The Crusaders were amazing...best effort so far, hair for hair the #1 team in the state so far. They lead with "Ginger Ale" out of the gates and then finished with Mattson Courrier who delivered the best Kenny G we've ever seen at this event. Charlie Ward won a Heisman trophy for Florida State, Charlie Ward for SPA should win an award for most hair in the face for skating. 

St. Paul Academy beat St. Cloud Cathedral in the final quarterfinal game of the class A State Tournament Wednesday in St. Paul. Sophomore Devlin McCabe had two goals including the game winning goal with 5:05 to go in the game. "My teammate Weston Lombard poked the puck loose and all I did was find a corner, aimed it and shot it," said McCabe after the game as they went on to win 4-2 on an empty net goal by senior Justin Jallen.

SPA outshot Cathedral 43-14, powered by an amazing display of speed and skill that seem to baffle the Crusaders in all three zones. Despite the lopsided shot total the game was all tied at the media timeout with 5:30 left in the game. Seconds after the break McCabe took the money shot. "Dev is a big game player, he has been his whole life....tonight was a perfect example," said SPA head coach Matt Funk. 

"We have great leadership, it starts with number 8. He (Jallen) said, boys jump on my back, I'll carry you the rest of the way"

Matt Funk, SPA head coach on what senior Justin Jallen brought to his team this year.

LDC came out like a dragon, on fire. Too many to list. Jake Jones wins it, but Carson deal was the real deal, too. Honorable mentions later were Logan Niemela...he tried really hard. Luke Olson literally saved Hermantown with his heavy metal bass player hair and stache....all he was missing was a sleeveless tee shirt and cigarette.

The number one rated and seeded Hermantown Hawks dismantled the section 3A champions from Litchfield 11-3 in the first quarterfinal of the class State Tournament. Cole Koepke had four goals and two assists and line mate Ryan Sandelin finished with a goal and four assists. 

In the second period, Litchfield cut the lead to 3-2 on David Raisanen's second goal with 5:55 left in the second period. For the moment, the Dragons had hope...well maybe for 16 seconds that is. Koepke scored to make it 4-2 and then the Hawks strung together another two to close out the second up 6-2 in complete control. 

"No."

Coach Bruce Plant when asked if he had any thoughts on playing a private school in the semifinals.

It was a great experience for our kids and our community. Our U12's made it to state, our high school players are like heroes around town to the 3,4 and 5 year olds. It is more than just tonight...that's for sure."

Chris Olson, Litchfield Dassel-Cokato head coach when asked the importance of this game for the growth of hockey in his community.

Christian Larson wins the battle for TRF, his racing stripes and the turn was the best bit with several honorable mentions from his squad including the now infamous rusty bowl by Logan Lane or the perfectly feathered Peter Frampton look alike Johnny Groebner from Princeton.

Thief River Falls had no trouble beating section 5A champ Princeton Wednesday in the State Tourney quarterfinals 6-1. Senior Ethan Johnson had three goals and an assist and fellow junior Brendan Bushy added a goal and two assists for the Prowlers. 

Thief River jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first and 4-0 deep into the second before the Tigers got on the board. The Prowlers will face Breck Friday afternoon in the first semifinal, they lost to the Mustangs earlier in the year 4-1. Northern teams as a rule peak at the end of the season - can they upset the Mustangs???

"We knew this group of seniors was coming since Mites, we knew they'd be special "

-Thief River Coach Tim Bergland on this year's senior class

Willie Meyer gets the pregame hair contest off to a flying start with a full hair flop from in front of face to back. Is is possible to have the first be the last?

Honorable Mention: Alex Hale from West is the early leader in the 'fro contest...nice effort. Mitch Machlitt brought some nice west side flow from Breck.

Number two seed Breck used a pair of hat tricks by seniors William Blake and Chase Ellingson to slide past Mankato West 8-0 in the first game of the State Tournament. Blake earned his Hatty the old fashioned way netting three straight in the second period to ice the game for the Mustangs. Ellingson, the Mr. Hockey FInalist capped off his Hatty with a pretty end to end rush in the third period. 

The 2A champs advance to the Friday afternoon semifinals to face the winner of Princeton and Thief River Falls. The Mustangs defeated Thief River Falls 4-1 in December on their home ice on December 5th. 

"It's not often you get the 'advantage' of being short handed for 10 minutes in a game" 

-Les Larson, Breck Coach sarcastically commenting on the two major penalties assessed to the Mustangs