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Hermantown's Game

Dig deep enough into the roots of Minnesota and you find one thing: hockey.

Minnesota’s pride and joy, the one sport that Minnesota excels far past others is hockey.  There’s a reason that there isn’t a national hockey tournament that Minnesota varsity teams don’t participate in: we’d always in.

The yearly Minnesota State hockey tournament is the epitome of such pride. The culture conveyed screams Minnesota Hockey. It is by far the best experience that one who enjoys the sport can have. It takes place in the luxurious atmosphere of Minnesota’s finest hockey arena: The Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

The State Tournament is really divided into two separate audiences: those who seat themselves in the lower levels of the arena, and those who seat themselves in the upper levels. If you’re in attendance purely to watch hockey and enjoy the competitiveness of the tournament the lower levels are the place for you. If you’re there to have fun and get rowdy, go up top. The exception of this being the student sections of schools in the tournament that are seated in the lower levels who participate in both.

The atmosphere during games is entirely something else, far different than that in NHL games. State tournament games are the most unique, youthful, and competitive hockey seen in the US. The elite of Minnesota’s finest teams compete for the state title, while the crowd erupts in cheers of delight, excitement, and chirping sections of boys, courtesy of the upper level, chant profanity towards the least favored, almost always the wealthier school, team.

This year’s State Tournament brought with it the same highly competitive atmosphere as always; the beautiful lettuce (hair) that adorns the heads of the tournaments players, a less than average year for the Hockey Expo that takes place on Fridays and Saturdays of the tournament, the usual crowd of girl hockey fans snapchatting their time away, and the rowdy cheering that occurs between student sections and their enemies.

At the climax of the tournament this year we saw Hermantown, Class A, finally snap their streak of second-place finishes at the tournament and return home as State champions after defeating Breck.

Hermantown had prior to this year six straight appearances to the championship game, and all six years they lost. In Class AA, Wayzata triumphed over Eden Prairie in fiery fashion as their yellow colors flooded the surrounding area in the aftermath of their victory.

The State Tournament is a must-see for any hockey fan that considers themselves Minnesotan at heart. As always, it’ll be there next year at the X. See you then. Come prepared.