Its mid March folks and the NHL is starting its down hill run to the playoffs. Minor league teams are heading the same direction as are the college leagues.
Those of us that are fans are in for some great excitement. There will be no measly five minute overtimes nor any teamless shootouts. Stanley Cup Playoff games will be ended via victories requiring one team to have scored a minimum of one more goal than their opponent and that goal could come in regulation or in the third or fourth sudden death overtime period. As fans we will stay up late to see the finish and will pay for it the next day at work as we struggle to stay alert.
Those of us that are players and still in the game are emotionally moved to a new level. You’re pumped, you don’t sleep well and you become road weary. If you don’t eat and sleep right then you lose weight. You’re edgy and you’re psyched. The intensity is such that you often times can’t even remember which day of the week it is. You want to win and you want it to be over. You want to celebrate for being the best, never second best.
Minnesota originates some of the finest hockey around. I definitely don’t want to diminish the hockey of any other state but Minnesota’s High School Playoffs just stand out as something spectacular. Years ago I lived in Wazata, a suburb of the Twin Cities in the Gopher State and I remember at that time that the High School Final drew more fans then the North Stars. That is really something! Wayzata’s teams at that time were perennial losers so we never had much to look forward to ourselves. Quite a shame.
This will give you some idea of how important the Minnesota State Finals are: Herb Brooks was once asked if coaching the USA Olympic Team to the Gold Medal in 1980 was the greatest thing in his life. He reportedly answered, “No, that honor went to going to the High School Finals with St. Paul Johnson.”
I’ve never been to a Finals game. I’ve seen some on TV and I was fortunate enough a few years back to see regional playoffs in Rochester. My son-in-law, SSgt. Michael A. Johnson, is a Marine and at the time he was managing the recruiting office in Rochester, Mankato, other southern Minnesota locations. So I was back visiting him, my wife’s daughter and our grandkids. That’s some good stuff all by itself, but I found out that there was a playoff game one night and decided to go. The game was between two local Rochester teams, John Marshall and Century. The rec center was walking distance from the house and I took off on foot not knowing that the game was sold out. Luckily when I got there someone offered me a free ticket so I got in. It was standing room only and I was only able to get to a position about three back on a mezzanine walkway between each side of the ice. I loved it – even having to stand up the whole time. The intensity in that arena was extreme. Both high schools had their bands there and there was so much constant cheering that I never even heard my cell phone when my wife and oldest granddaughter called me three times (I guess they were worried because I had walked – heck its nothing compared to thirty below outdoor practices). You know, I don’t remember which school won the game but I was elated as I walked home afterwards. It had been years since I had seen a high school game and here I got to see a local playoff game. That was really something for me. My son-in-law is over in Iraq now for his second time and the family’s in North Carolina. I spend about as much time thinking about him as I do about hockey. When he retires from the Marines he wants to move the family back to Rochester. If he does, we’ll visit and I’ll get to see some more games.
Well the other night Minnesota had its Class AA finals game at the Xcel Energy Center. There were over 17,500 spectators on hand for it and I bet there were more than twice that many that wanted to get tickets. 17,500 spectators, that’s five or six times as many people as live in the town of Roseau, that ended up winning. Yup, the Roseau Rams, with a 28 and 2 record, beat the Grand Rapid Thunder Hawks 5 to 1 for their seventh state championship. Roseau has only about 325 students and that should have put them in the A division, but they decided to play up in AA and took it all. Sweet! And this was with the Thunder Hawks out-shooting Roseau 29 to 24.
Roseau has a tie-in to the Marines also. Their coach, Scott Oliver, very unfortunately, had his nephew, Marine Sgt. Chad M. Allen, die from a road side bomb in the Al Anbar province of Iraq on February 28th. Sgt. Allen was from Maple Lake, MN. Flags at state buildings flew at half mast in his honor.
So folks, I tip my glass to the Roseau Rams and all of Minnesota’s other fine high school hockey teams and I say a prayer for all of our country’s military that are doing their duties overseas for the rights of others. Yup, in my book all these fine people are walking with wood!
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