The first full night of the Minnesota state hockey playoffs certainly didn't disappoint.
I mentioned Section 7AA being incredibly tight, and it lived up to its billing with top seed Elk River being pushed to double overtime against Cloquet tonight, with the Elks prevailing 4-3. It's almost unheard of for a top seed to get that kind of test in the quarterfinals.
But that wasn't anywhere close to the game of the night. Tonight in Bemidji, St. Cloud Tech and Bemidji HS played to six overtimes, before St. Cloud Tech won 3-2. Unofficial shot totals were 61-58 in favor of St. Cloud.
For those unfamiliar with Minnesota high school overtime rules, the first overtime is an 8-minute period played without resurfacing the ice. If the score isn't settled by then, the ice is resurfaced and they continue to play full 17 minute periods until the game is settled. So that game would have been roughly 130 minutes of hockey. Quite a game.