ST. PAUL -- Mason Kraft will end his senior season with the Moorhead Spuds a state champion and the state's Mr. Hockey.
Kraft was named the Mr. Hockey recipient, an award given to the top boys hockey player in Minnesota, at the awards banquet Sunday afternoon at RiverCentre.
"God is a big reason why I'm here," Kraft said at the banquet. "I want to thank my parents. ... Thank you for pushing me. Thank you for helping make my decision to come back and be a Spud for one more year. I want to give a shoutout to Jon (Ammerman), Tony (Kunka), Matt (Cullen), Aaron Herdt, (Sam Walstad), Derek Thompson for pushing me to be my best every day. I couldn't have done it without them. It's a true honor to be named Mr. Hockey with all these great players."
Kraft finished the season with 95 points off 46 goals and 49 assists. He compiled nine goals at state and 11 points overall in the Minnesota Class 2A boys hockey state tournament.
He became the second Mr. Hockey winner from Moorhead. Brian Lee was given the award in 2005.
Moorhead won the program's first state championship on Saturday with a 7-6 win over Stillwater. Kraft buried four goals in the first period of the title game, sparking the historic win.
Kraft said Minnesota is like no other state when it comes to hockey.
"It's the communities," Kraft said. "Minnesota is really special in that sense, where it's community-based hockey. I think Moorhead is right up there with the best in the state."
Kraft said he gets ready for games listening to a pregame playlist curated by defenseman Carson Kuntz. Kraft will join the Cedar Rapids Roughriders of the USHL next season.
Spuds head coach Jon Ammerman was named Class 2A coach of the year. Moorhead finished the season 28-2-1 this season and compiled a 22-game winning streak from November to February.
"To our players in the state of Minnesota, and especially our best coming back. . . You guy's coming back make our game better," Ammerman said. "We had a really special year and it culminated last night. This is an award that is a group effort. We had (Stenehjem) that won 28 games this year. ... Kraft had an unbelievable season. ... It's been a really fun group and it's been really fun to see them grow over the past couple of years."
Ammerman commended his coaching staff for support throughout the rest of the season.
Moorhead goaltender Charlie Stenehjem was named a finalist for the Frank Brimsek Award, given to the top senior goaltender in the state. White Bear Lake's Leo Gabriel won the Brimsek.
Stenehjem started all 31 games in net for the Spuds this season. He leads the state in wins. Stenehjem had a 2.07 goals-against average, .904 save percentage and had four shutouts the past season.
"I drink three energy drinks before every game," Stenehjem said. "It consists of two Red Bulls and one Alani, but I can't open any of them in the locker room because it's a superstition that I have. They all have to be drank outside of the locker room."
"I did it one game and it didn't turn out great," Stenehjem added.
Stenehjem said earning a title for Moorhead is incredibly rewarding.
"It's honestly a dream come true," Stenehjem said. "I think the best part of last night is going to the Drury (Plaza Hotel) and seeing how it impacted the families of Moorhead all around the community. It shows that Moorhead is huge on hockey. It's not just Moorhead, but it's the entire state of Minnesota, too. Being able to play here is amazing."
This season was Stenehjem's only season as a starter. He backed up former Spuds goaltender Kai Weigel for two seasons, before emerging as one of the state's best netminders.