A STATE TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE

Obviously, I knew a thing or two about the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament before I made my first trip there. Seeing it in person was wholly different than hearing about it.

Crowds for AA games were simply amazing. There couldn't have been anyone left in Roseau. Too bad for them their team ran into the Hill-Murray buzzsaw on Friday.

Anyway, it was an incredible experience. Draining, but incredible. I can only hope it's not my only state tournament experience.

Since I did observe the games, I also took the chance to vote on the all-tournament teams. Here's how those played out:

CLASS AA

SCHOOL	POSITION	NAME
Roseau	Defense	Aaron Ness
Roseau	Center	Tyler Landman
Benilde-St. Margaret’s	Forward	Matt Berglund
Benilde-St. Margaret’s	Defense	Chris Student
Edina	Center	Zach Budish
Edina	Defense	Joe Gleason
Edina	Forward	Marshall Everson
Edina	Goalie	Derrick Caschetta
Hill-Murray	Defense	Dan Sova
Hill-Murray	Forward	Dan Cecka
Hill-Murray	Forward	Ryan Furne
Hill-Murray	Goalie	Joe Phillipi

CLASS A

SCHOOL	POSITION	NAME
Little Falls	Forward	Ben Hanowski
St. Cloud Cathedral	Forward	Stephen Rindelaub
Warroad	Defense	Mark McDonald
Warroad	Forward	Bryce Ravndalen
Marshall School, Duluth	Forward	Zach Mausolf
Marshall School, Duluth	Goalie	Willie Paul
Marshall School, Duluth	Defense	Dano Jacques
St. Thomas Academy, Mendota Heights	Forward	Ryan Walters
St. Thomas Academy, Mendota Heights	Defense	Jon Schreiner
St. Thomas Academy, Mendota Heights	Forward	James Saintey
St. Thomas Academy, Mendota Heights	Goalie	Kurt Altrichter
St. Thomas Academy, Mendota Heights	Defense	Rob Vannelli

In Class AA, I voted for Ness, Landman, Student, Budish, Gleason, Everson, Caschetta, Cecka, and Phillippi, along with forwards Steffen Hansen (Blaine) and Issac Kohls (Hill-Murray) and defenseman David Brown (Cloquet/Esko/Carlton).

In Class A, I voted for Hanowski, Rindelaub, Mausolf, Paul, Jacques, Walters, Schreiner, Saintey, and Vannelli. I also voted for forwards Dane Shaugabay (Warroad) and Corey Leivermann (Mankato West), defenseman Erik Christensen (Mankato West), and goaltender Tyler Bruggeman (Mankato West).

(I'm a big believer in full disclosure. Along those lines, my all-WCHA picks will be posted later this week for your scrutiny.)

I'll make no comments about the public school/private school debate. It's a great divide in Minnesota, and even though it really does impact most every varsity sport, the only one that people ever talk about is hockey. Frankly, I think the debate is getting out of hand. It's something I'd be more willing to tackle were people's feelings not so strong on a subject that just isn't a world-ending topic.