Howie's Sports Notebook, Tuesday

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Class 1A, No. 1-ranked Hermantown ran into a buzzsaw against 2A, No. 7-ranked Rosemount on Friday night, and lost 4-1 while getting out-shot 42-20. “Rosemount is exceptionally good in their end, especially on the breakout and they are very hard to establish a forecheck on,” said Hawks coach Patrick Andrews. “We weren’t great on Friday, but much of that had to do with them. There is a reason why they are undefeated (10-0-0). We had one excellent push in the period, earned a power play from it and converted on a beautiful passing play from River (Freeman) to Ford (Skytta). But other than that, we were outplayed.”

Hermantown (5-2-2) will host 1A, No. 7 Delano (5-2-0) on Thursday before traveling to 2A, unranked White Bear Lake (6-2-1) Saturday.

“We have two great tests this week after Christmas,” said Andrews. “Delano is a big test for us. They have a nice team – you could see it last year – but they were young. Now they have matured and will push us from start to finish.

“White Bear is a perennial power and is always fun. They got us last year so it would be fun to return the favor at their barn this year. All in all, we want to keep moving in the right direction and improving. Both games this week are another opportunity to do just that. We are still playing with lines combinations and matchups, so hopefully as we turn the calendar to 2025 we get a bit more consistency and cohesion as we establish an identity as a team.”