When the Bluejackets packed their hockey bags and drove 3 ½ hours to St. Paul for the boys hockey state tournament, they knew nothing was promised.

The team may have held the No. 1 seed and ended the season on an 11-win streak, but “The Tourney” was a different beast. One Hibbing/Chisholm hadn’t tamed in 53 years.

With the crack of a stick and the opening lines of Aerosmith’s “Dream On” echoing throughout Grand Casino Arena, the roster of 20 collapsed on the ice with arms wrapped around padded shoulders. After 52 minutes of game play, a 5-4 overtime state title game ended with Warroad holding the trophy.

After last year’s 7-5 loss to East Grand Forks in the state semifinals, the Bluejackets brought a renewed energy to summer training, one they would carry throughout the season and inject into the community during a year of mass layoffs and economic hardship.

“Last year definitely left a sour taste,” said Hibbing/Chisholm senior forward and All-Minnesota Boys Hockey Player of the Year Tate Swanson. “When we were in the locker room, we all felt the same way. We told each other, ‘We never want to feel that again.’ ”

Going into the third period, the Bluejackets trailed 3-1, but the team slowly found a rhythm when senior forward Isaiah Hildenbrand dumped a shot into Warroad’s net at 2:47 and sophomore defenseman Whitaker Rewertz scored his second goal of the game. Senior forward Benny Galli made it 4-3 with fewer than four minutes left in the period before the Warriors tied it up.

This year’s team made it further than any team Hibbing team in 32 years — the first time playing in the championship game since 1994 — but as Warroad senior forward Mooney Shaugabay launched a shot into the back of the net one minute into overtime, Hibbing/Chisholm’s state title chances shriveled.

“Just one bad bounce determined the winner,” Swanson said. “But proud of how we responded to adversity in the third period.”

Despite the teary eyes, the Bluejackets still recognized what their season meant to the supporters filling Grand Casino Arena and to the entire Iron Range.

“Honestly, it’s huge for us to come all this way and make a run back after last year,” senior goaltender Gavin Lamphere said. “We knew we had a job to fill. A lot of kids on this team were determined to get back here. You could see it in that section final game, and we got back here — one bounce in that game and we could have never been here.”

As the team piled onto the ice in a heap of hugs and discarded helmets, Lamphere skated to each one of his teammates.

“I went to a lot of the seniors first to see how they were doing,” Lamphere said. “It’s everything that they’ve done this year. I’m so proud of this team and everything they’ve done.”

“It’s been a great journey with all these boys,” added Lamphere. “To make it back and to give this back to the community and put a flag up in the [Hibbing Memorial Building] is huge.”