John's Journal
The Great Soft Drink Debate …And Some Tournament Notes2/28/2011
In the midst of section tournaments and state tournaments and hockey and wrestling and gymnastics and swimming and basketball, an old debate has returned to the scene of the action.

Question: Should a guy like me be drinking Diet Coke? After the completion of last week’s girls state hockey tournament, I received an email warning me about the stuff. As noted in the daily dispatches, I sucked down four cans of Diet Coke during each of the four days of the hockey tournament.

I was inside the Xcel Energy Center for 12 hours or more each day, so is one Diet Coke every three hours too much? Here are excerpts from the email …

“John, Thanks for the great reporting on the Girls State Hockey tourney. Now, to lecture you: Diet Coke, no, no, no. John, John, John. No. No Nutrasweet. No Aspartame.

“Find something else delicious. Green tea with honey, anyone? Personally, I love the impact of green tea, a couple cups of hot, and I somehow feel better.

“Do well.”

So, I am open to further advice. I’m not saying I can, should or will give up on the Diet Cokes at tourney time. I rarely have soft drinks at home, and I generally have diet green tea in the fridge. But I don’t know if I want to haul a supply of diet green tea to all the tournaments, since the Diet Cokes are already there. And chilled.

If you have thoughts on this or any of the other Great Questions of Our Time, fire an email my way. No guarantees, but I will gladly listen to the opinions of one and all.

TOURNAMENT TIME

This is a big week, with lots of things happening on the section and state levels. I may drop in at Mariucci Arena on Wednesday for a doubleheader of boys hockey section finals. The state wrestling tournament will begin Thursday with the team competition in all three classes, and the individuals will take over Friday and Saturday.

One of the big stories at the wrestling tournament will be Elissa Reinsma, a senior at Fulda/Murray County Central. Two years ago she made history by becoming the first female to qualify for state. Now a senior with a season record of 32-5, she has qualified for a second time. Wrestling at 103 pounds, she will meet Foley sophomore Tristan Manderfeld in the first round at 11 a.m. Thursday. Reinsma is unranked and Manderfeld is ranked No. 2 in Class AA at 103.

The boys swimming and diving meet will take place at the University of Minnesota on Thursday and Friday. One of the many interesting stories there is Farmington’s Tyler Magalis. He is a top-notch diver and swims in relays, too, but there’s more to his story.

The Farmington diving coach is Gregg Rappe, whose son RJ was a state diving champion in 2004 and went on to compete at the University of Massachusetts. Magalis has already broken RJ Rappe’s school record for diving, and his coach is, yes, RJ’s father. That’s a neat story.

When the boys state hockey tournament kicks off on March 9, there is an interesting twist with the officials.Three brothers have been assigned to work the state tournament; two of them are referees and one is a linesman, so they could end up working together.

Feel free to pass along any tournament notes from your school, and we’ll spread the news far and wide. Have a great week, everybody!

BY THE NUMBERS
*Schools/teams John has visited: 479
*Miles John has driven: 8,215

--Join the MSHSL on Facebook by clicking on the Facebook button on the right side of www.mshsl.org. John Millea is on Twitter at twitter.com/mshsljohn
Girls State Hockey Tournament: Fathers and Daughters, Smiles and Tears2/26/2011
After Warroad had won its second consecutive Class 1A girls state hockey championship Saturday afternoon, coach David Marvin sat at a table taking questions from the media. On his right were forward Karley Sylvester and goaltender Shelby Amsley-Benzie (pictured below). On his left were forwards Lisa and Layla Marvin.

Lisa and Layla are also David’s daughters. This question was raised to the Marvin girls: What does it mean to win back-to-back championships with your dad?

Layla, a senior who is two years older than Lisa, pulled the microphone they were sharing towards her seat and said with a smile, “I’d like to say it’s more with our team, but I’m glad our dad’s here, too.”

Layla had two goals and one assist in Warroad’s 5-1 victory over South St. Paul and Lisa had a goal and an assist. South St. Paul’s goal was scored by freshman Abby Palmquist, the daughter of coach Dave Palmquist.

Dave Palmquist and senior defender Sam LaShomb represented the Packers during the postgame media sessions. Sam was a little emotional, as you would expect. Sitting in front of reporters and TV cameras and answering questions after losing the biggest game of your life … that might be a tougher assignment than actually playing the game.

As the coach answered a question, Sam (pictured) looked to her left and saw a TV monitor on which Warroad’s postgame celebration was being replayed. That had to be tough to watch.

As the Warroad contingent walked to the media session, they were one very happy group of teenagers. Amsley-Benzie had a New Year’s Eve-style party favor in her mouth. It didn’t make any noise, but as she blew into it, it would unroll and then roll back up. As the Warriors walked past the door to South St. Paul’s locker room, the door opened and the Packers began trickling out, carrying equipment bags and sad eyes. It was proof again of the narrow line between winning and losing, between unforgettable elation and heart-wrenching sadness.

David Marvin talked about the Warriors season, about the seniors on this year’s team and what they will take from the experience. “We’ll have great memories for the rest of our lives,” he said.

Indeed they will. Things will look brighter for the Packers, too. South St. Paul loses only three seniors from the state runner-up team. Don’t be surprised, a year from now, to see the Packers doing the celebrating.

MINNETONKA WINS 2A TITLE

Saturday night’s contest was as close as they come, with Amy Petersen scoring at the 16:20 mark of the third period to carry Minnetonka past Edina 3-2. While there were no father-daughter combinations this time, the emotions were just as varied as after the 1A title game.

The Minnetonka Skippers were skating on air. Down the hall, sobs were heard coming from the Edina locker room. But, as is often the case, the tears were replaced by trickles of laughter not too much later. All the teams have much to be proud of, and even those that didn’t take home a state championship will understand that more and more as time goes on.

GREAT DAY FOR FEMALE ATHLETES

--Saturday was championship day at girls state hockey as well as individual championship day of the state gymnastics meet at the U of M. For the first time, all four officials for a girls hockey title game were women: Kelli Rolusta, Kristina Langley, Ashley Alm and Kristin Moran. And there was big news in the wrestling world, too. Fulda/Murray County Central senior Elissa Reinsma, who in 2009 became the first female to qualify for the Minnesota state wrestling tourney, qualified again Saturday at the Class 2A, Section 3 tournament. The state wrestling tournament will be held Thursday through Saturday here at the X.

TIDBITS

2A Herb Brooks Award winner: Carolyn Draayer, Minnetonka.

2A All-Tournament Team: Rachael Bona, Coon Rapids; Hannah Brandt, Hill-Murray; Sarah Neilsen, Sami Reber, Ali Austin, Megan Armstrong, Maddie Dahl, Edina; Julie Friend, Carolyn Draayer, Sidney Morin, Amy Petersen, Rachel Ramsey, Minnetonka.

2A third-place game: Coon Rapids 5, Hill-Murray 4 (3 OT). Chelsea Cyert scored in the second overtime to lift the Cardinals past the Pioneers.

2A fifth-place game: Elk River/Zimmerman 2, Lakeville South 1. Josie Broan had a goal and an assist for Elk River/Zimmerman.

--1A Herb Brooks Award winner: Amanda Arbogast, Eveleth-Gilbert.

--1A All-Tournament Team: Katie Felton, Sam LaShomb, Abbie Wisneskie, South St. Paul; Milica McMillen, Prentice Basten, Breck; Paige Hailey, Red Wing; Amanda Arbogast, Eveleth-Gilbert; Sara Carlson, Hutchinson; Shelby Amsley-Benzie, Layla Marvin, Karley Sylvester, Kayla Gardner, Warroad.

--1A third-place game: Breck 6, Eveleth-Gilbert 4. Milica McMillen scored two goals for Breck. Eveleth-Gilbert’s Kayla Moe had a goal and three assists.

--1A fifth-place game: Red Wing 5, Hutchinson 4. Paige Hailey had two goals for the Wingers and Claire Cripps had two for Hutchinson.

--Pep Band Song of the Day: With drums beating, the Warroad band members stood and used their arms to form the letters and spell “W-A-R-R-I-O-R-S.”

--Diet Coke Count: Four for the day, 16 for the tournament.

BY THE NUMBERS
*Schools/teams John has visited: 479
*Miles John has driven: 8,215

--Join the MSHSL on Facebook by clicking on the Facebook button on the right side of www.mshsl.org. John Millea is on Twitter at twitter.com/mshsljohn
Girls State Hockey Tournament: A Stroke Of Wild Inspiration2/25/2011
As Edina junior goaltender Maddie Dahl walked into the media room after the Hornets had earned a spot in the Class 2A state championship game Friday night, I said to her quietly, “That stick really IS magic.”

She whispered, “It is!”

Dahl had just finished her second shutout of the tournament as Edina beat Hill-Murray 2-0 to move into Saturday’s state championship game against Minnetonka. The stick we spoke of is a very special goalie stick, a gift that Maddie isn’t afraid to credit for her sterling performance at Xcel Energy Center.

In Thursday’s semifinals Dahl shut out Rosemount 6-0. There was undoubtedly a little magic at work, magic that began a couple hours before game time thanks to the generosity of injured Wild goaltender Josh Harding.

Harding is sidelined with a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee, suffered during the preseason. So while the Wild are in California, he’s back here in Minnesota going through the rehab process. He was on the ice at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday morning when the Edina Hornets arrived at the arena for their opening game.

Some of the Hornets saw Harding from the concourse level, but Dahl was the only one to run down the stairs to reach ice level. “He’s my idol,” she told me Friday before Edina met Hill- Murray in the semifinals.

She isn’t afraid to admit that she had her face pressed up to the glass to watch Harding. As his workout ended, he began picking up pucks and gathering his equipment. Then he did something that Dahl certainly did not expect. He picked up one of his sticks and tossed it over the glass to her.

Did somebody say “stunned”?

“I was like, ‘Wow!’ I thought he was going to take it back,” Maddie said. “I got kind of nervous and I ran really fast up the stairs.”

Her teammates, having witnessed the tossing of the stick, met Maddie at the concourse level and gathered around the stick; an honest-to-goodness NHL goalie’s stick. Harding is lefthanded and Maddie is righthanded, but what the heck does that matter? It just means she is less likely to use it on the ice and break it or see some similar catastrophe take place.

The story, however, doesn’t end there. Maddie and her teammates went down to the locker room level, where Harding was standing outside the Wild locker room holding a bottle of water. He saw Maddie carrying the stick, gave her a fist bump and said to her, “Good luck.”

But, again there’s more. Maddie doesn’t know who did what, but somehow, someway, somebody had Harding autograph the stick when she was otherwise occupied before the game. All she knows is that before the game, Harding had autographed it. Plus, he came into the locker room and again told Maddie, “Good luck.”

He had written on the stick, “To Maddie. Good Luck!” He signed his name and his number, 37.

But wait. The story isn’t over. You know that Maddie shut out Rosemount, making 24 saves. When I asked her what she did with the stick after the game, she smiled. Then she told me this: she slept with it.

And it’s a pretty safe bet that she slept with it again Friday night.

Josh Harding, you are my idol, too.

MINNETONKA vs. COON RAPIDS --Paige Baldwin and Carolyn Draayer each scored two goals to lead the Skippers into the state title game. Coon Rapids will meet Hill-Murray in Saturday's third-place game.

CLASS 1A SEMIFINALS --Saturday's 1A state championship game will be a matchup between two traditional powers South St. Paul and Warroad. The Packers edged Breck 1-0 on a third-period goal by Ali Chulla. Warroad defeated Eveleth-Gilbert 9-0. South St. Paul won state titles in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006. Warroad is the defending state champion and finished second in 2006 and 2009.

TIDBITS

--Quote of the Day: South St. Paul's Chulla was asked how she felt when the final second ticked off the clock in the Packers’ win over Breck. Her answer was in the form of two questions: “I don’t know? OMG?”

--Quote of the Day Part II: Warroad coach David Marvin to the media contingent, which apparently didn’t have enough questions: “You guys are dull this year.”

--Nice backstage scene: As Hill-Murray’s Hannah Brandt and Marissa Brandt left the postgame media session they crossed paths with Edina’s Dahl and Sami Reber, who were headed to meet the press. The players hugged each other.

--Breck goaltender Taylor Neisen accompanied Mustangs coach Lenny Vannelli to the interview room. Taylor was a little teary-eyed as she entered the room, but was soon smiling as she talked about the experience. Good for you, Taylor. (That's her in the photo.)

--Pep Band Song of the Day: South St. Paul’s version of “Hey Jude.”

--Mascot Update: The Eveleth-Gilbert Bears not only have cheerleaders, but they also brought a bear to the semifinals. Not a ferocious grizzly, but a friendly Teddy bear. And Sir Loin, the skating steer who leads the parade for South St. Paul, was on the ice firing up the Packers fans before the first game of the day.

--The large South St. Paul student contingest was dressed in “black out” mode, as opposed to all-white attire during Wednesday’s quarterfinals. Very nice planning and execution, young Packers.

--Update on Celebrity Sighting from earlier in the week: Attorney/baseball expert Clark Griffith is the father of Breck senior Caroline Griffith.

--Milestone Moment: Shortly after 3 p.m. Friday, the MSHSL Facebook page reached a very nice plateau of 2,000 friends. If you want to see photo galleries -- including behind-the-scenes photos -- from the tournament, head on over to Facebook and join us.

--Diet Coke Count: Four for the day, 12 for the tournament.

BY THE NUMBERS
*Schools/teams John has visited: 479
*Miles John has driven: 8,174

--Join the MSHSL on Facebook by clicking on the Facebook button on the right side of www.mshsl.org. John Millea is on Twitter at twitter.com/mshsljohn
Girls State Hockey Tournament: Toughness Is In Her Blood2/24/2011
Rachael Kelly pointed to her chin, then above her left eye, then to her right ear and then back to her chin. She counted as she pointed, and the final number was 37. As in 37 stitches, all coming via hockey during her high school career.

We know this much: The senior hockey player from Rosemount can take a pounding. During Rosemount’s 6-0 loss to Edina in Thursday’s Class 2A state quarterfinals at Xcel Energy Center, Kelly played with 18 fresh stitches abover her eye. That gash came in the Section 3 championship game against Eastview, when either a stick or a helmet-to-helmet collision split skin. It was her second time needing stitches this season.

“I felt the blood dripping down all over my face,” she said Thursday. “The trainer cleaned it off quick and said, “You’re gonna need like 15 stitches.” I didn’t want to go to the hospital again so she butterflied it up, put a bandaid on it and I went back out.”

That’s another theme for the Irish forward. Stitch her up and she goes back on the ice. She went down hard in a December game against Eagan – as she put it, “I got rocked” – resulting in six stitches under her chin.

“I didn’t even know it,” she said. “I kept playing and it was bleeding. I thought it was just sweat and I wiped it with my hand and I was like, “Ah, blood!” The trainer said, 'You’re gonna need stitches,' so we went to the hospital.”

The trip to the hospital came after the game, in which Kelly did not miss a single shift.

Kelly (pictured) is Rosemount’s leading scorer, coming into the tournament with 30 goals and 41 assists and an astounding plus/minus of plus 54. Kelly and fellow senior Allison Micheletti led the Irish with seven shots on goal each Thursday.

“It was really cool to play here,” Kelly said. “It was awesome to see so many people come out and support us. The score definitely did not reflect on how we played. But we made a couple mistakes and that’s what caused them to get points on the board.”

Rosemount will meet South Suburban Conference rival Lakeville South in the consolation bracket Friday morning at Ridder Arena. The loser will be done for the season and the winner will play in Saturday’s fifth-place game.

“We’re not going to be done after (Friday’s game),” Kelly said. “We’re going to play three games.”

One last thing about Kelly and her 38 stitches: She plans to go into nursing.

OTHER GAMES

--Hill Murray defeated Lakeville South 4-3. It was the Pioneers’ third consecutive one-goal victory, after beating White Bear Lake and Roseville by 4-3 scores in the Section 4 playoffs. “The last two games we’ve been through heck and back,” said Hill-Murray coach Bill Schafhauser.

--Minnetonka defeated Elk River/Zimmerman 3-0 with senior defender Rachel Ramsey scoring two goals. Ramsey is the daughter of former Wild assistant coach Mike Ramsey.

--Rachael Bona's four goals lifted Coon Rapids past North Wright County 6-1 in the day’s final game.

TIDBITS

--Thursday’s first game pitted coaches who were hockey teammates at the University of Mnnesota: Edina’s Laura Slominski and Rosemount’s Tracy (Engstrom) Cassano.They were roommates for four years, team captains and won a national championship together in 2000.

--A backup player from one team forgot to bring her helmet and gloves to the arena. A helmet was found somewhere in the building (no gloves could be located) so the player could be in uniform and sit on the bench for her team’s game.

--Best Band Performance (Culinary Division): After the Edina-Rosemount game, the Rosemount pep band, which is not small in numbers, walked down West 7th Street to have lunch at Cossetta Italian Market.

--Pep Band Song of the Day: “Live and Let Die” by the Hill-Murray band.

--Pep Band Battle of the Day: Between the second and third periods, the band from Elk River/Zimmerman performed “Smoke on the Water,” the Minnetonka band answered with “Smoke on the Water,” Elk River/Zimmerman came right back with “Smoke on the Water,” and Minnetonka ended the duel by playing an abridged version of “Smoke on the Water” and following up quickly with “Rockin’ in the USA.” Greatest musical exchange in state tournament history.

--Pep Band is a Dangerous Business: Coon Rapids band director Brian Duffy was struck in the head by a puck before the Cardinals played North Wright County. A bandage and some ice took care of things.

--Quote of the Day: From a visitor to the press box as he looked waaaaay down at the ice: “Holy cow! I’m gonna need my binoculars!”

--Celebrity Sighting: Former Wild player Wes Walz, now an assistant boys hockey coach at East Ridge High School, was in the stands.

--Mascot sightings: In a follow-up to this category from Wednesday’s tournament report, I have been notified that the name of the South St. Paul Packers’ marvelous steer on skates is Sir Loin. Best mascot. Best name. No contest.

-- Diet Coke Count: Four for the day, eight for the tournament.

BY THE NUMBERS
*Schools/teams John has visited: 479
*Miles John has driven: 8,132

--Join the MSHSL on Facebook by clicking on the Facebook button on the right side of www.mshsl.org. John Millea is on Twitter at twitter.com/mshsljohn
Girls State Hockey Tournament: Day One News And Notes2/23/2011
My favorite memory from Wednesday’s Class 1A quarterfinals in the girls state hockey tournament is a goal scored by the New Ulm Eagles. Let me be more specific: It was the only goal scored by the Eagles in a 12-1 loss to Breck at Xcel Energy Center.

Breck led 12-0 and there were only a few seconds to play in the game when the teams lined up for a faceoff in the Breck defensive zone. The puck was dropped and in an instant it was in the goal. Alexa Weiss was credited with the goal, which came with five seconds to play and set off the best celebration of the day.

The on-ice Eagles raised their sticks in the air and then embraced Weiss; it looked like they had just won the Stanley Cup. It was a sweet thing to see.

New Ulm was playing in its third straight state tournament, but had yet to score a goal in the Xcel Center. They lost to Blake 9-0 in the 2009 quarterfinals and to Breck 10-0 last year.

“We had a couple of little victories in there today,” Eagles coach Angela Zeig said after the game. Victory No. 1 was putting the biscuit in the basket.

Prentice Basten had a hat trick for Breck and Carly Schaeder had two goals for the Mustangs. Several state tournament records were set or tied in the game: Goals by one team, goals by two teams, goals in a period by one team (7) and shots on goal by one team (56).

New Ulm will play Hutchinson in Thursday’s consolation bracket at the University of Minnesota’s Ridder Arena, and it’s a pretty safe bet that Wednesday’s one little goal will put a little spring in the Eagles’ step.

OTHER GAMES
--South St. Paul scored five goals in the first period and defeated Hutchinson 5-2. The Packers will meet Breck in Thursday’s first semifinal at 11 a.m.

--Warroad defeated Alexandria 7-0, getting four goals in the first period.

--Eveleth-Gilbert beat Red Wing 5-2. The Bears will face Warroad on Friday at 1 p.m.

TIDBITS
--Does experience make a difference? It did for Breck on Wednesday. The Mustangs were 1A state runners-up last season, and as junior Milica McMillen said, “We were pretty comfortable, especially the older girls who were here last year.”

--Celebrity sighting: Attorney/baseball expert Clark Griffith was shooting photographs from the first row of the Breck game. Makes me think he might be related to Breck senior Caroline Griffith.

--Celebrity sighting II: Gigi Marvin, Warroad grad, former Gophers hockey player and currently star of an Old Dutch potato chip commercial.

--Mascot sightings: The Breck Mustang is very cool. The South St. Paul Packers’ Skating Steer is the coolest.

--Pep Band Song of the Day: “Zoot Suit Riot” by the Red Wing symphony orchestra.

--Diet Coke Count: 4

--Number of times I was asked, “Hey John, how many Diet Cokes today?” 3

BY THE NUMBERS
*Schools/teams John has visited: 479
*Miles John has driven: 8,091

--Join the MSHSL on Facebook by clicking on the Facebook button on the right side of www.mshsl.org. John Millea is on Twitter at twitter.com/mshsljohn