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.

Two-man advantage presents its Day 2 All-Tournament Team (selections limited to those who played at the Xcel Energy Center):

FORWARDS
Jack Poehling, Lakeville North
Mr. Hockey finalist and St. Cloud State commit scored twice on wicked backhanders (reviving the lost art of that shot) to power the unbeaten Panthers past Hill-Murray.

Casey Mittelstadt, Eden Prairie
The super sophomore, a Minnesota commit, flourished on the big stage as he scored two gorgeous goals and led the Eagles with seven shots on goal in their win over Blaine.

Ryan Peterson, Duluth East
Hero of the day scored the OT winner as the Greyhounds stunned St. Thomas Academy. The junior also scored in the third period to ignite Duluth East's improbable rally from a three-goal deficit.

Peter Tufto, St. Thomas Academy
(Cheating here again by adding a fourth forward, but hey, we get to make the rules). The senior forward, a Mr. Hockey finalist, had a hand in all five Cadets' goals (two goals, three assists) in their loss to Duluth East.

DEFENSEMEN
Paul Meyer, Edina
The senior was rock-steady in his own zone, finishing with a team-best plus/minus rating of plus-3 and team-leading five hits in the Hornets' win over Bemidji. He chipped in with five shots, second most on the team.
Jacob Olson, Hill-Murray
Winner of the Reed Larson Award that goes to the state's top senior defenseman, Olson scored the Pioneers' lone goal in their loss to Lakeville North. He also had three of Hill-Murray's 17 shots on goal. 

GOALIE
Ryan Edquist, Lakeville North
One of the few Panthers' playing in the state tournament for the first time, Edquist, a junior who has committed to Minnesota and played at Shattuck-St. Mary's last season, showed no signs of jitters while stopping 16 of 17 shots.