Junior forward Grant Besse reached legendary status on Saturday by exploding for all five goals - three of them shorthanded - to spark
Benilde-St. Margaret's (St. Louis Park, Minn.) to the Class 2A state championship with a 5-1 victory over Hill-Murray (Maplewood, Minn.) at the Xcell Energy Center.
David La Vaque of the Minneapolis Star Tribune wrote, "Grant Besse treated Minnesota high school hockey fans to a performance among the greatest ever seen in 68 years of state tournament play ... Each of the five goals was more electrifying than the one before."
Coach Ken Pauly added, "He wrote himself into tournament history."
Besse finished the season with 52 goals to help the Red Knights notch their third state title.
Among the throng of happy spectators was sophomore Jack Jablonski, who suffered a severe spinal cord injury during a Dec. 30 junior varsity game and now is in a wheelchair. His injury drew national headlines and forced a mid-season penalty-structure rule change in Minnesota. He joined his teammates in a locker room celebration after the game.
