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The moment I will remember most from Wednesday’s Section 7A Boys Hockey Championship Game, won 3-0 by Virginia/ MI-B over Hibbing/Chisholm, is not the jubilant celebration after back-to-back title wins - though the Blue Devils’ smiles were irrepressible - nor is it the tic-tac-toe power play goal off the stick of senior Trey Carlson - though it was a beautiful thing - but it was the sight of senior goaltender Casey Myhre, after the trophy presentation, on one knee, head bowed in the crease of the cage he defended so brilliantly, giving credit where credit is due.

“That’s what I always do,” said Myhre, who turned aside 23 shots during his clean slate. “I always thank (God), win, loss or tie.”

Myhre knows a hand much larger than his catching glove has been at work in bringing him to this point. At age 7, his hockey career was nearly derailed when he was diagnosed with a hearing impairment, which led him switching to the goaltender position at age 10. He made great progress to the point where he played six games in net for the Virginia/MI-B varsity as a sophomore two seasons ago.

The scoreboard says it all. But a disappointing junior season, during which he played nary a varsity minute between the pipes, left Myhre unsure of his future.

“I honestly didn’t expect to be here after last season,” said Myhre when asked if, before this season, he could have imagined throwing a shutout in the section title game.

“I didn’t really know the reason why I didn’t play, but it made me work my tail off because I wanted to be where (last season’s starting goalie Will Lustig) was last year (leading the Devils to state). And now, here I am.”

Is he ever. Myhre started the season splitting time with junior Andy Millbridge, but as the year wore on, it became evident that Myhre had won the top spot. His numbers after the shutout of the rival Bluejackets? Nothing short of stellar: a 10-3-3 record, a miniscule 1.92 goals against average, and a save percentage of .922. The last two numbers rank in the top 20 in the state.

Two of his four shutouts have come in the playoffs where his numbers are even better: 3-0, 0.60, .968. The burly and bearded Myhre, a lineman in football, is playing the best hockey of his career at the optimum time for the Blue Devils, who are looking for their first-ever win at state in what will be their third trip there. And Myhre’s broad shoulders certainly appear capable of carrying them, combined with his electric play between the posts.

“I feel as if we play the way we played tonight, nobody can beat us,” Myhre said. “(Coach Hendrickson) told us before the game that if we go out and play 51 minutes of Blue Devil hockey tonight, we were going to state. And that’s what we did.”

It nearly was not meant to be. In Saturday’s semifinal rematch with Duluth Marshall, Virginia/MI-B started out slow and dug itself a 2-0 hole at the 5:00 mark of the first period.

“I just told myself that I had to shut the door to give our team a chance to win,” Myhre said.

Myhre not only shut the door, but he also tossed the key down a storm grate. In 34 seconds less than two full games since, Myhre has not allowed a puck to cross his goal line. His performance allowed the Blue Devils to rally past the Hilltoppers for 3-2 overtime win on a thrilling rebound goal by Tom Norlander.

He had a much easier time of it against Hibbing/Chisholm Wednesday. His teammates did not allow a shot on net until the 10:17 mark of the first period as the ice was perilously tilted toward the Bluejackets’ end as the Blue Devils piled on the first 11 shots of the game, including a slap shot off the end wall by senior Jordan Krebsbach, which caromed crazily off the skate of H/C goalie Nathan Tromp into the net for a 1-0 lead.

“If I could, I would want to see the puck earlier in the game, so I can get that first shot behind me and just play,” Myhre said. “But I didn’t want us to come out slow like we did against Marshall.”

There were no worries about that for Virginia/MI-B, which was clearly the superior team early and often in what was the rubber match against Hibbing/Chisholm (both teams won home games in the regular season), déjà vu all over again from a season ago. It didn’t help the Bluejackets when their leading scorer, one of the state’s top 10 goal scorers, senior Ryan Johnson, took a 10-minute checking from behind penalty late in the first period.

Seconds before Johnson was due out of the box, Garrett Hendrickson, the IRC’s leading scorer, notched his 32nd goal of the season on a quick wrister that beat Tromp glove side. And with Johnson back in the box after a hooking call, Carlson buried the dagger , banging home a beautiful crossice feed from Krebsbach.

The Bluejackets put on some pressure early in the third, nearly breaking the ice on the power play, but Marcus Bugliosi found the iron unkind with a shot off the pipe, the closest Hibbing/Chisholm came to beating Myhre all game. Later on a scrum in front of the net, Myhre made a couple of saves and sprawled for the loose puck as the net was knocked off its moorings. The Bluejackets flipped the puck into the askew net after the whistle to no avail. A fired-up Myhre skated to the corner pumping his fist after the play, happy his shutout was still intact. It stayed that way until the final horn with the senior coming up with 13 saves in the final period.

“They rang one off the pipe. That’s when I thought ‘I need to bear down (to get the shutout)’,” Myhre said. “But going in, I never thought about doing it. I just wanted to win.”

After the final horn and the gloves going in the air and the medal presentation, Myhre grabbed the prize, the Section 7A trophy, and let a whoop go that could clearly be heard dozens of feet above the ice in the press box.

“It still hasn’t sunk in yet,” Myhre said. “I honestly can’t (put it into words). I am on top of the world right now.”

Next up for the Blue Devils is a quarterfi nal game at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Wednesday against a yet-to-bedetermined opponent.

“I was there last year and got the overall experience of it,” Myhre said. “I won’t be as nervous playing because I have been on the rink and seen the lights. I’m just really excited, and I think if we play the way we did tonight, we could be playing for the state championship Saturday.”

Quick hits

Hibbing/Chisholm is rapidly becoming the Atlanta Braves of Section 7A boys hockey. Wednesday’s finale was the sixth straight time the Bluejackets have lost in the 7A title tilt. It was the eighth straight appearance for H/C, which won two in a row to start the streak. Three of the losses (2005, 2009, 2010) have come at the hands of the Blue Devils.

The girls basketball playoffs are underway. The boys basketball regular season is wrapping up. I’m not trying to ignore the local hoops scene. Basketball, after all, was my game growing up. But it’s hard to be two places at once, and truth be told, iSports- North has been quite hockey-centric this year. I will try to catch up on roundball in this space next week.

Congrats to Virginia Area’s Bailey Felix and Alex Flannigan, both of whom competed Wednesday in the 2010 State Wrestling Tournament at the Xcel Energy Center.

Virginia will also be well-represented in the 2010 State Swimming and Diving Meet at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center this week. Sophomore Zeke Erickson (100 and 200 freestyle), junior AJ Jayson (200 individual medley, 500 freestyle), senior Austin Merten (100 butterfly), senior Chris Bisping (100 freestyle) and sophomore Dakota Lundstrom (500 freestyle) all qualified for the meet, as did the Blue Devils’ 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams. Hibbing and Grand Rapids are also sending numerous athletes to the meet.