WADENA, Minn. – One of the best-kept secrets in Minnesota high school hockey lies in a small town of 4,300 people.
The Wadena-Deer Creek boys hockey team is 8-3 and in the thick of it in the Section 6A standings. It's a senior-heavy team led by a trio of veteran forwards who account for over half of their team's scoring.
Cole Woods, Connor Davis and Aron Sutherland have given Section 6A and Mid-State Conference opponents fits for over two years. This season, WDC's top line has combined for 35 goals and 41 assists, which is over 52% of the Wolverines' total scoring.
"It's just fun to be out there with these guys," Woods said. "We find each other a lot out there. We move the puck around a lot, and it spreads out the whole ice. There are a lot of lanes out there when we're on the ice, and we've been finishing goals well too."
This isn't a new trend for the Wolverines. WDC’s top line combined for 56 goals and 65 assists for 50% of WDC's total offense. Over the last two seasons, Woods (33G, 44A), Davis (33G, 29A) and Sutherland (26G, 33A) have 197 points in 37 games.
ADVERTISEMENT
"It starts with the senior core we have," Sutherland said. "We have a lot of chemistry, having played together for so many years now. Everything feels like it comes easy sometimes with how much chemistry we have out there."
Having a few standout players on a small-town team isn't new or surprising to statewide hockey fans. For WDC, a program that's made it to state only once in program history, the two-year emergence of one of the state's most lethal trios presents an opportunity that used to be seen as far-fetched.
Two years ago, the Wolverines were bottom feeders in Section 6A. Teams like St. Cloud Cathedral, Alexandria and Little Falls were Xcel Energy Center regulars for the Class A state boys hockey tournament. Teams like Sartell-St. Stephen and Fergus Falls threatened as dark horses from time to time.
Simply put, there wasn't much room for the Wolverines to break through.
Before the 2021-22 season, the Minnesota State High School League had a statewide section shake-up. One could argue no section altered more than 6A for boys hockey.
St. Cloud Cathedral and Little Falls were pushed to Section 5A, while Sartell-St. Stephen made the leap to Class AA. Northern Lakes moved into Section 6A after making the state tournament for the first time in program history a year earlier. What was once seen as a central Minnesota hub of perennial powerhouses became an opportunity ripe for the taking.
Alexandria and Fergus Falls were head and shoulders above the rest of the competition at the end of last season, culminating in a thrilling Section 6A championship win for the Cardinals. However, this year is shaping up to look much different. Alexandria is 1-8 through nine games, while Fergus Falls (6-3-1) and Northern Lakes (4-4) have been up and down through the first half of the season.
"We've seen it. It's hard not to see it," WDC head coach Scott Woods said. "The kids do believe, and they know better than anybody that in the playoffs, you can be one-and-done. We're good enough to compete with any of those teams if we play a good, solid game all the way through."
ADVERTISEMENT
In steps WDC, who is off to an 8-3 start with a quality win over Little Falls in its back pocket. Led by their top line, the Wolverines have as good of a shot as they've had in decades to make a run.
"It definitely adds some type of pressure, seeing where everybody is at," Sutherland said. "But it also motivates us a lot. Knowing the section is wide open like this, it's hard not to think about your chances at making a run."
The Wolverines have had a handful of winning seasons since their lone section championship in 2004. However, in recent years, they've failed to get over the hump of getting out of the first round. Even last year against a weaker first-round opponent in Morris-Benson Area, WDC fell a game short of a trip to St. Cloud's Municipal Athletic Complex for the section semifinals.
"We should've been there last year, and we weren't," Cole Woods said. "We're going to prove that we're good enough to go there this year."
Several WDC players made the trip to the MAC to see what they were missing.
"I can't even imagine what it's like to play at the MAC in a playoff game because we've never done it," Davis said. "Going there and watching it, wishing you were on the ice experiencing it for yourself; it pushes you. You think about what it's like to skate out there for a section final. It would mean absolutely everything to me."
"I feel like we almost have less pressure that we haven't gotten there before," Davis said. "Nobody thinks we're going to do anything if we get there. We definitely have a chip on our shoulder. We have a lot of things we need to get better at, but it's motivating to know what people think we are and aren't capable of."
While Davis might be right about the pressure being off for the team, it's ramped up for WDC's top line. Opponents have made it a point to hone in on the Wolverines' lethal scorers night in and night out.
ADVERTISEMENT
"We all would agree that it's quite a bit of pressure," Cole Woods said. "If we don't perform, it's really hard for us to get wins. We're the leaders. We know that. If we don't perform, it's hard for our younger guys because they have nothing to follow. But I think all three of us kind of like that responsibility. This is what you want, right?"
The WDC coaching staff has experimented with spreading the wealth in the past but doesn't want to fix what isn't broken.
"Most nights, they're fine," Scott Woods said. "They find ways to score one way or another. The nights they don't score, they get on themselves a little bit. Last year, Cole scored more of the goals, and Aron and Connor had more of the assists. This year, every couple of games, that flips. If they can stay level with that and be unselfish, they'll be fine. We'll keep winning that way."
"Matchups have been a struggle for us in the past," Scott Woods said. "Sometimes we like to put our second or third line on the ice against another team's top line because it creates those opportunities for our best scorers. But if you match top lines, another team's best guys aren't getting as many scoring chances. In our case, they like the challenge."
Only one of the four contenders for the 6A crown will earn a trip to the Xcel Energy Center in March. Whether it's WDC or not, its top line will have a ripple effect for years.
"Boy, I don't know, but it's big," Scott Woods said about his top line's impact on the program. "We've experimented with not having them together. Back when I was here in the 2000s, I had another line that was like that. So many coaches would tell us to split them up, but nobody stopped them. If you're stopping them, then we'll split them up. What those three have done will go a long way. Kids see it and want to come out and be like them and remember them for the plays they made and the consistency they played with."
Woods, Davis and Sutherland agreed the finality of their last season together has begun to set in.
"I've been emotional a couple of times about it," Sutherland said. I want to end this year on a good note, possibly make it to the X. Everybody wants to go to state. It's every kid's dream who plays in Minnesota. We feel like we have a shot. It would be a dream come true."
ADVERTISEMENT
The Trust Project
