THAT’S ALL FOLKS

This is it folks, the hockey season wrap up, that is, the hockey season wrap up for me.  There is plenty more hockey left, but my season ends when the high school season ends and it ended last night in the 2nd overtime when the Moorhead Spuds scored against Minnetonka to repeat as Minnesota State Class AA Boy’s Hockey Champs.  I find it absolutely incredible that the last 3 games in a final series that I had a vested interest in ended up in overtime.  Those 3 games, in chronological order, are the Section 7A Final: Hibbing/Chisholm 3 Cloquet/Esko/Carlton 2; State Class A Final: Warroad 5 Hibbing/Chisholm 4; State Class AA Final: Moorhead 5 Minnetonka 4.  I have to confess that in the final analysis, I did not pick any of those teams to be victorious.  To me, the Section 7A Final was going to be a carbon copy toss up of last year and anyone’s game which came down to 5 seconds left in overtime when Hibbing/Chisholm pulled it out.  I picked Hibbing/Chisholm to win the State Class A Title and Minnetonka to win the State Class AA Title.  I did a tad better with my fantasy prediction of all-northern finals in the State Tournament since all 4 northern teams were in opposite brackets.  My wishful thinking was Hibbing/Chisholm vs Warroad and Grand Rapids vs Moorhead with the 2 Iron Range Schools as State Champs.  Wouldn’t that have been something for the ages!

I didn’t see much of the tournament at all just bits and pieces of the 4 northern teams.  After all those years of reporting in-person from the 3 different state tournament sites, watching it on TV just isn’t the same.  My crew and I would have eaten this one up, especially with 6 games that went into overtime capped off with last night’s double overtime thriller.  I did have a psychological setback yesterday with the Class A Final.  As many times through the past 50 years of watching a Hibbing - Warroad confrontation, especially when Cary Eades was coaching Warroad, for some particular unknown psychosis, I decided to take a slight road trip during that game.  I did sit down at the TV to watch the game and I actually lasted till face off time.  I jumped up, looked at my sweetie and said that I can’t do this and I decided to take care of the few items of business I had in Glencoe, one of which was to fill up my flex fueled vehicle before gas becomes a luxury that we can no longer afford.  It had increased 30 cents a gallon overnight and it will soon be unattainable.  My wife would text me to keep me updated and I was glad that I was on the road because it took the blow of my alma mater coming out on the short end in overtime.  I did get home and was rather disappointed to see Moorhead down 3 - 1 after 2 periods.  However things got interesting at 6:54 of the 3rd period.  Needless to say that with 36 seconds left in regulation and the Spuds tying it up for another overtime, the excitement level crescendoed into another puck heaven moment and to double the pleasure, one overtime wasn’t enough.  This is Minnesota High School Hockey at its finest.   In the single class years from 1945 - 1991 there were only 6 overtime games, but that increased to 13 in the 2 class system with both Class A and Class AA overtime games in 2011 and 2026.  

Well, so be it.  I am still on the outside looking in.  I have communicated with other associates who are all in the same predicament as myself and most of them buy tickets and go to the games.  I have one particular crony who has credentials for college and professional games and he can’t get them for high school.  Needless to say, the MSHSL is a nemesis for quite a few of us and it does not bode well.  See ya next year!  To be continued…..!