What might be the best weekend of the entire year starts Thursday morning, when the Class AA portion of the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament gets underway in St. Paul. I've been attending the tournament since I was in high school myself (100 million years ago...before there was fire) and have seen every Class AA game of the tourney in person since it moved to the X in 2001.
Like the Miracle on Ice story (see Feb. 22 blog post below), this event is uniquely special to those who grew up playing hockey in Minnesota. When Herb Brooks said it was the biggest thrill of his life, he meant it.
But instead of trying to do justice to it myself, I'm just going to link to the best story about the tournament that I've ever read. Just click here, and you'll be taken to the 1983 story written for Sports Illustrated by the great E.M. Swift. He came out here for the event, and wrote a magnificant profile that still holds up 27 years later. Enjoy the story, and enjoy the tournament.
Best line?
ReplyDelete"No one likes rich kids who are good."
Amen, brother!