Tournament Tidbits

• It's like hitting for the cycle in baseball. Thief River Falls senior forward Ethan Johnson scored four goals — one even strength, one shorthanded, one on the power play and one into an empty net — in the final eight minutes of a come-from-behind 4-2 victory over East Grand Forks on Feb. 9. He scored two more third-period goals against the two-time defending Class 1A champion Green Wave in the Prowlers' 3-1 Section 8 championship victory.

• St. Paul Academy is playing in its first Minnesota State High School League-sanctioned state hockey tournament. Still, the program oozes state tournament history. The Spartans won five championships in 15 appearances from the 1940s through the 1970s back when the league didn't allow private schools in its state tournament. The alternative for those programs was the old Catholic Schools, and later renamed Independent Schools, state tournament.

• Follow the action: Adult tickets are $17 for championship and $12 for consolation sessions. Student tickets are $11 for championship, $8 for consolation. All championship-round games will be televised on Ch. 45 and streamed live at Prep45.com for a charge of $6.97 per day. The Class 2A quarterfinals, all semifinals and both championship games can be heard on 107.5-FM and on 106.1-FM.

STAFF REPORTS