The Tourney

The TOurney an explanation

written & illustrated by molly murakami

copyright Š 2019 by mOlly murakami. all rights reserved.

no part OF This boOk may be reprinted, reprOduced, Or TransmitTed in any form or by any means wiThouT writTen cOnsenT of the creator. first printing, january 2019.

mOlly murakami and The TOurney: an explanatiOn are not aFfiliaTed, associaTed, authOriZed, endorsed by, Or in any way OFficially cOnnecTed with The minnesota state high schoOl league (mshsl), any mshsl team, Or any of their aFfiliaTes. The use of any trademarked names in this bOok and in relaTed maTerial is strictly for informaTional sTOryTelling purposes, no cOmmercial claim Or suggesTion OF sponsOrship Or endOrsemenT. any names, characters, quOTaTions, and incidenTs porTrayed in This comic have been used FOr educatiOnal purposes Only and have been consciOusly presented in a manner clOsest to Their original conText.

The TOurney an explanation

written & illustrated by

molly murakami

For my grandpa,

andy not everyone would drive four kids from milwaukee to la crosse just to watch the tourney on tv, but not everyone is a Sullivan.

Minnesota is known as the “State of Hockey,” and for a state with no Stanley Cup to speak of, the designation might be confusing to some.

Professional baseball, women’s basketball, even the always-tragic Minnesota Vikings have all claimed at least one title for the state they call home.

The “State of Hockey” moniker runs deeper than the pros, and deeper even than the celebrated college programs (that’s a whole different comic).

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Minnesota is the State of Hockey because of the dreams born after school …

… on backyard ponds …

… in freezing hockey barns …

… on homemade rinks, across the land of 10,000 lakes …

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… and at

The Tourney.

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the Tourney

The Minnesota State High School Boys’ Hockey Tournament is unlike any other state high school athletic tournament.

256 schools in the state register varsity hockey teams, sending 6,500 boys out onto the ice in the hopes of claiming a state title.

The Tourney culls more television viewers and actual attendees than any other state high school tournament, and has often been equated to high school basketball in Indiana and high school football in Texas.

Ask any Minnesotan, though: the Tourney (and surrounding coverage, following, and hype) have them both beat.

The MSHSL Boys’ Hockey Tournament as we know it was conceived of in 1944 by St. Paul’s Gene Aldrich.

The Thief River Falls Prowlers and White Bear Lake Bears faced off on February 15, 1945 in the first State Tournament as 856 spectators looked on in the St. Paul Auditorium.

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Now, the Tourney has surpassed 100,000 attendees in more than 22 seasons.

In 2015, the total attendance record was broken with 135,618 in attendance.

That’s enough to fill Lambeau Field more than one and a half times!

the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, home ice for the Minnesota Wild, is now the perennial host of the Tourney.

Prior to “the X,” Minneapolis’ Target Center played host for a handful of seasons.

and Back in 1969, the Tourney was even played at the Met Center in bloomington, home of the Minnesota North Stars.

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If you ask a Minnesotan who graduated high school before 1999, you’re sure to get memories of the Tourney at the St. Paul Civic Center: a rotunda with a ceiling reminiscent of Madison Square Garden and clear plexiglass boards (yes, boards ).

The SPCC was demolished in 1998 after 25 years of hosting the Tourney, both iterations of the St. Paul Fighting Saints, the Minnesota Moose, and three NCAA Frozen Four championships.

For a quarter of a century, teams across the state vied to skate in St. Paul in the spring.

This set a new record for the largest crowd to ever attend an indoor hockey game in the state of Minnesota: the record attendance for a Wild game in the same arena came in a 2014 contest against Chicago with 19,434 in the stands.

Now at home at “the X,” the Tourney keeps setting records. single-night Tourney attendance records were set in 2008, 2014, and again in 2015, when 21,609 fans attended the 2015 Boys’ Class AA semifinals.

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Now, the hair.

For the first time in 1963, players were introduced on air before each game.

Still to this day, Each player – sans helmet – skates forward from their goal line. They say hi to Mom, Dad, grandparents.

They wink, wave, smile, or stoneface – but the one constant?

Without helmets, the flow is on full display.

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Read the rest! order your copy of The Tourney: An Explanation and bring the history home today!

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