Blaine's the place to be for prep girls' hockey

With 44 varsity and 24 junior varsity girls' hockey teams competing in the Schwan Cup from Wednesday through Friday -- almost exclusively on the eight glorious sheets of ice at the Super Rink in Blaine -- some unofficial records are being set this week.

Among them:

• Greatest place to be, ever, if you enjoy girls' high school hockey.

• Largest number of places to watch hockey dads perched against the railing behind seating areas.

• Largest known collection of ponytails in U.S. history (thus replacing a decades-ago Lynyrd Skynyrd concert).

• And, not to be forgotten, most steps taken at a hockey rink during a one-hour period (reporter division).

Armed with a notebook and a pen -- tools that make people wonder whether I'm a high school coach, a college coach or simply a ne'er-do-well with a plastic badge (hint: the last one) -- I hopped from rink to rink Thursday evening, catching whiffs of mini-doughnuts and action from seven different color-coded games. Here is just some of what you can see in one hour:

• 7:07 p.m.: Elk River and Cloquet-Esko-Carlton need a shootout to decide the consolation semifinals of the varsity Blue Division on Rink 1. CEC and goalie Sarah Gustafson prevail, sending fans streaming out of the rink and into the warmer lobby. "Humbug" is the one-word reaction from one Elks fan.

• 7:09: Not wasting any time: Hopkins and Warroad have already taken over Rink 1 to warm up for the winners' bracket semifinals in the Blue Division.

• 7:17: Andover and Shakopee are battling on Rink 4. This is ... hang on ... the consolation semifinals in the varsity Girls' White Division. Phew.

• 7:20: The first complaint from a parent about playing time is overheard. The names have been withheld to protect the innocent (the kids).

• 7:28: Now it's over to one of the newer rinks, No. 5, for Green Division action between Marshall and Point Rapids (Wis.). The hockey dads apparently stand in clusters of five or six no matter which side of the border they live on. They play the intro music from "People's Court" for penalties over here. Nice touch.

• 7:35: On Rink 3, Mound Westonka is taking on Chaska in the White Division. The game is barely a minute old, but three penalties have already been called. The name Taylor Kuehl (freshman, Mound Westonka) is written in the notebook next to the words "player to watch."

• 7:41: Back on Rink 1, Hopkins and Warroad are underway. Motley Crue would likely be pleased to know that "Smokin' in the Boys' Room" is still being played somewhere. Warroad's Brook Story is a skating machine, but Hopkins takes an early lead on a power play goal by Molly Ostroot.

• 7:57: Some latecomers can't discern whether the Chaska/Mound Westonka game is in the first, second or third period. Here in Blaine, during tournament week, it doesn't really matter because another game is surely right around the corner.