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.
We asked Hub photographers Mark Hvidsten, Korey McDermott and Cheryl Myers to send us their best pics from Friday's semifinal round the Tourney, and they delivered in a big way.
The best of their stunning work is displayed in the galleries below:
Photos by Mark Hvidsten
Photos by Korey McDermott
Photos by Cheryl Myers