Lundquist makes last trip home as Bemidji captain

• Sadie Lundquist

CEC girls hockey alum Sadie Lundquist plays at Amsoil Arena as a senior center for Bemidji State University this past weekend. Dave Harwig/Pine Journal

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As common as it is to find toddlers playing with toys, Kelly Lundquist would often discover her daughter, Sadie, skating around their Cloquet basement in oversized rollerblades.

“She was always playing, it was such a natural thing to her,” Kelly said. “We’d find her with rollerblades up to her kneecaps.”

Soon to cap off her final season of women’s collegiate ice hockey, Sadie Lundquist, a senior center at Bemidji State University, recently returned home when the Beavers played the University of Minnesota Duluth last weekend at Amsoil Arena.

Lundquist, a captain, is tied for the team lead with 10 assists and four goals for 14 points in 24 games this winter. Although she didn’t score in the Beavers’ 3-0 and 4-2 losses Friday and Saturday, Lundquist said coming home a final time was a treat.

Kelly noted all of Sadie’s teammates and coaches came to Cloquet Thursday night for dinner at their family-owned Gordy’s Warming House in town. Chicken, spaghetti, ziti, soup and – of course – ice cream were all enjoyed during the annual pre-series meal.

Once the puck dropped Friday, Kelly said she, husband Dan, son Sever, and daughters Rosalie, Anna and her husband, Eric, were all in attendance along with a host of friends and relatives.

“It’s the closest that Sadie gets to home,” Kelly said. “A lot of people like to go watch... friends, family, even old teachers.”

Sadie taught herself the sport growing up on her family’s backyard rink, complete with ice, boards and even lights. She said her first memories of hockey were with her oldest brother, Danny.

“My grandparents bought Danny a crappy, off-brand pair of skates and from then on, we all just picked up hockey, I guess,” Sadie said Tuesday night while watching the Minnesota Wild. “It suits us all well. We all love it. It’s the main part of our life.”

Anna is the only one of five siblings who wasn’t in the sport, as Danny and Sever played for Cloquet-Esko-Carlton, while Sadie led the Lumberjack girls to three state tournaments in five years. Rosalie, the youngest, is now an eighth-grade center for CEC.

Dan Lundquist – also watching the Wild during the Tuesday interview – said some of their family’s best get-togethers have been because of hockey. He and Kelly have been to a majority of Sadie’s games over time, traveling across all of Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin and, Kelly added, eastward to both Maine and Rhode Island.

“And every time she’s in Bemidji, we’re there,” Kelly said.

“She’s played every game for the last four years, and faced off against some of the world’s best Olympians,” Dan added. “She knows the game so well and gives 100 percent each time. No matter what sport it is, she loves it – hockey, especially.”

“I’m proud I play hockey in the state of Minnesota,” Sadie said. “Hockey has been great to me. I’ve been skating

since I could walk. When it’s over, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Perhaps she’ll go back to her rollerblades, where it all started.

Tags: sports, hockey, updates