One spring I played hooky for a day during the State High School Hockey Tournament. A buddy named Mike – a nice kid – was able to get two tickets for the first day, the all-day Thursday games. That was in '88, so my senior year, and we were all collectively coming to the end of the Hockey Tournament's Great Eight era in which all the schools in the state played in the same class. The last Great Eight was in '89, I think. I remember that included Richfield and Grand Rapids, Roseau, Roseville, East, maybe Burnsville or Kennedy or Jefferson. After that the schools around the state were divided into classes based on school size or school district size, so class A, class AA, and class AAA – and I always disliked them classifications – which made way for three total state champs and for smaller schools to win championships more regular. But it took away some of the excitement, and much of the magic of an all-school, all-state tournament, where a little Warroad or White Bear Mariner could win its region and then play Hill-Murray or Edina… And maybe, just maybe, win.