Boys State Hockey Tourney Semi-Finals Underway In St. Paul

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Boys State Hockey Tournament continued Friday in St. Paul, where semi-final games are taking place at Xcel Energy Center.

The crowds continue to grow every year and that means teams are also playing for tradition.

Towns like Warroad are back in the tournament for the first time in a decade.

"My buddy over there's grandson is on this team and we've been heckling him for the past eight years to get us back to the state tournament before we die," said Warroad fan Frank Krahn who played for Warroad at state in 1969 and 1970.

Both St. Cloud Cathedral and Hermantown have plenty of history at the state tournament.

"Everything shuts down. Nobody goes to school. It's a whole city event and it's super awesome," said Amarah Butkiewicz, Hermantown fan.

Hermantown has been there more than a dozen times. So the fans now dress in different themes for games. During the quarterfinals they wore sports jerseys. Friday's Class A semi-final game had a USA theme.

"Every year we come down here and get the themes going. USA is a big theme for us. Everyone likes dressing up in red, white and blue," said Nolan Ruprecht, Hermantown fan.

Despite the history and hype, there are plenty of fans making their first-ever trip to the Boys State Hockey Tournament. Among them is new Wild general manager Bill Guerin.

"The crowd. It's unbelievable. This place is packed for an 11:00 a.m. game," Guerin said. "There's always boatloads of talent coming out of this state and it's good to finally see it firsthand."