, and she has now added MN Wild Broadcaster to her resume.
GIGI MARVIN
Gigi is just one of the hockey prodigies of Warroad. Her grandfather, Cal Marvin, was a driving force in promoting the sport of hockey—as a coach (1958) and manager (1965) of the US National Team, a member of the US Hockey Hall of Fame, and the person credited with starting the hockey program at University of North Dakota. His passion for the sport was rooted in Warroad, and his desire to make Warroad Hockeytown USA® earned him the title “Mr. Hockey.” He organized the Warroad Arena Fund to build the first indoor arena in Warroad in 1949. He also created the Warroad Lakers, dubbed the best senior amateur hockey team in North America, and played a central role in their success for 50 years.
Warroad Hockey entered the Olympic scene with Dan McKinnon and Gordon Christian earning silver medals in the 1956 Olympics. In 1960, Gordon’s two brothers, Roger and Bill, brought home gold medals. They would return to the Olympics in 1964, and Bill’s son Dave would bring home gold in the 1980 Miracle on Ice. The Christian family legacy is carried on today with Brock Nelson, grandson of Bill, who plays for the New York Islanders.
Henry Boucha is another Warroad hockey legend—going from a high school state championship in 1969, to junior hockey, and then drafted into the NHL in 1971. A year later, he would earn an Olympic silver medal in the games in Sapporo, Japan. After playing in nearly 250 NHL games, an eye injury from a hit to the head cut his career short and he retired at the age of 25. Like the Christian family, hockey is rooted in this family tree, with TJ Oshie, Henry’s second cousin, currently playing for the Washington Capitals. After winning the Stanley Cup in 2018, TJ brought it home to Warroad. TJ also scored the iconic game-winning goal in the shoot-out against Russia in the 2014 Olympics.
Beyond all the Olympians and professional-level athletes, Warroad’s hockey program has produced an impressive number of collegiate athletes, and that success is credited to the philosophy of the program: Come Early, Stay Late, Skate Every Day. Unlimited free ice time leads to unlimited potential here in Hockeytown USA®.
HOCKEYTOWN USA®
