Murray Marvin-Cordes and Ryan Lund, fresh off playing as teammates again at the Fargo Force main camp in June of this year, fondly recalled the Warlords being a team featured in the video series “Dream.State.”
“Dream.State,” a production featuring the Minnesota Wild, SSQTCH and Public Works, featured a team from northern Minnesota for the fifth time. At the time, Warroad was one of the top boys Class A teams in the state and it was a perfect choice considering the city had the honor of hosting Hockey Day Minnesota in 2024.
The series chronicles behind-the-scenes moments and captures the intense atmosphere of Minnesota hockey.
“It just goes to show that a lot of our guys aren't just hockey players. They do other things when they're not on the ice,” said Marvin Cordes, a Warroad senior forward who showed off his piano-playing skills and scored 60 points last season.
It’s one of the reasons Moorhead coach John Ammerman is so grateful his team was able to take part in the program’s second season in 2018.
“It was obviously disappointing at the time. [the finish to that season for Moorhead in 2017-18]”But what's great about this series is that it shows the stories outside of the actual game,” Ammerman said. “The vision of the people who started the program, the community involvement, the relationships. I don't do that a lot, but it's fun to look back on it.”
This is exactly the type of material Derek Bittar had in mind when he conceived of “Dream.State” over six years ago. Bittar is a partner and creative lead at Public Works, one of the ad agencies that has worked with the Wild team since its inception. SSQTCH (Sasquatch) primarily handles the video portion of the production and joined in Season 3.
Bittar, who was the initiator of the Wild's branding as “The Hockey State,” said the idea of showcasing the journey of a high school team that can win a state title seemed like a perfect fit with a cinematic presentation, given the Wild's deep involvement in communities across the state.
“As I always explain to people, this isn't a show about hockey players. It's a show about characters who happen to play hockey,” said Chris Barriere, the Wild's director of brand marketing and content.
Rob Beer / The Link Live
The first season featured Eden Prairie and Stillwater (2017), followed by Moorhead (2018), Minnetonka (2019) and St. Paul Johnson (2020), before a three-season hiatus due to COVID-19 led to Warroad being introduced in 2024. All of the early seasons, available on Barry Sports North and online, were recorded with six shows but have now been condensed to three.
“It allows us to tell a better story than what we were trying to do,” Bitter said. “It's actually a change for the better.”
So far, “Dream.State” is the most apt title, as the camera crew has yet to follow the team to a victory in the state championship game.
“There's what's called the 'Dream.State' curse,” Bitter said. “Several teams that were supposed to go to the state tournament didn't make it.”
Teams featured in the series:
- 2017 Eden Prairie: The Eagles were state runner-up in 2016 before losing in the state semifinals.
- 2017 Stillwater: Lost in the regional finals
- 2018 Moorhead: They were state runners-up in 2017 but lost in the regional finals.
- 2019: Minnetonka: After winning the state title in 2018, they lost in the sectional semifinals.
- 2020: St. Paul Johnson: Lost in the quarterfinals
- 2024: Warlord: After finishing as runner-up in 2023, they lost in the state semifinals.
Barriere said that while the winning team will certainly have an advantage, the variance in ability in the state is so great that this series is unlikely to determine a state championship.
“We certainly want to give viewers the conclusion that the show is intended to have, but the decision about which team to root for isn't just based on who we think will win,” he said. “It's based on what storylines are there, what characters are we going to get to know, what's unique about this community and this hockey city that we haven't seen in other seasons.”
Message boards began circulating about a curse on a hot team during Minnetonka's 2019 Dream.State season, when the defending champion Skippers won their first 18 games before losing in the regional semifinals.
“I don’t believe in curses at all,” Skippers head coach Sean Goldsworthy told The Link Live this week. “I believe in high school sports. [winning state] It's really difficult.”
But there were some memorable games: In the opening season, the Ponies hosted Hockey Day Minnesota when Eden Prairie took on Stillwater, and Moorhead, Minnetonka and Warroad all played Hockey Day Minnesota games during the series.
Warroad head coach Jay Hardwick's squad suffered perhaps the toughest defeat of any featured team when St. Cloud Cathedral's John Hirschfeld scored in overtime in last season's state semifinal game in St. Paul. He worried his team would be able to stay focused with a team from the Dream State around them as the Warriors tried to avenge their double-overtime loss to Mahtomedi in last year's state title game.
“When they told me about it, I was a little nervous because I've never worried about that as a coach: Will it get in the way? How will the kids react? Are these people going to get in the way? That sort of thing,” Hardwick said. “But the guys who ran it (mainly Ian Fritz and Connor Murphy of SSQTCH) were fantastic. They understand hockey and they were both hockey players.”
Jason Wachter / The Link Live
Lando and Marvin Cordes said the crew's presence with the team on and off the ice may have helped prepare their younger teammates for the bright lights of postseason competition.
“I thought maybe I was bothering the guys a little too much, but it ended up working out pretty well,” said Lund, a defenseman who scored 44 points for the Warriors last season. “I think it actually helped a little bit because it put a little bit of pressure on the guys and a little bit of weight on their shoulders with the cameras being on all the time.”
Warlord has appeared in many of Bitter's productions. During the hiatus of Dream.State, Bitter helped produce the Warriors' shows Home Ice Advantage and The Association.
Bittar is also a former player, having played at the bantam level for the Wayzata program, and while he still plays in the adult league, his mission remains the same: to capture the essence of a team with aspirations of winning a state title.
“Our goal is to be a fly on the wall and stay out of the way,” Bitter said. “I think we're doing a good job of that.”
Still, he said some coaches have turned down the opportunity and others have been unable to agree on how much access the camera crew should have.
“Obviously, the more access you have, the better the storytelling,” Bitter said, “because that's what we want to do. What happens on the ice is always available for anyone to see, and the games aren't really important in the series. It's what happens behind the scenes that really drives the story.”
Goldsworthy appreciated that Minnetonka executives had the final say on all footage used in the show.
“I thought they were really professional,” he said of the producers. “I thought they were making sure the kids were taken care of and that they weren't in any compromising or dangerous position.”
Hardwick said he stopped noticing the Crew's existence after a while, but in the end, he's glad he made the decision to make Warlords a part of “Dream.State” because now he and his players can look back and rewatch episodes years from now and reminisce.
“I told them,” Hardwick recalled telling the producers, “if you guys are ever going to do this again in the future and you're trying to convince people, just give me a call and I'll explain it to them and put their minds at ease. They're going to have the same doubts that I did and be just as nervous as I was, but when it was all over, it was just amazing.”
Ammerman, whose Spuds was featured in 2018, also had initial misgivings.
“I hope this series continues,” Ammerman told The Rink Live. “Every season has been amazing and I would tell other coaches to jump at the opportunity. 'Dream.State' did a great job of showcasing our team while also thanking so many people in our community for helping make Moorhead hockey what it is today.”
In Warroad, the Warriors and the community gathered at the Hampton Inn to watch the first episode.
“It brings back a lot of emotions, but it's cool to see it all culminate,” Marvin Cordes said.
The series could also serve as a sort of time capsule for the 2023-24 Warriors, allowing players to revisit the good times captured on video in years to come.
“Twenty years from now, if you haven't seen them in a long time, maybe you can call them one day and ask them how they're doing,” Rand said.
Bitter and Barriere told The Link Live they are in talks about a sixth installment of “Dream State” this season. With several cable providers withholding broadcast of Bally Sports North due to contractual disputes, the Wild have other options for distributing the show, Barriere said.
One spoiler for Warroad is that they knew the climactic ending in the states would be how the third show would wrap up.
“There's a lot of, 'Oh no,' moments, and even the first episode covers the state of the year,” Hardwick says. “Those scenes are hard to watch, and I've been there, and they kind of dragged the knife out a little bit, but I thought they did a really good job.”
