Red Wing forward Reagan Haley was glued to her TV by 6:30 a.m., on Feb. 12, the first time Team USA faced Canada’s women’s hockey team in Sochi. She can’t wait to watch Thursday at 11 a.m., when the teams meet again, this time for the gold medal.

Red Wing coach Scott Haley said his team, which next plays on Friday, will gather over bagels in St. Paul to see if Team USA can avenge last week’s 3-2 loss to Canada.

“Those are our biggest heroes on that ice,” Haley said. “Growing up watching them, it’s so cool how many of them come from the WCHA. We get to watch them in our back yard all these years.”

Blake coach Shawn Reid said his players will be back in school Thursday.

“Hopefully I can catch some of it over lunch,” said Blake sophomore Carly Bullock, who received instruction from U.S. Olympians Julie Chu and Josephine Pucci at camps last summer. “I hope Team USA can pull it out.”

New Ulm goalie shuffle

New Ulm senior goaltender Julia Schaefer was in goal when the Eagles defeated Luverne 2-1 in the Section 3A Final. But sophomore Bailey Landreville was the only goaltender in uniform for Wednesday’s 7-2 loss to Red Wing.

“We had switched off throughout the year [between Schaefer and Landreville], and then we had some Minnesota State High School violations, so we went with Bailey today,” New Ulm coac Kristin Faber said. “I thought Bailey did a phenomenal job in net, and she kept the score close, I think.”

Blake misses Lund

Blake’s second-leading scorer, junior Karlie Lund (22 goals, 33 assists), suffered a broken collarbone before the state tournament and has to watch from the bench.

“We’re going to try to win this for her,” said Carly Bullock, who leads the Bears with 62 points.

Following their fathers

While the East Grand Forks girls’ hockey team made history with its first state tournament appearance, several players have fathers who can boast notable hockey accomplishments.

Jason Mack, father of Alexa and Haley, won as a Division II national championship with Bemidji State. Alexa and Haley have more than 100 combined points. Cary Eades and Scott Koberinski both won NCAA titles with North Dakota. Their daughters, Erica Eades and Riley Koberinski, have combined for 43 goals this season.

“Our dads told us to live it up,” sophomore forward Haley Mack said of the state tournament experience. “They said, ‘We wish that we could be there.’”