East Grand Forks High School winning the Class A Boys Hockey State Championship over the weekend is a true Cinderella story.

The story is even better because of the quick repair of one of the player’s skates during the tournament.

Junior defenseman Cole Schmiedeberg broke his skate before the semifinal game.

“Bet lots of hockey players have bad dreams of that happening to them, and that one turned into a good dream for him in the end,” East Grand Forks Assistant Coach Colton Sanderson said.  

A member of the high school league reached out to Dan George at George’s Shoe and Hockey Repair in Saint Paul for help.

“Asked if I could get this skate done in time for their next game,” Dan George said. “I said we can do better than that. We need to get this back on the ice as soon as possible.”

George got the skate fixed for the second period.

“The most important thing is getting that on his foot and getting him back on the ice,” George said.

East Grand Forks went on to win the Class A championship.

“Loosely thought maybe we had a little bit to do with it, but it was a team effort how they stuck to the script and just kept grinding and able to pull it off,” George said. 

George didn’t charge the school for his quick fix of the skate.