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When the team that’s seeded third in the boys state hockey tournament looks at the bracket, the path seems pretty clear: Beat an unseeded opponent in the quarterfinals, get past the No. 2 seed in the semifinals and knock off the top seed for the championship.

The photo of two people shaking hands, an 88-yard-old man and a teenage boy, encompasses both the history of high school hockey in Minnesota and the reverence for the game’s stars.

There are no home games at the boys state hockey tournament, but the team from Cretin-Derham Hall treated Thursday’s Class 2A state quarterfinal as just that.

Mahtomedi senior Corey Bohmert is a strong example of a multi-sport athlete, with the latest testament coming via the hat trick he scored in Mahtomedi’s 6-3 win over Alexandria in the Class A boys hockey state quarterfinals.

Multi-sport athletes are nothing new, but Faith Koning took that phrase to another level this week, in two very different activities. One is wrestling and the other involves horses. Frenzied air and highway travel are also part of the story.

Wrestling is now a girls sport, with female coaches. The next logical step is seeing female wrestling officials. That may not be far off, based on the experiences of the only two women certified as wrestling officials by the MSHSL.

“Ten years from now, I feel like girls wrestling will be just as big as boys wrestling, if not bigger. Especially with how many girls wrestle now compared to just five years ago."

Dave Palmquist was hired when South St. Paul started playing girls hockey in 1994-95, the year when it became an official MSHSL sport. He’s the only original head coach to still be on the job, and he has no plans to stop.

Leadership can be seen in many places. On the high school level, team captains set the tone for younger players, whether it’s at practice, in school or during competition. Leadership can also be seen after games, especially following tough losses.

While some people freak out about the weather, there was a sense of normalcy inside Xcel Energy Center on Wednesday. Other than the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s difficult if not impossible to remember an MSHSL state tournament being called off or postponed because of weather.

The 300,000-square-foot Rock Ridge High School is a marvel of light and space and technology. From large wooden beams to exposed steel to the textures and colors of the walls and floors, the facility carries a distinct Iron Range theme.

The Szymanski kids grew up in a sports-oriented family in Sauk Rapids. Ryan, Matt, Justin and little sister Kaelyn were athletes at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School. They all became hockey officials, which set up a special day for their family recently when Ryan, Matt and Kaelyn officiated together for the first time.