David La Vaque has covered all but one state hockey tournament game since 2009 and has worked as a Star Tribune high school sports reporter since 2004. His favorite tournament experiences include cheering for alma mater St. Paul Johnson in 1991 and staying for most of the Apple Valley/Duluth East marathon semifinal game in 1996. Loren Nelson has covered every state tournament since 2009 as the national media editor for Sport Ngin. He attended many, many other Tourney games as a high schooler from the far northern reaches of Minnesota making the annual pilgrimage south to the old St. Paul Civic Center in the 1980s.
There's no doubt Lakeville North defenseman Luke Seper had long been preparing for Thursday's player introductions before the Panthers' Class 2A quarterfinal against Hill-Murray.
We heard the roar from the Lakeville North student section as Seper skated to the blue line, but from our vantage point on press row didn't know exactly what was happening.
The video below shows Seper unfurling his flowing locks just as he stopped in front of the cameraman at the blue line.
He had a plan and executed it perfectly. Well done!
Coming later today we plan to post some of the best photos from the morning session from photographer Nick Wosika.
Stay tuned.