High school boys ice hockey in Minnesota

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 1974-75 season. In 1992-93, 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

Teams

1. ^ 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.
2. ^ In 1982, Duluth Morgan Park High School merged with Duluth Denfeld High School.
3. ^ 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.
4. ^ In 2004, Aurora-Hoyt Lakes High School, whose hockey program was known as Mesabi East since 1988, merged with Eveleth-Gilbert High School.
5. ^ From 1970 to 1982, Hopkins Senior High School operated as two schools, Hopkins Eisenhower High School and Hopkins Lindbergh High School.
6. ^ Played as Hallock until 1992.
7. ^ In 1999, the hockey program of Indus High School merged with Lake of the Woods High School.
8. ^ 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.
9. ^ 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.
10. ^ 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.
11. ^ In 2006, Pequot Lakes High School and Crosby-Ironton High School merged their programs to become Northern Lakes Co-op.
12. ^ Before 1986, Roseville Area High School was divided into two schools, Alexander Ramsey High School and Kellogg High School.
13. ^ In 2010, Saint Paul Como Park runs their program in a co-op with Saint Paul Central High School.
14. ^ 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.
15. ^ 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.
16. ^ In 1979, Saint Paul Murray High School became a middle school and ceased high school sports activities.
17. ^ In 1979, Saint Paul Washington High School closed.
18. ^ In 1985, Mountain-Iron High School began playing as Mountain-Iron/Buhl. In 1988, Mountain-Iron/Buhl merged programs with Virginia High School.
19. ^ In 1983, White Bear High School and White Bear Mariner High School merged to become White Bear Lake Area High School.
20. ^ In 1966, Williams High School closed (incorrect - see following). Williams HS played hockey and basketball at Williams HS at least through 1967. In Roseau's first hockey game of the 1966-67 season RHS beat WHS 14-1. Roseau's third basketball game of the same season was a win over WHS 71-56.<1967 Roseau High School Rambler Yearbook, Personal participation in BB game>. Williams, Minnesota now falls under Lake of the Woods High School boundaries.