ST. PAUL — Greg Zanon is intimately familiar with the Xcel Energy Center, having played 202 NHL games there as a member of the Minnesota Wild.

He returned to his old haunts on Thursday for the state Class 2A quarterfinals as Stillwater’s head coach. So instead of sitting on the bench, he was standing behind it. And, oh boy, what a difference a few feet make.

“A little different view than what I used to have,” Zanon said with a laugh after the Ponies beat Andover 5-0 to advance to Friday’s semifinals. “I kind of knew what to expect, obviously, with the crowd and all that kind of stuff. 

“But it’s changed a lot since I used to play here. Me and Thomas were making comments, ‘I don’t remember that, I don’t remember that.’ ”

Thomas would be Thomas Vanek, a Stillwater assistant coach and another former NHLer. Vanke, a former University of Minnesota star, played 154 games for the Minnesota Wild. Vanek’s son, Blake, is a 6-foot-4, 206-pound senior and one of the Ponies’ top scorers.

Zanon, in his sixth season as Stillwater’s head coach, has transformed the Ponies into a program built around a relentless, hard-hitting style that sprinkles in as much offensive flair as it can muster (a large dose, as it turns out, this season). Boil it down, though, and the Ponies’ basic playing style is much like Zanon’s from his NHL days as a gritty, hard-hitting, shot-blocking defenseman.

“Let’s not kid ourselves, I wasn’t much of an offensive player in my days playing,” said Zanon, who scored 12 goals in 493 NHL games. “But Thomas, he just brings a different element.”

Vanek was a goal-scoring machine for the Gophers and in the NHL. He as a two-time 40-goal scorer with the Buffalo Sabres and finished his career with 373 goals in 416 games. His addition to the staff has helped nurture the team’s offensive zone skillset.

“Our attack, using our wide ice, the skill stuff that we work on,” Zanon said about Vanek’s area’s of expertise as a coach. “We knew (Andover) was going to clog up the middle and block a lot of shots. He had a drill for the guys trying to find a way to get the puck through. He’s just been a great addition to our team.”

Stillwater scored 164 goals (sixth-most in the state) this season while allowing just 62, evidence that the ying and yang of the playing and thus coaching styles of Zanon and Vanek has blended nicely.

While the Ponies had a slight edge in shots over the Huskies (27-23) on Thursday, they dominated in Grade-A scoring chances.

“Coming into the game we wanted to stick to our game, play physical, get on those guys in our forecheck,” said Brody Dustin, who opened the scoring for the Ponies.