Like father, like son: Edina goalie brings championship full circle
You couldn’t even cut the tension with a chainsaw Saturday night during a frenzied finish to fantastic high school hockey game, but there was Edina goaltender Joe Bertram, smiling like a split watermelon whenever he snuck a glance at the latest flurry on the giant videoboard.
The senior scene stealer looked like he was playing drop-in at hometown Braemar Arena, not stealing hope from Chanhassen in the Class 2A boys’ high school state championship game at Xcel Energy Center.
Bertram was brilliant throughout a 33-save performance, and never more so than the final four minutes, with the Hornets clinging to a one-goal lead and the Storm thundering the net with wave after wave of pressure.
Chanhassen, the tournament rookies and darlings who had slain defending champion Minnetonka last week in the Section 2 final, tilted the ice and buzzed Bertram relentlessly in a desperate attempt to force overtime.
Whistle after whistle, Bertram could be seen grinning ear-to-ear behind his mask, more self-aware of the moment than he was self-effacing.
“Yeah, I was feeling some tension,” Bertram allowed. “In those moments, you’ve just got to talk to yourself and say, ‘you’ve been here before, it’s just like another game you’ve played at Braemar.’
“You just feed off the crowd. It’s fun to see yourself up there.”
Not nearly as fun as the yard sale and dogpile that followed the final horn as Edina wrapped a bow around its 14th state championship with a 2-1 victory.
It took 45 minutes for the medals to be hung, the team pictures to be snapped, the selfies to be taken, before Bertram’s coach, former Wild goaltender and fellow southpaw Josh Harding, was the first to exit the ice.
“Holy moly! I can’t believe this,” Harding yelped to anyone within earshot.
It was a crowning moment for Harding and Bertram, who watched from the bench last season as Minnetonka vanquished Edina in the state title game by the identical 2-1 score.
For the rest of his life, Bertram doesn’t have to listen to his father, Matt, and his bragging rights. In 1988, Matt Bertram finished a three-year career as the Hornets’ starting goalie by backstopping them to a 5-3 win over Hill-Murray in the championship game, giving legendary coach Willard Ikola his final state title.
“He’s always had that one up on me, now I’m right there with him,” Joe Bertram said.
Bertram’s resume this season included yielding just one goal in a 1-1 tie with Minnetonka and a 4-1 victory over second-ranked Wayzata – stopping 65 of 67 shots.
His only blemish Saturday was a first-period goal off a deflection by Chanhassen’s Tyler Smith. Meanwhile, Bobby Cowan’s power-play goal 10 minutes into the third period was the difference maker for Edina, which finished 26-4-1.
“I’m glad (the puck) looked like a beach ball to him, because it looked like a peanut to me,” said Edina coach Curt Giles.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for Chanhassen (25-6), which was trying to become the first team to win its state tournament debut since Centennial 20 years ago.
The Storm’s first state tournament was also the last for television analyst Lou Nanne, who was honored on ice before the game for his 60 years in the booth and later showered with “Looouuu!” chants during a timeout in the third period.
Nanne, whose son and two grandsons played for the Hornets, was the first person to greet Giles in the runway following the trophy ceremony.
The former North Stars general manager and player shared a warm embrace, putting another bow on another magical state tournament.
A record 20,346 attended Saturday’s third-place and championship games, part of a record attendance of 140,422 over the four days of Class 1A and 2A.
More than 20,000 fans packed Xcel Energy Center for the state championship games on Saturday, March 9, 2024.
