It's Boys High School Hockey Tournament Time

It's early March, the temps and weather are saying we're having an early Spring this year, but I know how that can go. In fashion, it's "One day you're in, the next day you're out." In weather up here in the Frozen Northlands, it's one day it's Spring and the next day it's a massive blizzard that will bring Winter back for another two weeks or more. That's reality, but we're at the tail end of what has (so far) turned into a somewhat mild winter, all things taken into consideration. 

The Xcel Center is packed for the High School Hockey
Tournament. Even the upper decks are full. We've been
pulling in 18,000+ attendance at each game for this year's
tournament. It's a surreal experience for the kids. 

It's also Boy's High School Hockey Tournament time, meaning I've had the store TV turned to the hockey games during the day and we're watching the games at night. It's been a great tournament. They take over the Xcel Center, (where our professional ice hockey team plays), and attendance has been averaging 18,000+ for each game. Yeah, 18,000+ attendance for a High School sporting event. But these boys are good! Really good. A lot of them are already committed to various college hockey programs, and I can guarantee some of them will be on ice as a member of one of the pro teams within a decade, probably sooner. It's exciting, well played hockey with no holds barred. 

The MN State High School League does a great job with the
major tournaments, both hockey and basketball. Tickets
are affordable, and people come from all over the state to
attend the games and cheer on their teams. The games
pull in fans, but also scouts. Playing well in one of the
State Tournaments can be career changing. 

I was too tired to watch the final semi-final match last night, but the final match-ups for today are Mahtomedi v Hermantown in Class 1 at noon, and Hill-Murray v Eden Prairie in Class 2 tonight at 7:00 pm. Those are going to be great games, and I'll have the TV on for the Class 1 game so that I can at least listen while I cheer Hermantown onward - hopefully to victory. I'm not an Eden Prairie fan, so I'll cheer Hill-Murray for the night game, although I think Eden Prairie might take it all. 

Hermantown prevailed in this game (Hermantown is in the black). It
was a well-fought and fast-paced game. The kids aren't as fast as
the pro teams (pro teams are wicked fast!), but they're pretty
darned good to watch on the ice. 

It's already been too warm to allow any more outdoor skating on the many municipal outdoor seasonal rinks, which is too bad for easy practice and wonderful for the gardeners whose thoughts are already in planning stages for this year's gardens. The State High School Boy's Basketball Tournament begins on March 18th, and goes for four days at the Target Center. It's the second major tournament of the year and again has massive attendance numbers. It's also often the final snowstorm of the year. I won't (almost) count on probable snow-free days until after that weekend. 

I really wanted Blake (in the blue) to win against Eden Prairie (in the red)
in last night's game, but Eden Prairie is the larger school and has a much
deeper roster from which to pull. They were able to field four lines
against Blake's three, and that made the difference. 

So enjoy your weekend upcoming. Don't forget that Daylight Savings Time switches and you need to Spring Ahead early Sunday morning - that's tomorrow, y'all. I'm going to head over and get a swim in before starting my day. I have a busy week ahead and really need the pick-me-up that the pool will give to me. Have a great weekend and I'll be back on Monday.