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Footballguy
Hill-Murray’s boys hockey team is going to court in an effort to guarantee the Pioneers will play in this week’s state tournament.
A lawsuit on behalf of nine Hill-Murray boys hockey players was filed Tuesday in Washington County. It seeks a temporary restraining order against the Minnesota State High School League.
The Pioneers are in danger of being disqualified from the tournament because of positive COVID-19 tests from a recent opponent, per the lawsuit.
Hill-Murray, the defending Class 2A state champion, is scheduled to play Wayzata in a quarterfinal game at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Xcel Energy Center.
Under MSHSL COVID-19 guidelines, the Pioneers cannot be cleared to play until Thursday at the earliest, a full week after “close contact” with a team that has registered positive tests. According to the lawsuit, Wayzata — Hill-Murray’s quarterfinal opponent — agreed to play the quarterfinal on Thursday, if necessary.
“The League does not comment on pending, threatened or alleged legal action,” the MSHSL said in a statement.
A call to attorney Beau D. McGraw, who filed the suit, was not immediately returned.
The suit includes an affidavit from NHL scout Fred Bandel and former North Stars player Neal Broten.
Bandel, who according to his statement has worked for the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers, said the state tournament is “an extremely important evaluation” period for players and that without intervention from the court, “These high school boys will be unfairly denied an opportunity … they have trained for and dreamed about their entire lives.”
Broten, who played 16 years in the NHL and was a member of the gold medal-winning Miracle on Ice team, testified that playing in the Minnesota state tournament is the fondest memory of his career, and that barring the Pioneers from playing Wednesday would be “unjust.”
“I can’t think of a worse way for some of them to end their hockey careers,” he said in his affidavit.
Hermantown was scheduled to begin play in the Class A state tournament Tuesday with a mostly junior varsity team. Every player who was on the ice for more than a minute in the team’s section final victory must sit out the game because of a positive test registered by opponent Virginia/Mountain Iron-Buhl.
A lawsuit on behalf of nine Hill-Murray boys hockey players was filed Tuesday in Washington County. It seeks a temporary restraining order against the Minnesota State High School League.
The Pioneers are in danger of being disqualified from the tournament because of positive COVID-19 tests from a recent opponent, per the lawsuit.
Hill-Murray, the defending Class 2A state champion, is scheduled to play Wayzata in a quarterfinal game at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Xcel Energy Center.
Under MSHSL COVID-19 guidelines, the Pioneers cannot be cleared to play until Thursday at the earliest, a full week after “close contact” with a team that has registered positive tests. According to the lawsuit, Wayzata — Hill-Murray’s quarterfinal opponent — agreed to play the quarterfinal on Thursday, if necessary.
“The League does not comment on pending, threatened or alleged legal action,” the MSHSL said in a statement.
A call to attorney Beau D. McGraw, who filed the suit, was not immediately returned.
The suit includes an affidavit from NHL scout Fred Bandel and former North Stars player Neal Broten.
Bandel, who according to his statement has worked for the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers, said the state tournament is “an extremely important evaluation” period for players and that without intervention from the court, “These high school boys will be unfairly denied an opportunity … they have trained for and dreamed about their entire lives.”
Broten, who played 16 years in the NHL and was a member of the gold medal-winning Miracle on Ice team, testified that playing in the Minnesota state tournament is the fondest memory of his career, and that barring the Pioneers from playing Wednesday would be “unjust.”
“I can’t think of a worse way for some of them to end their hockey careers,” he said in his affidavit.
Hermantown was scheduled to begin play in the Class A state tournament Tuesday with a mostly junior varsity team. Every player who was on the ice for more than a minute in the team’s section final victory must sit out the game because of a positive test registered by opponent Virginia/Mountain Iron-Buhl.
