The draw of Minnesota's state hockey tourney
Updated 9:30 p.m.| Posted 4:38 p.m.
Final championship game results: Grand Rapids beats Moorhead 6-3 in first all-northern Minnesota 2A final in 10 years.
Why is the Minnesota Boys High School hockey tournament such a big deal?
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The easy answer is Minnesota is the state of hockey. But basically the state has, and has had for years, an amazing youth hockey system that has developed plenty of NHL players. And the crown jewel of that system is the boys hockey tournament.
Many of the kids playing are headed to play division I hockey, and are being scouted by NHL teams. So there's plenty of talent, but also a history that stretches back to the first tournament in 1945.
How many people pay attention to the games?
Friday night's attendance at the Xcel Energy Center was 21,485. That's better than the average attendance of almost every NHL team this season.
The tournament already gets plenty of national coverage for that - often you'll see big plays on ESPN's top ten plays of the day. There's also plenty of national coverage the tournament's hockey hair, which has become a bigger and bigger deal each year.
Hermantown beat Monticello-Annandale-Maple Lake for the single A title on Saturday afternoon. How did Hermantown eke out a win?
Like their other games this tournament, Hermantown took the game to overtime.
It's been their M.O. all tournament. Hermantown won its first game in overtime. And then last night, stormed back from a three goal deficit last night against St. Cloud Cathedral to win in overtime. And Saturday afternoon, the team tied it up in third period to make it 3-3.
In the second overtime, Hermantown's Dylan Samberg won it on a slapshot from the point.
It's Hermantown's third class A championship.
Saturday night is the big championship game between Moorhead and Grand Rapids. What can we expect?
It's the first all-northern Minnesota state hockey championship since 2007. Big metro schools have become powerhouses in high school hockey and now northern teams are reclaiming some of their past glory.
On Friday night, Grand Rapids knocked off Eden Prairie - a team pegged as the favorite to win the AA championship. Moorhead beat Hill-Murray and Lakeville South Thursday and Friday.
Both teams have great goaltending. Grand Rapids' offense is led by a trio of high scoring forwards, while Moorhead has maybe a little more offensive depth.
The two teams last met in February, Moorhead won 4-0 in Grand Rapids. Grand Rapids has won three state championships, their last in 1980. Moorhead has been to the tournament 15 times, but has never won.
The championship game starts at 7 p.m.