Walking the concourse between sections 114 and 108 during the annual boys high school hockey tournament might as well have slower traffic than rush hour on Interstate 94.
Each year, thousands of hockey fans from around the state and country make their way to Xcel Energy Center for the four-day hockey extravaganza. But for some of the fans, cheering on a specific team in the tournament is not the reason for coming.
Tom Pratt and Mike Knutson have been coming to this tournament for close to fifty years. Friends from work, they believe that this tournament is the pinnacle for hockey tournaments in the nation.
“It’s the best tournament in the country,” Pratt said.
Wearing a green Minnesota North Stars hat along with a maroon Gophers sweatshirt, Pratt’s attire spoke of his hockey love just as much as he did. But he and Knutson said they don’t have a particular team they are rooting for. Just there for sport.
For some, hockey is more than just a sport.
Sandy Wright has been coming to this tournament every year since 1966.
Now, with her three children and five grandchildren, she is attending her 54th straight tournament. It never gets old.
“(In 1966) it was crazy, wild fun,” Wright said. “It hasn’t changed.”
Wright’s daughters, Laurie Wright and Amy Engen, have also inherited her love for the tournament.
“This is my favorite time of the year,” Laurie said.
To their family, these four days are more than just hockey games. It is their holiday. So much so that Laurie flew out from California just to be with her family for the tournament.
“We celebrate this more than Christmas,” Laurie said. “This brings the family together.”
Sandy cherishes these days because it is the only time of the year where all her kids and grandkids are together — like a holiday.
Not to mention that the tournament also annually overlaps with Sandy’s birthday, making this time even more special.
“It is a family tradition,” Engen said. “This is where we celebrate.”
So even though the completion that takes place on a sheet of ice in St. Paul every year is the pinnacle of prep hockey in the country, it is even more than that.
To the Wright family, it means simply one thing.
“Family,” they all said in unison.
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March 08, 2020 at 07:38AM
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Hockey tourney creating lasting memories, off the ice - St. Paul Pioneer Press
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