What a treat! The 2007 Boys Hockey Tournament has come to a close - and after a couple of decades, we were able to see an All Northern Championship - in class A and class AA. For a guy from the Range…it was a blessing and a curse. It was really difficult to watch Duluth Marshall and Grand Rapids finish in second place - but it was great to see these Northern teams advance…A big congratulations goes out to Hermantown and Roseau!

I was having a burger at a local establishment and overheard the bartender (found out he is a Greenway alum) tell an Edina local that they were having fan appreciation day at the local figure skating arena…I thought that was funny. The truth is…all of us from Northern Minnesota have been watching our teams get their butts kicked by the city kids for a long, long time…and finally “we” were able to pull one off - how sweet it was.

If you are not a hockey fan or you are not from the state of Minnesota - you probably think my last few posts are kind of strange…but to put this into perspective…When Herb Brooks (Coach of the “Miracle On Ice” 1980 Gold Medal Olympic Team) was asked if beating the Russians was his greatest [hockey] accomplishment - he replied “No” - his greatest accomplishment was making it to the State Hockey Tournament with South St. Paul High School. High School hockey is to Minnesota what High School football is to Texas. Its big.

Anyway, this post concludes my biased coverage of the 2007 State Hockey Tournaments - of which, LakePlace.com was a very proud corporate sponsor. We congratulate ALL schools that made it to the tournament. It is a huge accomplishment of which you should be extremely proud. Once again, congratulations to all participating schools from LakePlace.com!