Minnesota Hockey Journal

March 2019

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30 P R E S E N T E D B Y day just to go watch the games over there. That was, you know, that's the aim. "Bantam, Peewees, Squirts, it was, 'Man, if we could play in the State Tournament, wouldn't that be the greatest thing ever?' That's all I ever wanted. We came close my first two years. And now we were there. I'm pretty sure we won our region final on a Saturday at the Met Center. Our first State Tournament game at the St. Paul Civic Center, which had the clear boards, was a Thursday. And those five days were maybe the best five days ever. Just because, now you've made it, you don't know what it's going to be like. "You've waited for this your whole life. When you're a kid in high school, it's just a great five days of anticipation. Then the three days of the tournament went by like the snap of finger." Gigantic Thrill Kurvers can barely remember the games. The first game, Jefferson played Irondale, whose goalie, Jon Downing, would become Kurvers' college teammate. "Jay North had a hat trick," Kurvers said, laughing. "Sense a common theme? Jay North was our guy." But in the semifinals, the Jaguars ran into Grand Rapids, and they had future North Star Jon Casey in goal. They lost to the eventual champions, 3-1, with an emp- ty-netter. The loss to Grand Rapids, Kurvers said, was "Crushing. … But it's really funny. Those three days, honestly, I have a hard time remembering any of it, but I do remember that the five days prior were brilliant." As crushing as the defeat was, he looks back on the run up to the tourney as one of his fond- est memories. "It was a goal achieved, a long- range goal," Kurvers said. "As soon as you started playing hockey, you became aware of the State Tournament. And that looked big- ger than life, so to make it and play in that was a dream come true. "Getting there and being there, it wasn't a disappointment. Long- term memory, it's not a disap- pointment, it's a gigantic thrill." Cherish It The best part of State? Being with your neighborhood buddies—your friends for life. Kurvers realized this a year ago when his mother passed away after five years of battling cancer. Four of his father's high school basketball teammates came to the funeral. "You play with these guys on your team for 10 years," Kurvers said. "You really do know them. My two co-captains (Mike Bjork and Tim Sullivan), and another buddy of mine, reconnected this year, and now we have a text thing going that started six months ago. We had a great group of guys that I grew up with, and we were pretty much all together for close to 10 years. Eleven guys from my Squirt team played Division I hockey. We all got there to the State Tournament at the same time and got the same thrill, which is a great shared memory." As the State Tournament's set to begin, Kurvers hopes these young players take advantage of it. "Remember, everybody that comes through and plays in the tournament, at some point it's their first time," Kurvers said. "And everyone that gets there gets the same thrill. Going into the rink, it's full, especially that first game. It's shocking. It's shocking, it's overwhelming, it's maybe the highlight of, for many kids, that's the first and last time they see that. And, it's fantastic, so take it all in. It's the best." Michael Russo is in his 14th season covering the Wild and writes for The Athletic. He has covered the NHL since 2005. He co-hosts the Russo-Souhan Show on talknorth. com and can be heard on KFAN (100.3-FM) and seen throughout the hockey season on Fox Sports North. Follow Russo on Twitter at @RussoHockey. To subscribe to The Athletic, go to theathletic.com/ michaelrussohockey for a 30 per- cent discount ($3.49 per month) the first year. If you're a student, you can get 50 percent off ($2.50 per month) at theathletic.com/student. Russo's Rants "You've waited for this your whole life. When you're a kid in high school, it's just a great five days of anticipation. Then the three days of the tournament went by like the snap of finger." - Tom Kurvers M H J ON L I N E . C O M | M A R C H 2 0 1 9 Kurvers carries the puck during Bloomington Jefferson's first-ever State Tournament at St. Paul Civic Center in 1980. Editor's note: At the time of publication, Tom Kurvers was diagnosed with cancer. Our thoughts and prayers are with Tom and his entire family.

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