The Minnesota High School Boys Hockey program is a high school ice hockey program in the State of Minnesota. Based on tournament attendance, ice hockey is the most popular high school sport in the state. Approximately 256 schools and over 6,500 participants in total (due to cooperative team arrangements) field sanctioned varsity teams competing in the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL). These teams are divided into two classes, AA and A. Each class is also divided into eight sections.
Attendance has been strong throughout the years, with 22 tournaments eclipsing the 100,000+ barrier, and in 2015 a record-setting total of 135,618 (both classes). In the 2006 State Tournament, the average attendance per game in the championship brackets was 18,000 people. The Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament is currently the largest state sports tournament in terms of viewing and attendance, beating the Florida's State High School Football Tournament and Indiana's State High School Basketball Tournament.
History
High school hockey players throughout Minnesota participate in a maximum of 25 contests, excluding the section tournaments and the Minnesota State Boys' High School Hockey Tournament. Teams currently play three 17-minute periods to comprise a game. A lengthened period time was adopted by the Minnesota State High School League in 2003.
Boys hockey concludes their season with a four-day tournament in March that features sixteen teams competing for championships in both classes. From 1945 through 1991 the tournament consisted of a single class, eight team tournament instead of the present day two class (AA and A) tournament. Private schools were not allowed to play in the Tournament until the 1974â€"75 season. In 1992â€"93, the tournament was composed of Tier I and II teams. This two-year experiment sent the top teams from each of the eight sections to the Tier I portion of the tournament and the remaining teams conducted a playoff to determine who would be included in the Tier II tournament. In 1994, the dual class system was adopted and teams were placed into a class structure based on school enrollments.
Since 1994, the MSHSL's process to determine section assignments for boys' hockey is based on school enrollments and activity classifications. The basic premise is to place the largest 64 schools into Class AA and the remaining high schools in Class A. Both Classes are then divided into 8 sections each. Teams are placed into their section assignments with geographic location as a primary consideration. High schools initially placed in Class A have the option to play at the Class AA level.
Beginning with the 2007 state tournament, the top five teams in each class are seeded. Coaches of the participating schools vote to determine the seeded teams the Saturday before the state tournament. The four teams are then bracketed so that if the seeded teams advance, the top seed plays the fourth seed while the second and third seeds play each other. The quarterfinal opponents of the seeded teams are determined by a blind draw.
Notable alumni
Neal Broten, Aaron Broten, Herb Brooks, Rob McClanahan, Phil Housley, Reed Larson, Tom Preissing, Doug Zmolek, John Mayasich, Craig Norwich, Mike Antonovich, Henry Boucha, Steve Janaszak, Nick Leddy, George Pelawa, Chris Locker, Brian Lee, Jamie Langenbrunner, John Pohl, Matt Hendricks, Brandon Bochenski, Dave Spehar, Sean Goudy, Ben Ulland, Mark Parrish, TJ Oshie, Paul Martin, Doug Woog per Bill Thomas, Mike Crowley, Mike Ramsey, Brian Bonin, Dave Christian, Rob Saxe, Bill Baker, Steve Christoff, Blake Wheeler, Nick Bjugstad, Justin Braun, Ryan McDonagh, Matt Cullen, Jake Gardiner, Anders Lee, Matt Peterson, and David Backes are among the many notable players who have participated in Minnesota high school hockey.
Historical timeline
- 1905 â€" Saint Paul Academy fields what is believed to be the oldest varsity team in the state
- 1930s â€" High school hockey played at approximately 25 schools in Minnesota.
- 1945 â€" First MSHSL Boys State High School Hockey Tournament (the first of its kind in the United States) held at St. Paul Auditorium.
- 1949â€"1964 â€" Prep. School Hockey Tournament (for Private Schools)
- 1965â€"1970 â€" Catholic School Hockey Tournament
- 1969 â€" The tournament moves to Met Center in Bloomington, home of the Minnesota North Stars NHL team.
- 1970â€"1974 â€" Independent School Hockey Tournament
- 1974â€"Present public schools and private schools can play in the same tournament
- 1976 â€" The tournament moves to the St. Paul Civic Center.
- 1992 â€" Tier I and Tier II structure adopted; the Target Center in Minneapolis hosted the Tier II tournament.
- 1994 â€" Class AA and A structure adopted.
- 1999 â€" The tournament moved to the Target Center in Minneapolis.
- 2001 â€" The tournament moved to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, home of the new Minnesota Wild NHL team.
- 2003 â€" Period length changed from 15 to 17 minutes.
- 2007 â€" Coaches seed top four teams in each class.
- 2008 â€" 19,559 fans attended the 2008 State Boys' Hockey Tournament Class AA semifinals at Xcel Energy Center, March 7, setting a new record for the largest crowd to ever attend a hockey game in the state of Minnesota.
- 2015 â€" 21,609 fans attended the 2015 State Boys' Hockey Tournament Class AA semifinals at Xcel Energy Center, March 6, setting a new record for the largest crowd to ever attend a hockey game in the state of Minnesota.
- 2016 â€" 22,244 fans attended the 2016 State Boys' Hockey Tournament Class AA semifinals at Xcel Energy Center, March 4, setting a new record for the largest crowd to ever attend a hockey game in the state of Minnesota.
Teams
- ^ Bloomington-Lincoln was founded in 1957, but closed in 1982. Bloomington-Kennedy was founded in 1965. Bloomington-Jefferson was founded in 1970. At the time of the 1965 State Tournament, Bloomington-Lincoln was the only school with an operating hockey team, so it is listed simply as "Bloomington" in state records.
- ^ In 1982, Duluth Morgan Park High School merged with Duluth Denfeld High School.
- ^ From 1972 to 1981, the Edina School District operated two high schools (see Edina High School History), Edina East and Edina West, each with their own respective sports teams. The State Hockey Championship was won by Edina East in 1974, 1978 and 1979.
- ^ In 2004, Aurora-Hoyt Lakes High School, whose hockey program was known as Mesabi East since 1988, merged with Eveleth-Gilbert High School.
- ^ From 1970 to 1982, Hopkins Senior High School operated as two schools, Hopkins Eisenhower High School and Hopkins Lindbergh High School.
- ^ Played as Hallock until 1992.
- ^ In 1999, the hockey program of Indus High School merged with Lake of the Woods High School.
- ^ In 2005, Edison High School, Roosevelt High School, and Minneapolis South High School merged their programs to become Minneapolis East Co-op, and Washburn High School and Minneapolis Southwest High School merged their programs to become Minneapolis West Co-op. Marshall-University High School (a merger of Marshall and University High Schools in 1967), Minneapolis Central High School, and Minneapolis West High School all closed in 1982, and North Community High School and Patrick Henry High School shut down their hockey programs in 1979 and 1998, respectively. As of 2010, all Minneapolis area high schools play as one co-op team. Minneapolis Southwest is the sole winner of the 1970 State Hockey Tournament.
- ^ Minnehaha Academy's hockey program is a co-op between Minnehaha Academy, DeLaSalle High School, Saint Agnes High School, and Saint Croix Lutheran High School.
- ^ In 2001, Brooklyn Center High School, Columbia Heights Senior High School, and Fridley High School merged their hockey programs to form Tri-City Co-op. In 2006 Tri City merged with Park Center Senior High School to become North Metro Co-op.
- ^ In 2006, Pequot Lakes High School and Crosby-Ironton High School merged their programs to become Northern Lakes Co-op.
- ^ Before 1986, Roseville Area High School was divided into two schools, Alexander Ramsey High School and Kellogg High School.
- ^ In 2010, Saint Paul Como Park runs their program in a co-op with Saint Paul Central High School.
- ^ Between 1987 and 2009, Saint Paul Highland Park High School and Saint Paul Central High School merged their programs to form Saint Paul Central/Highland Park. In 1995, Saint Paul Humboldt High School merged with the Saint Paul Central/Highland Park Co-op to become the Saint Paul Central/Highland Park/Humboldt Co-op. In 2010, Highland Park restarted their own program and Saint Paul Central runs a co-op with Saint Paul Como Park High School. Saint Paul Humboldt now runs a co-op with Saint Paul Johnson High School.
- ^ In 1995, Saint Paul Humboldt High School merged with the Saint Paul Central/Highland Park Co-op. When this co-op disbanded in 2010, Saint Paul Humboldt formed a co-op with Saint Paul Johnson.
- ^ In 1979, Saint Paul Murray High School became a middle school and ceased high school sports activities.
- ^ In 1979, Saint Paul Washington High School closed.
- ^ In 1985, Mountain-Iron High School began playing as Mountain-Iron/Buhl. In 1988, Mountain-Iron/Buhl merged programs with Virginia High School.
- ^ In 1983, White Bear High School and White Bear Mariner High School merged to become White Bear Lake Area High School.
- ^ In ca.1968, Williams High School closed. Williams, Minnesota now falls under Lake of the Woods High School boundaries.
Championship games
List of state champions
References
- Dohrmann, George (2004-03-22), "High School Heaven", Sports IllustratedÂ
Further reading
- Schneider, Karen S. (February 27, 2012). "The Way We Play The Game: After the hit that left Jack Jablonski paralyzed, the state of Minnesota rewrote its high school rules, but one hockey mom still agonizes over the choices she â€" and every parent in her position â€" has to make". Sports Illustrated. SI.com. Retrieved 2012-03-17.Â
- Welcome to the Minnesota State High School League.
- Minnesota State High School League 2004-2005 Annual Report.
- John Rosengren's book Blades of Glory: The True Story of a Young Team Bred to Win (2003, Sourcebooks, Inc., ISBNÂ 1-4022-0046-3) follows the 2000-2001 Bloomington-Jefferson Jaguars' season.
External links
- FollowThePuck.com â€" Minnesota High School Hockey
- MNHockeyHub.com â€" Minnesota Boys High School Hockey
- Minnesota Boys High School Hockey
- Minnesota Boys High School Hockey
- Minnesota High School Hockey Forum
- Minnesota Hockey Forums
- Minnesota Sports Online