High school hockey in Minnesota predates the official documented start of: 1945 by
almost 40 years where youth high school hockey can be traced to the late 1890’s to
early 1900’s (depending on what source you read or investigate.) The then popular game
of ice polo was evolving and hockey was taking over as the more popular winter pastime.
Hockey had spread south from Canada to communities such as: Warroad, Roseau, Warren,
Hallock, Argyle, Stephen, Thief River Falls, Crookston and Baudette. Hockey eventually
flourished in the small range city of Eveleth, and Duluth. As the sport grew in popularity
throughout the state in the men’s leagues, more rinks started to emerge and along with it the game of hockey gained tremendous popularity among Minnesota’s youth. The first schools to form a varsity team in Minnesota were: St. Paul Mechanic Arts, St. Paul Central, St. Paul Academy, Minneapolis North, Minneapolis East, Minneapolis West and Minneapolis Central. By 1900 two of the schools, St. Paul Central and St. Paul Mechanic Arts, were playing in a four-team men’s senior amateur circuit called the Twin City Senior Hockey League along with the St. Paul and Minneapolis Hockey Clubs. Most of the games were played at the old Star Roller Rink located at Fourth Avenue and 11th Street, which had been converted from a roller rink with natural ice for hockey in 1900. Several teams that year competed for the state amateur “mythical” championship, which featured teams from Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth and Two Harbors. By 1909 Roseau and Warroad began their high school hockey rivalry which continues on today. St. Paul Public High School hockey championships were held for the first time as well in 1909. By 1914 the Minneapolis High School Hockey Conference, which included East, West, North, and Central, as well as the St. Paul City Conference teams: Mechanic Arts, Central, Humboldt and Johnson, whom all maintained their very own school maintained outdoor rinks for team play. During the 1920’s the metro teams - tired of playing each other - began playing the northern teams more
frequently. One of the first “north vs. south” games was in
1922 when St. Paul Central defeated Duluth Central (5-3) in
Duluth. On March 19, 1923, Eveleth beat St. Paul Mechanic
Arts (9-2) for the second state “mythical state championship”,
an event that last took place in 1900. By 1926, the Northeastern
Minnesota High School League was formed with teams from
Duluth (Central and Cathedral) and the Iron Range Cities:
Duluth, Eveleth, Chisholm, Virginia and Hibbing. High School
hockey nonetheless was very popular throughout the entire
state through the mid to late thirties. By 1925 natural ice was
installed in the White Bear Lake Hippodrome at the Ramsey
County Fairgrounds in White Bear Lake, and it happened to
be the only indoor facility in the Twin Cities to possess indoor
ice for the next 25 years. With the new White Bear Lake rink in operation the Bears high school team was resurrected and with it became the first Twin City suburb to ice a high school team. By the end of the 1920’s hockey was sponsored by some 25 high schools in Minnesota. The 1930’s however were a difficult time in America during the Great Depression forcing many public schools to drop their hockey programs. While some communities were forced to cancel hockey, others embraced youth hockey as an inexpensive form of entertainment and with it the game flourished. High School hockey briefly resurged in the late 1930’s but was slowed due to the impact of WWII in the early 1940’s. At the conclusion of WWII hockey was thwarted back into popularity not only in youth hockey, but in the college ranks and Minnesota was leading the way with Mr. Gene Aldrich “driving the bus” for youth hockey’s movement in Minnesota.

The late Gene Aldrich, former director of athletics for junior and senior high schools in St. Paul, had one child, a son named John. Gene Aldrich was, in a sense, also the father of another offspring- the annual Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament, the first and most successful one of its type in the United States. Gene conceived the tournament in 1944, and because of his lobbying it was born in the St. Paul Auditorium shortly past 2 p.m. on Thursday, February 15, 1945, when the Thief River Falls Prowlers, and the White Bear Lake Bears faced off before 856 spectators.

Thief River Falls won that first game 3-2, even though White
Bear Lake led 1-0 after one period on a goal at 9:29 by
defenseman George Kieffer, who, starting from his own blue
line, carried the puck in alone and shot it past Prowler goalie
Ralph Engelstad for the tournament’s very first score.
(Engelstad much later in life would donate $100 Million+ to
the University of North Dakota, and $13.5 Million+ to Thief
River Falls to build 2 rinks that bear his name today) And so it
began, Minnesota’s biggest single athletic event, since George
Kieffer scored that first goal.

The 1945 tournament consisted of eight teams, from so-called
“regions” of Minnesota, that were invited to play for three
consecutive days, Thursday through Saturday, to determine the state champion. Although the regions (today called classes A and AA) have been realigned and teams now must qualify through playoffs, the basic structure of single-elimination play to determine consolation, third-place, second-place, and championship winners remains the same as it was in the beginning.

Joining Thief River Falls (Region 8) and White Bear Lake (Region 2) in that first tournament in 1945 were: Rochester (Region 1), Granite Falls (Region 3), St. Paul Washington (Region 4), St. Cloud Tech (Region 5), Staples (Region 6), and Eveleth (Region 7). Eveleth’s Golden Bears won the championship by edging Thief River Falls (4-3) in the final game, which contrasted with the drubbings Eveleth had inflicted on its first two opponents, Granite Falls (16-0) and Washington (10-0). Washington won third place by beating St. Cloud Tech (7-1) and White Bear Lake shut out Granite Falls (4-0) for the consolation title. The all-tournament team of players selected for their excellence consisted of Neil Celley, Clem Cossalter, Pat Finnegan, and Wally Grant of Eveleth, Bob Baker, Jim Doyle, and Wes Hovie of Thief River Falls, and John Okoneski, the goalie of Washington. The Celley-Finnegan-Grant line, one still revered in Eveleth, scored 23 of Eveleth’s 30 tournament goals. It was Grant’s two third-period goals that brought Eveleth from behind to win in the championship game.

Although they fell victims to Eveleth in what is still the worst defeat in tournament history, the Granite Falls Granites of 1945 have become one of the most famous teams in Minnesota hockey lore, especially to those who cheer for the underdog. As did Staples, the Granites came to the tournament without regular uniforms. They were accustomed to playing in long pants and sweatshirts, with perhaps the most storied feature of their outfits being the newspapers and magazines that the players stuffed into their pants for shin guards. At the start of the tournament, Granite Falls was loaned uniforms for the tournament borrowed from St. Paul Monroe High School, although goalie Gorman Velde stuck with his trusty football helmet to help protect himself from the 31 shots that Eveleth whizzed his way. Once the game began, unexpected delays occurred; the Granites were unacquainted with blue lines and offside rules, so referee John Gustafson provided instructions as to how the game was to be played. Granite Falls won its next game, downing Rochester (2-1) in the first round of consolation play on Friday. The Granites came to the tournament the next year for their second and last time, losing both games they played. Of all the teams in the 1945 tournament, only Staples never returned.

In 1945 even the Eveleth team wore pieced-together uniforms. The jerseys were borrowed from the powerful Eveleth Junior College, and the breezers and skates were secondhand from the National Hockey League’s Chicago Blackhawks team, which then trained in Virginia, Minnesota. Eveleth was, however, prepared in the departments that count most: skating, passing, and shooting. With only 28 high schools in Minnesota having hockey squads registered as of 1945, teams such as Eveleth actually played other high schools infrequently; the Golden Bears were usually matched against amateur junior and senior teams from the Iron Range in games in which 20-minute periods, rather than the customary 12-minute periods of high school games, were typical. Accordingly, Eveleth dominated the early tournaments. The 1945 team was, therefore, more than a novelty; Cliff Thompson, who coached Eveleth into 12 tournaments, rated his first championship among his best teams.

With the first tournament over, Aldrich and his financial backer, Elmer Engelbert, assessed its success to decide whether to continue the next year. Aldrich had in fact planned the tournament carefully, arranging for its financing, civic promotion, and news coverage. Receipts from the attendance of 8,434 allowed Aldrich to reimburse Engelbert and then pay expenses. Aldrich had rented the Auditorium for $429.19. Liability insurance was also modest by today’s standards- $58.00. Tickets were printed for $159.84 and sold for commissions of $155.17. Trophies and medals cost $232.66. A major expense was $1,848.34 for lodging and meals for teams at the St. Paul Hotel. The teams also had traveling expenses ranging from $187.00 for Thief River Falls, which came the farthest, down to nothing for the local Washington team. The expenses for the Board of Control of the Minnesota State High School League were $236.50. Officials, trainers, and scorers were paid $242.00. Finally, after the final deduction of $46.12 for miscellaneous expenses (pucks, signs, and towels), a profit of $135.06 remained. This was given to the High School League. So, Aldrich considered the new arrival sufficiently healthy to rate another try in 1946.

Attendance increased to 11,035 for the 1946 tournament, whose balance matured
amazingly beyond that if its predecessor; two games went into overtime and
seven were decided by one goal. Spurred by a hat-trick by the mysterious
“Masked Marvel”, Roseau won the championship game (6-0) over Rochester.
Before losing to Roseau, Rochester scored one of the tournament’s first upsets by
surprising Eveleth (2-1) in a strange semifinal game. Against Eveleth, coach Cliff
Monrud’s Rockets were deployed in their defensive zone to form a cordon around
their goalie, Clark Wilder, and sent passes to such forwards as Ray Purvis, who
broke away for both Rochester goals. Eveleth took third place by defeating St.
Paul Johnson (1-0), and St. Cloud Tech beat White Bear Lake for consolation
honors, again (1-0). The other entries were Granite Falls and Minneapolis West.
The tournament was now an established event being run both in control, and
financially as well by the Minnesota State High School League as it is today.

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 year 1975. In 1992-93, the
tournament was composed of Tier I and II teams. This two-year experiment sent the top team 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 divided into two classes: AA and the remaining high schools in Class A. Both Classes are then divided into 8 Sections each (157 high schools- approximately 256 schools - and over 6,500 participants in total due to cooperative team arrangements) field sanctioned varsity teams competing in the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL). 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 four teams in each class will be seeded. Coaches of the participating schools will vote to determine the seeded teams the Sunday before the state tournament. The four teams are then bracketed so that if the seeded teams advance, the top seed will play the fourth seed while the second and third seeds will play each other. The quarterfinal opponents of the seeded teams will be determined by a blind draw.

Today having prospered, high school hockey players throughout Minnesota participate in a maximum of 25 contests, excluding the Minnesota State Boys' High School Hockey Tournament. Teams currently play three 17-minute periods to comprise a game. A lengthened period time was recently adopted by the Minnesota State High School League. Boys hockey concludes their season with a four day tournament in March, notably called the “tourney” that features sixteen teams competing for championships in both classes, A and AA. The tournament is now held at the X-cel Energy Center in St. Paul, home of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild. Based on tournament attendance, ice hockey is one of the most popular high school sports in the state. Standing room only crowds converge from around Minnesota to watch the state’s best high school teams in action with record breaking attendance each year of 120,000+ spectators.

The tournament is a showcase for Minnesota sports that can draw on a tradition built by its participants and supporters, who have served in a way befitting that of Gene Aldrich back when it all began in 1945.

Source in part: "Skate for goal" Author: Gary L. Phillips, 1982; Don Clark Notes Collection
State Boys’ Hockey Tournament Leading Scorers — 1945-2009
Goals/Assists/Total Points

1945   Wally Grant, Eveleth 9 4 13
  Pat Finnegan, Eveleth 8 5 13

1946   Rube Bjorkman, Roseau 4 1 5
  Bob Harris, Roseau 3 2 5

1947   Rube Bjorkman, Roseau 6 0 6
  Dave Reipke, St. Paul Johnson 5 1 6
  Francis Tholl, St.Cloud 4 2 6
  Jim Broker, St. Cloud 4 2 6
  John Matchefts, Eveleth 3 3 6

1948  John Matchefts, Eveleth 9 5 14

1949  John Mayasich, Eveleth 7 4 11

1950   John Mayasich, Eveleth 11 1 12
  Ray Beauchamp, Williams 5 7 12

1951  John Mayasich, Eveleth 15 3 18

1952  Jack Petroske, Hibbing 3 8 11

1953   Roger Bertelson, St. Paul Johnson 4 1 5
  Jack Stoskopf, Warroad 4 1 5
  Mike Castellano, Eveleth 3 2 5
  Gerald Palkovich, Eveleth 2 3 5

1954  Dick Jinks, St. Paul Harding 8 0 8

1955  Merv Meredith, Minneapolis Southwest 5 1 6

1956  Cliff Strand, Thief River Falls 4 3 7

1957  Oscar Mahle, International Falls 7 1 8

1958  Ken Pederson, South St. Paul 6 2 8

1959   Dan Cullen, International Falls 6 1 7
  Jim Stordahl, Roseau 4 3 7

1960   Bill Silvertson, Duluth East 5 1 6
  Jim Ross, Duluth East 3 3 6

1961   Craig Falkman, St. Paul Johnson 5 0 5
  Jon Hall, Minneapolis Roosevelt 0 5 5
  Tom Brindley, St. Paul Johnson 2 3 5

1962   Glen Blumer, International Falls 3 3 6
  Jim Amidon, International Falls 4 4 8
  Doug Woog, South St. Paul 2 4 6

1963  Jim Amidon, International Falls 4 4 8

1964  Rob Shattuck, St. Paul Johnson 3 4 7

1965  Pete Fichuk, International Falls 4 3 7

1966  Bob Tok, Greenway, Coleraine 5 3 8

1967  Craig Sarner, North St. Paul 2 9 11

1968  Mike Antonovich, Greenway, Coleraine 3 6 9

1969  Mike Antonovich, Greenway, Coleraine 7 1 8

1970   Paul Miller, Minneapolis Southwest 4 2 6
  Lee Marshall, Warroad 3 3 6
  Frank Krahn, Warroad 1 5 6

1971   Jerry Meier, Hastings 3 2 5
  Dave Otness, Edina 2 3 5

1972   John Shewchuck, South St. Paul 2 4 6
  Warren Miller, South St. Paul 2 4 6

1973  Joe Micheletti, Hibbing 7 4 11

1974  John Rothstein, Grand Rapids 5 2 7

1975  Erin Roth, Grand Rapids 3 7 10

1976  Steve Christoff, Richfield 5 4 9

1977   Scott Lecy, Rochester John Marshall 5 2 7
  Scot Kleinendorst, Grand Rapids 4 3 7

1978  Aaron Broten, Roseau 4 3 7

1979  Aaron Broten, Roseau 6 6 12

1980   Jay North, Bloomington Jefferson 4 3 7
  Scott Richart, Irondale 6 1 7
  John Bader, Irondale 2 5 7

1981  Tony Kellin, Grand Rapids 3 6 9

1982   Steve Bianchi, Bloomington Jefferson 1 6 7
  Jim Johannson, Rochester Mayo 5 2 7

1983  Todd Okerlund, Burnsville 2 6 8

1984  Paul Ranheim, Edina 4 3 7

1985  Tod Hartje, Anoka 3 3 6
  Pat Marolt, Hibbing 4 2 6

1986  Scott Bloom, Burnsville 5 5 10

1987  Jason Miller, Bloomington Kennedy 6 2 8
John Young, South St. Paul 2 6 8

1988  Larry Olimb, Warroad 2 4 6
Kevin Degel, Bloomington Jefferson 0 6 6
Chris Marinucci, Grand Rapids 1 5 6

1989  Sean Rice, Bloomington Jefferson 5 3 8

1990  Chris Gotziaman, Roseau 4 2 6
  Justin McHugh, Minnetonka 4 2 6

1991  Mark Strobel, Hill-Murray 4 3 7

1992 -- I Joe Bianchi, Bloomington Jefferson 6 1 7
  Tim McDonald, Bloomington Jefferson 4 3 7
  Jon Hillman, Blaine 3 4 7
  Mike O’Connell, Apple Valley 3 4 7
1992 -- II Scott Lynch, Minneapolis Roosevelt 4 5 9

1993 -- I Jamie Langenbrunner, Cloquet 3 10 13
  Sergei Petrov, Cloquet 6 7 13
1993 -- II Mark Amundsen, Lake of the Woods 6 4 10

1994 -- AA Ryan Kraft, Moorhead 8 1 9
1994 -- A Brian Bolf, Hibbing 2 8 10

1995 -- AA Dave Spehar, Duluth East 9 0 9
1995 -- A Ryan Dolder, Hutchinson 7 2 9

1996 -- AA Dave Spehar, Duluth East 9 4 13
1996 -- A Josh Heppner, Warroad 1 6 7
  Kaine Martell, Warroad 2 5 7
  John Pohl, Red Wing 5 2 7

1997 -- AA Brian Nelson, Moorhead 5 0 5
1997 -- A Dom Talarico, Proctor 3 7 10

1998 -- AA Jeff Taffe, Hastings 3 4 7
1998 -- A Johnny Pohl, Red Wing 3 8 11

1999 -- AA Mike Klema, Roseau 7 2 9
1999 -- A Troy Riddle, Benilde-St. Margaret’s 7 2 9

2000 -- AA Brandon Bochenski, Blaine 3 4 7
2000 -- A Todd O’Hara, Breck School 3 3 6

2001 -- AA Trevor Stewart, Elk River Area 4 5 9
2001-- A Ryan Miller, Fergus Falls 7 2 9
  BJ Radovich, Hermantown 5 4 9

2002 -- AA Kevin Rollwagen, Academy of Holy Angels 3 4 7
  Jimmy Kilpatrick, Academy of Holy Angels 1 6 7
2002 -- A Brandon Harrington, *Rochester Lourdes 3 5 8

2003 -- AA Josh Frider, Moorhead 4 1 5
2003 -- A Shea Walters, Hibbing 3 6 9

2004 -- AA Rob Johnson, Duluth East 5 3 8
2004 -- A Blake Wheeler, Breck School, Golden Valley 6 5 11

2005 -- AA Matt Overman, Bloomington Jefferson 4 2 6
  Josh Levine, Bloomington Jefferson 2 4 6
  Jay Barriball, Academy of Holy Angels 4 2 6
2005 -- A Quinn Ellingson, Albert Lea 5 2 7
  Cory Ellertson, Albert Lea 4 3 7

2006 -- AA Ben Kinne, Cretin-Derham Hall, St. Paul 3 6 9
2006 -- A Karl Gilbert, Hermantown 5 3 8

2007 -- AA Matt Reber, Edina 1 6 7
   Tyler Barnes, Burnsville 4 3 7
2007 -- A Drew LeBlanc, Hermantown 4 4 8

2008 -- AA Ben Goff, Woodbury 5 3 8
2008 -- A Ben Hanowski, Little Falls 7 3 10

2009 -- AA Anders Lee, Edina 1 8 9
2009 -- A Ben Hanowski, Little Falls 7 2 9
68 Years of Tournament History and Team Photos!!
1904 Duluth Central High School Hockey Donated by the RIP/ Tommy/ Butch Williams Collection
St. Paul Mechanic Arts were a high school hockey "powerhouse" in the early 1920's**
1945-2010 State Tournament complete year-by-year team rosters/results and team photos
Minnesota High School Hockey Milestones


1890’s-1903: Official start of high school hockey play across Minnesota.

1900: First state “mythical state championship” tournament is held.

1922: St. Paul Central defeated Duluth Central (5-3) in Duluth for states first official “north vs. south” game.

1923: Eveleth beat St. Paul Mechanic Arts (9-2) for the second state “mythical state championship

1928: High school hockey played at approximately 25 schools in Minnesota.

1945: The first annual Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament is played at the St. Paul Auditorium.

1947: The tournament is on radio for the first time, as Roseau’s games are broadcast back to northwestern Minnesota.

1947: St. Paul Johnson becomes the first school from the southern part of Minnesota to win the tournament, defeating Roseau 2-1 for the title.

1951: Eveleth wins a record setting fourth straight championship with a 4-1 win over St. Paul Johnson in the deciding game.

1955: In the longest tournament game ever played Minneapolis South defeats Thief River Falls 3-2 in 11 overtimes.

1955: St. Paul Johnson defeats Minneapolis Southwest 3-1 in the first all-southern championship game in tournament history.

1959: Tournament founder; Gene Aldrich, passes away on February 26, 1959.

1961: The tournament in on television for the first time, as the third place and championship games are shown.

1969: The tournament is moved from the St. Paul Auditorium and is played for the first time at the Metropolitan Sports Center in Bloomington.

1970: As a result of expansion of the regular season for many teams, the time of the tournament is moved from February to March.

1975: Private schools are allowed into Minnesota State High School League play for the first time, and into the tournament.

1976: The tournament is moved back to St. Paul, this time to the Civic
Center. 

1992: Tier I and Tier II structure adopted.

1993: 146 teams participated in high school hockey.

1994: Class AA and A structure adopted.

1999: Tournament moved to Target Center in Minneapolis.

2001: Tournament moved to the X-Cel Energy Center in St. Paul, home
of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild

2003: Period length changed from 15 to 17 minutes.

2007: Coaches seed top four teams in each class.
1946 Tournament Program
State Boys’ Hockey Tournament Winners — 1945-2009


YEARCHAMPIONRUNNER-UPSCORETHIRD PLACECONSOLATION


1945 Eveleth (11-0) Thief River Falls 4-3 St. Paul Washington White Bear Lake

1946 Roseau (23-4) Rochester 6-0 Eveleth St. Cloud

1947 St. Paul Johnson (34-1) Roseau 2-1 Minneapolis West South St. Paul

1948 Eveleth (15-0) Warroad 8-2 St. Cloud St. Paul Harding

1949 Eveleth (13-0) Williams 4-1 Warroad Minneapolis Washburn

1950 Eveleth (22-0) Williams 4-3 International Falls St. Paul Murray

1951 Eveleth (19-0) St. Paul Johnson 4-1 Thief River Falls St. Paul Murray

1952 Hibbing (12-2) Eveleth 4-3 Minneapolis Southwest Thief River Falls

1953 St. Paul Johnson (29-2) Warroad 4-1 Eveleth St. Paul Humboldt

1954 Thief River Falls (20-0) Eveleth 4-1 St. Paul Johnson St. Paul Harding

1955 St. Paul Johnson (26-1-2) Minneapolis Southwest 3-1 South St. Paul Thief River Falls

1956 Thief River Falls (19-1) International Falls 3-2 Eveleth St. Paul Johnson

1957 International Falls (23-2) Roseau 3-2 Minneapolis South Edina

1958 Roseau (22-4-1) St. Paul Harding 1-0 South St. Paul Minneapolis Roosevelt

1959 Roseau (30-0) Minneapolis Washburn 4-2 International Falls Thief River Falls

1960 Duluth East (23-3) St. Paul Washington 3-1 Minneapolis Patrick Henry Minneapolis                                         Washburn

1961 Roseau (21-3-2) South St. Paul 1-0 Duluth East St. Paul Johnson

1962 International Falls (23-2-1) Roseau 4-0 South St. Paul Edina

1963 St. Paul Johnson (24-2-1) International Falls 4-3 (OT) Roseau Alexander Ramsey

1964 International Falls (22-3-1) St. Paul Johnson 7-3 Minneapolis Patrick Henry Roseau

1965 International Falls (26-0) Bloomington 7-0 St. Paul Johnson Alexander Ramsey

1966 International Falls (26-0) Roseau 5-0 South St. Paul Greenway, Coleraine

1967 Greenway,Coleraine (20-4-2) St. Paul Johnson 4-2 Hibbing Roseau

1968 Greenway, Coleraine (23-3) South St. Paul 6-1 St. Paul Johnson Roseau

1969 Edina (26-1) Warroad 5-4 (OT) South St. Paul Greenway, Coleraine

1970 Minneapolis Southwest (24-0-1) Edina 1-0 (OT) Hibbing North St. Paul

1971 Edina (22-2-3) Roseau 1-0 International Falls Hastings

1972 International Falls (22-3-1) Grand Rapids 3-2 Minneapolis Southwest Edina

1973 Hibbing (22-4-2) Alexander Ramsey 6-3 International Falls Minneapolis Southwest

1974 Edina East (24-0) Bemidji 6-0 Grand Rapids Hibbing

1975 Grand Rapids (23-4) Minneapolis Southwest 6-1 Hill-Murray Duluth East

1976 Grand Rapids (22-5) Richfield 4-3 Hill-Murray Bloomington Kennedy

1977 Rochester John Marshall (25-2) Edina East 4-2 Grand Rapids Hill-Murray

1978 Edina East (25-1) Grand Rapids 5-4 (2OT) Roseau Hill-Murray

1979 Edina East (22-4) Rochester John Marshall 4-3 (OT) Roseau Grand Rapids

1980 Grand Rapids (21-5) Hill-Murray 2-1 Bloomington Jefferson Irondale

1981 Bloomington Jefferson (17-8-1) Irondale 3-2 South St. Paul Grand Rapids

1982 Edina (22-4) White Bear Mariner 6-0 Hibbing Cloquet

1983 Hill-Murray (28-0) Burnsville 4-3 Henry Sibley Edina

1984 Edina (21-4-1) Bloomington Kennedy 4-2 Hibbing Roseau

1985 Burnsville (24-1-1) Hill-Murray 4-3 Anoka Hibbing

1986 Burnsville (20-5-1) Hill-Murray 4-1 Duluth Denfeld Bemidji

1987 Bloomington Kennedy (25-1-0) Burnsville 4-1 Greenway, Coleraine South St. Paul

1988 Edina (21-5-1) Hill-Murray 5-3 Bloomington Jefferson Duluth Denfeld

1989 Bloomington Jefferson (25-3) Rochester John Marshall 5-4 (OT) Duluth Denfeld Edina

1990 Roseau (26-2) Grand Rapids 3-1 Minnetonka White Bear Lake

1991 Hill-Murray (22-6-0) Duluth East 5-3 Burnsville Richfield

1992-- I   Bloomington Jefferson (25-2-2) Moorhead 6-3 Blaine Apple Valley
1992-- II  Greenway, Coleraine/ Rosemount 6-1 Orono, Long Lake Minneapolis Roosevelt                             Nashwauk-Keewatin (16-12)

1993-- I   Bloomington Jefferson (28-0) Hill-Murray 4-0 Moorhead *Cloquet/Esko/Carlton
1993-- II  Eveleth-Gilbert (14-14) *Lake of the Woods, 3-2 (2OT) Henry Sibley Orono, Long Lake                              Baudette MN/Rainy River Ontario Canada

1994-- AABloomington Jefferson (26-1-1) Moorhead 3-1 Duluth East White Bear Lake Area
1994-- A  Warroad (24-4) Hibbing 5-3 Mahtomedi Minneapolis Edison

1995-- AADuluth East (25-3-0) Moorhead 5-3 Edina Bloomington Jefferson
1995-- A  International Falls (20-7-1) Totino-Grace, Fridley 3-2 Warroad Hutchinson

1996-- AAApple Valley (27-1-0) Edina 3-2 Duluth East Alexandria
1996-- A  Warroad (24-4-0) Red Wing 10-3 Breck School, Golden Valley Simley, Inver Grove Heights

1997-- AAEdina (25-3-0) Duluth East 1-0 Moorhead Anoka
1997-- A  Red Wing (28-0-0) Warroad 4-3 *Proctor Breck School, Golden Valley

1998-- AADuluth East (25-3-0) Anoka 3-1 Bloomington Jefferson Hastings
1998-- A  Eveleth-Gilbert (22-6-0) Hermantown 2-1 Red Wing East Grand Forks

1999-- AARoseau (27-1-0) Hastings 4-0 Elk River Area Blaine
1999-- A  Benilde-St. Margaret’s (26-2-0) East Grand Forks 4-2 Fergus Falls St. Thomas Academy,                          Mendota Heights

2000-- AABlaine (21-5-2) Duluth East 4-2 Hastings Roseau
2000-- A  Breck School, Golden Valley (24-3-1) Warroad 3-2 International Falls Farmington

2001-- AAElk River Area (29-1-1) Moorhead 8-1 *Greenway Raiders Eastview, Apple Valley
2001-- A  Benilde-St. Margaret’s (22-9-0) *Rochester Lourdes 2-1 Hermantown East Grand Forks

2002-- AAAcademy of Holy Angels (26-4-0) Hill-Murray 4-2 Roseville Area Elk River Area
2002-- A  Totino Grace, Fridley (27-2-1) Red Wing 3-2 *Rochester Lourdes East Grand Forks

2003-- AAAnoka (25-4-1) Roseville Area 3-1 Academy of Holy Angels White Bear Lake Area
2003-- A  Warroad (28-1-1) Simley, Inver Grove Heights 3-1 Orono Hibbing

2004-- AA       Centennial, Circle Pines (30-1-0) Moorhead 1-0 Duluth East Academy of Holy Angels,                      Richfield
2004-- A  Breck School, Golden Valley (28-1-2) Orono 7-2 Hibbing Warroad

2005-- AAAcademy of Holy Angels, Richfield Moorhead 6-4 Duluth East White Bear Lake Area (26-3-1)
2005-- A  Warroad (27-0-2) Totino-Grace, Fridley 4-3 (2OT) Marshall School, Duluth Albert Lea

2006-- AACretin-Derham Hall, St. Paul (27-4) Grand Rapids 7-0 *Blaine Minnetonka
2006-- A  St. Thomas Academy (24-5-1) Marshall School, Duluth 4-3 Hermantown The Blake School,                              Minneapolis

2007-- AARoseau (28-2) Grand Rapids 5-1 Rochester Century Edina
2007-- A  Hermantown (29-0-1) Marshall School, Duluth 4-1 St. Thomas Academy Orono

2008-- AAHill Murray (24-3-1) Edina 3-0 Benilde-St. Margaret’s Woodbury
2008-- A  St. Thomas Academy (26-5) Marshall School, Duluth 5-1 Warroad Little Falls

2009-- AAEden Praire
2009-- A  Breck School
"Growing up, my heroes weren't the NHL guys though, they were the Roseau High School hockey players. I feel really lucky to have grown up in such a wonderful hockey town, where the tradition runs so deep in the community. I mean hockey is what that town is all about for basically eight months out of the year - it's pretty amazing, and to be a part of that is something special. In small towns like that, you start playing with the same group of guys from when you first get on skates, all the way through pee wees and finally through high school. So when it's over, it's like saying goodbye to family. I was lucky though. We got to play in the state tournament..." Neal Broten
Minnesota Mr. Goalie- Frank Brimsek Award Winners

1994-1995   Todd Kelzenberg - Blaine
1995-1996   Karl Goehring - Apple Valley
1996-1997   Kyle Kolquist - Duluth East 
1997-1998   Adam Coole - Duluth East  
1998-1999   Adam Laaksonen - Cloquet
1999-2000   Jake Brant - Roseau 
2000-2001   Eric Aarnio - White Bear Lake
2001-2002   Josh Johnson - Cloquet
2002-2003   Jon Anderson - White Bear Lake
2003-2004   Matt Lundin - Apple Valley
2004-2005   Alec Richards - Breck
2005-2006   Austin Lee - Bloomington Jefferson
2006-2007   Reid Ellingson - Cloquet
2007-2008   Joe Phillippi - Hill-Murray
2008-2009   Casey O'Connor - Bloomington Jefferson
Minnesota Mr. Hockey Award Finalists
* Denotes Winner

1985 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*Tom Chorske - Minneapolis Southwest
Dave Espe - White Bear Lake
Tom Hanson - Hibbing
Todd Richards - Robbinsdale Armstrong
Dan Tousignant - Boomington Kennedy

1986 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*George Pelawa - Bemidji
Scott Bloom - Burnsville
Lance Pitlick - Robbinsdale Cooper
Tom Quinlan - Hill-Murray
Blaine Rude - Fergus Falls

1987 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*Kris Miller - Greenway
Ken Gernander - Greenway
Mike Vukonich - Duluth Denfield
Joe Decker - Bloomington Kennedy
Jason Miller - Bloomington Kennedy

1988 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*Larry Olimb - Warroad
Chad Erickson - Warroad
Sean Hill - Duluth East
Tom Pederson - Bloomington Jefferson
Jeff Saterdalen - Bloomington Jefferson

1989 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*Trent Klatt - Osseo
Doug Zmolek - Rochester John Marshall
Bryan Schoen - Minnetonka
Jon Brill - Grand Rapids
Tom Newman - Blaine

1990 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*Joe Dziedzic - Edison
Billy Lund - Roseau
Mike Muller - Wayzata
Craig Johnson - Hill-Murray
Tom Nevers - Edina

1991 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*Darby Hendrickson - Richfield
Steve Magnusson - Anoka
Brad Konik - Bloomington Kennedy
Rusty Fitzgerald - Duluth East
Joe Tamminen - Virginia

1992 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS
*Brian Bonin - White Bear Lake
Bobby Dustin - Roseville
Kirk Nielson - Grand Rapids
Jeff Romfro - Blaine
Dan Trebil - Bloomington Jefferson

1993 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*Nick Checco - Bloomington Jefferson
Tim Harberts - Wayzata
Mike Maristuen - Roseville
Rick Mrozik - Cloquet
Stewart Swenson - St. Cloud Apollo

1994 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*Mike Crowley - Bloomington Jefferson
Joe Bianchi - Bloomington Jefferson
Brian Bolf - Hibbing
Woody Glines - Elk River
Jason Godbout - Hill-Murray
Clint Johnson - Duluth East
Ryan Kraft - Moorhead
Jesse Sampair - Mahtomedi
Jason Sells - South St. Paul
Jason Stewart - Simley

1995 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*Erik Rasmussen - St. Louis Park
Mike Anderson - Bloomington Jefferson
Matt Cullen - Moorhead
Mark Parrish - Bloomington Jefferson
Wyatt Smith - Warroad

1996 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*David Spehar - Duluth East
Ben Clymer - Bloomington Jefferson
Mike Lyons - St. Paul Johnson
Erik Maksimenko - Elk River
Shawn Pogreba - St. Paul Johnson

1997 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*Aaron Miskovich - Grand Rapids
Dan Carlson - Edina
Matt Leimbeck - Rochester Mayo
Dylan Mills - Duluth East
Erik Westrum - Apple Valley

1998 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*Johnny Pohl - Red Wing
Nick Angell - Duluth East
Dave Hergert - Bloomington Jefferson
Patrick O'Leary - Robbinsdale Armstrong
Erik Wendell - Maple Grove

1999 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*Jeff Taffe - Hastings
Derrick Byfuglien - Roseau
Jay Dardis - Proctor
Matt Koalska - Hill-Murray
Dan Welch - Hastings
2000 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*Paul Martin - Elk River
Matt Hendricks - Blaine
Tim Jackson - Park Center
Colin Peters - Eden Prairie
Aaron Slattengren - Proctor

2001 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*Marty Sertich - Roseville
Jake Brenk - Breck
Mike Erickson - Eden Prairie
Tim Hambly - White Bear Lake
Aaron Johnson - Robbinsdale Armstrong

2002 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*Gino Guyer - Greenway
David Backes - Spring-Lake Park
Tom Biondich - International Falls
Ryan Carter - White Bear Lake
Tommy Kolar - Duluth East
Nick Licari - Duluth East
Travis Morin - Osseo
B.J. Radovich - Hermantown
Mark Van Guilder - Roseville

2003 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*Nate Dey - North St. Paul
Brent Borgen - Mahtomedi
Sean Garrity - North St. Paul
Ben Gordon - International Falls
Ryan Hawkins - Eden Prairie
Jimmy Kilpatrick - Academy of Holy Angels
Mike Lundin - Apple Valley
Brad Peterson - Bloomington Jefferson
Garrett O. Regan - Hill-Murray
Scott Thauwald - Rochester Mayo

2004 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*Tom Gorowsky - Centennial
Will Engasser - Blake
Blake Friesen - Benilde-St. Margaret
Brian Gifford - Moorhead
Alex Goligoski - Grand Rapids
Jack Hillen - Academy of Holy Angels
Sam Kelly - Hill-Murray
Rob Page - Blake
Mike Taylor - Academy of Holy Angels
J.T. Wyman - Blake

2005 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*Brian Lee - Moorhead
Matt Ambroz - New Prague
R.J. Anderson - Centennial
Brian Connelly - Bloomington Jefferson
Robby Dee - Breck
Jared Hummel - Academy of Holy Angels
Matt Niskanen - Virginia
Mitch Ryan - Cloquet
T.J. Oshie - Warroad
Chris VandeVelde - Moorhead

2006 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*David Fischer - Apple Valley
Jay Barriball - Academy of Holy Angels
Michael Forney - Thief-River Falls
Jordan Fulton - Breck
David Grun - White Bear Lake
Kyle Medvec - Apple Valley
Joey Miller - Wayzata
Nick Oslund - Burnsville
Andy Sackirson - St. Louis Park
Carl Sneep - Brainerd

2007 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*Ryan McDonagh - Cretin-Derham Hall
Jordy Christian - Moorhead
Mike Dorr - Roseville
Tyler Johnson - Cloquet
Nick Larson - Hill-Murray
John Lee - Moorhead
Aaron Marvin - Warroad
Taylor Matson - Academy of Holy Angels
Matt Reber - Edina
Patrick White - Grand Rapids

2008 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*Aaron Ness - Roseau
Tyler Barnes - Burnsville
J. T. Brown - Rosemount
Corey Fienhage - Eastview
Jake Gardiner - Minnetonka
Joe Gleason - Edina
Justin Jokinen - Cloquet
Zach Lehrke - Park Rapids
Drew Olson - Brainerd
Jake Youso - International Falls

2009 MR. HOCKEY FINALISTS

*Nick Leddy - Eden Prairie
Dan DeLisle - Totino-Grace
Marshall Everson - Edina
Ben Hanowski - Little Falls
Tyler Lapic - New Prague
Anders Lee - Edina
Danny Mattson - Holy Angels
Zach Palmquist - South St. Paul
Tyler Pitlick - Centennial
Max Tardy - Duluth East
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