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Ammerman’s Spuds seek to defend title
The last Class AA boys hockey program to win back-to-back state titles was Edina in 2013 and 2014.
Prior to the Hornets winning consecutive titles you need to go back two-plus decades to when Bloomington Jefferson won three straight from 1992-1994.
The Jaguars beat Moorhead in two of those state championship games (1992 and 1994) and the Spuds also lost the championship game to Duluth East in 1995 for three championship game losses in four years.
Moorhead’s number of losses in the title game would reach eight before the Spuds broke through last year, outscoring Stillwater Area 7-6 in the finals.
Former Windom Area coach Jon Ammerman has Moorhead back in the state tournament looking for a second straight title. The second-seeded Spuds face seventh-seeded Lakeville South at 6 p.m. Thursday at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul.
Ammerman is a 2005 Moorhead High School graduate. He played college hockey at St. Cloud State and earned All-WCHA academic honors before graduating in 2011.
He got a teaching job and coaching in Windom. He was head coach of the Eagles for two seasons and his teams were 11-8-1 in his first season and 13-10 in the second.
One of the players on those teams was current Eagle head coach Travis Janssen.
Last year’s championship came in Moorhead’s 21st state tournament appearance and Ammerman was named the Class AA Coach of the Year by the Minnesota Hockey Coaches Association.
According to thecoachessitelive.com, Ammerman talked about how the Spuds rid themselves of the “elephant in the room” on its way to winning the program’s first title when he was a featured speaker at a coaching conference conducted by that organization.
“Year in and year out we made it there, and we could never get over the hump,” said Ammerman. “Obviously that was something that was brought up and pretty real in our world.”
Ammerman said he and other leaders in Moorhead’s hockey community knew that many of the fundamental pieces required for a championship program were already in place,
They asked themselves simple questions such as “What do we currently offer?” and “What changes should we make?”
The program has made several changes in recent years.
Moorhead redesigned several of their off existing offseason programs, while also to the offerings. Additions included a human performance class, an off-ice shooting room that doubles as a hangout space, enhanced video resources and a nutrition program.
This year’s Spuds have two Mr. Hockey finalists.
Tyden Bergeson has 27 goals and 48 for 75 points and Brandon Mickelson’s numbers are 21-38-59.
Junior Zac Zimmerman (23-37-60) and sophomore Joey Cullen (17-20-37) are also standouts.
Cullen’s father is United States Hockey Hall of Famer Matt Cullen, who played 21 seasons in the NHL and was on three Stanley Cup winning teams. He operates the Cullen Force Academy in Fargo and is an assistant coach with the Spuds.
