Red Lake Falls’ 4-1 victory over Thief River Falls on Feb. 9 is believed to be the Eagles’ first over the Prowlers in a series that dates to the 1955-56 season, Red Lake Falls’ first as a varsity program.
The historic triumph was a big deal in and around Red Lake Falls, a northwestern Minnesota town with a population of about 1,300. Red Lake Falls coach Trevor Page, an Eagles alum, was bombarded with congratulatory text messages within minutes of a victory that's sure to ignite even more interest in the town’s thriving youth hockey program.
Red Lake Falls, which has just 15 players in the program, is powered by the forward unit of brothers Evan and Gavin Girdler, who are tied for second in the state in scoring with 86 points. Blake Breiland (49 points) completes what is one of the state’s most prolific scoring trios.
The win over Thief River Falls (9-15-1) wasn’t enough to push Red Lake Falls (16-9-0) above the Prowlers in the coaches’ seeding vote, as Thief River Falls came in at No. 4 to Red Lake Falls’ No. 5 to set up one of the state’s most intriguing quarterfinals.
Losing seasons are rare in Thief River Falls, which hasn’t finished a season below .500 since 2016-17 and, before that, 2007-08. The Prowlers, who reached the section title game last season, have lost six straight entering the playoffs.
Junior Max Arlt leads Thief River Falls with 21 goals and 37 points. Junior Braydin Lund (28 points) and senior Tysen Loeffler (27 points) are two more capable scorers. Junior defenseman Jace Erickson has nine goals among his 17 points. No other Prowlers player has more than five goals.