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Photos / Mike Thill, Scott A. Schneider 25 M A R C H 2 0 2 0 | M H J ON L I N E . C O M TELEVISION CAMERAS WERE ROLLING and boom mics were swaying in the Warroad locker room as a grinning T. J. Oshie, resplendent in dress shirt, tie, and freshly bleached blond hairdo, put on a dazzling display of hand-eye coordination by masterfully juggling a Wiffle ball off the blade and handle of his hockey stick. Minutes later, as opening puck drop approached, Totino- Grace players sat deadly silent and still in their nearby Xcel Energy Center locker room as coach Mark Loahr gave a fire-and-brimstone pregame speech that reached a crescendo: "And this is the kind of game, right here, where you are going to have to go out there and, maybe literally, get your nose bloody." Totino- Grace center Rob Hoody wasn't the type of player who needed much pregame inspiration. He played the same every shift, every situation. No exceptions. Which is to say he attacked the opposition like a tiger presented with a freshly cut pork chop. Still, this was the state Class 1A championship game, and Hoody's already maxed-out compete level was now in the stratosphere thanks to Loahr's speech and the grand (19,000-capacity NHL arena) stage. "I remember it was the morning of the game and me thinking it was my job to shadow this guy everyone in the world is watching," Hoody said. "I was amped." "This guy" would be Timothy Leif Oshie (T. J. stands for Timothy Jr.), Warroad's starting center. Oshie was a rare talent, even by tradition-rich Warroad's standards. He had amassed 98 points heading into the title game, and his every move was being examined by hordes of NHL scouts who coveted his athleticism, hockey IQ, work ethic, and feisty style of play. Looking back, with the fire-breathing Hoody on one side of the opening faceoff and the do-anything-to-win Oshie on the other, fireworks were inevitable. Sure enough, before the puck could even hit the ice to start the game, BOOM, Hoody plowed straight ahead into Oshie, then pitchforked the Warroad superstar to the ice. Seconds later, Oshie was digging for the puck in a corner when in rushed Hoody. This time, Oshie was ready. BOOM. "After that, I remember saying to myself, right then and there, 'We have our [expletive] hockey game. This is going to be insane.'" And so began one of the greatest championship games in state tournament history. Hoody and Oshie would meet several more times with dramatic and bone-jarring effect, and—speaking of drama—both players had key roles in the double-overtime goal that would end what to that point was the longest title game in state tournament history. Warroad entered the 2005 Class 1A championship with an unbeaten record (28–0–2) and a roster filled with names right out of the who's who of Warriors hock - ey: Boucha, Marvin, Krahn, Olimb. "There was a lot of hockey blood on that team," Warroad co–head coach Albert Hasbargen said. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The following excerpt is reprinted and lightly edited with permission from Tourney Time: Stories from the Minnesota Boys State Hockey Tournament by David La Vaque and L.R. Nelson available from the Minnesota Historical Society Press at mnhspress.org.