Minnesota Boys Hockey Tournament Opens Today

It is followed by hockey fans from all over the country. The Minnesota High School League Boys State Hockey Tournament opens today at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul with the small schools competing.

Section 1 champion Mankato West (15-11-2) out of the Big Nine Conference will open the tournament with the No. 2 seed Breck School (24-3-1) at 11AM.

No. 3 seed Thief River Falls (22-6) faces Princeton (21-7) at 1PM. No. 1 seed Hermantown (24-2-1) will tangle with Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato 20-8) at 6PM. No. 4 seed St Paul Academy and Summit School (23-5) takes on No. 5 seed St. Cloud Cathedral (20-7-1) at 8PM.

The semifinals are Friday at 11AM and 1PM and the State A championship game will be noon on Saturday.

The consolation bracket begins Thursday at 10AM and noon at Mariucci Arena on the University of Minnesota campus. The third-place game will be at 9AM at Xcel Energy Center.

The large school Class AA tournament begins Thursday at 11AM with Section 1 representative Farmington (18-8-1) taking on No. 2 seed Stillwater Area (26-1-1) .

No. 3 seed Wayzata (19-8-1) plays Burnsville (16-10-2) at 1PM. No. 1 seed Eden Prairie (19-7-2) faces Anoka (128-9) at 6PM. No. 4 seed Grand Rapids (21-6-1) and No. 5 seed Bemidji (23-2-2) square off at 8PM.

The consolation games are Friday morning at 10AM and noon at Mariucci Arena, and the consolation championship is Saturday at noon at Mariucci. The third-place game will be at 4PM Saturday at Xcel.

The semifinals in Class AA will be Friday at 6PM and 8PM, and the state title game will be at 7PM Saturday.