It's the most wonderful time of the year for hockey fans.
Alright, welcome to the Kindness Chronicles, where we hope to inject the world with a dose of the Minnesota nice that it desperately needs. This is take two. The previous take, I was unable to hear Kevin in both ears, which gave me concern that the quality of the program this, this time around wouldn't be quite as, uh, high quality as it usually is. KG, it's the most wonderful time of the year. It is, um, this is the state of hockey as we know, and there is something extremely magical about state tournament time. We just had the girls tournament. Now it's the boys turn. We had an unbelievable week of section hockey. And I just for now, 50 years have looked at this weekend is better than my birthday, better than Christmas, better than any holiday out there. I love the state tournament so much, and I'm so excited about this year's edition. Uh, it's, it's just. One of those things you can count on, John. As a Minnesotan, at this time of the year, you've made it through the dog days of winter. Spring is right around the corner, as are spring sports. And yes, the state tournament is back in downtown St. Paul. And I'm there for all of it. And I know that we give you the business from time to time about your appearance at the state tournament. But, all kidding aside, that had to have been one of the highlights of your glorious life to this point, wasn't it? Well, it was and and I think I know there were some girls at st. Thomas that probably would qualify But we won't talk about those Just move on moving on Anyway As a hockey player growing up in Minnesota you you quickly realize how special the tournament is what a big deal it is And then you start to kind of look around and you know for all of us kids that grew up in my neighborhood You know, the Mike Wattcraft, the Marco Sikis and that crew. Um, we, we grew up playing youth hockey together. It was back when Burnsville was booming. It was a community that was growing. And we had a lot of success in our, in our youth sports. And, and we could kind of piece this thing together. And, you know, we kept working hard and stayed together. When we got to the high school level, we had a chance, like we legitimately had a chance. And, you know, for, for every kid out there, the dream is to get there. Once you get there, the rest of it is just make it last as long as you can, right? Stay alive as long as you can, but getting there is the big deal. And that's why last week during all these section finals, I was explaining to some of my coworkers that work on the, with the Minnesota Wild on the digital side. And some of these folks are from out of state. And they're like, what is the deal? Like they're on social media. These kids are in their 20s. One grew up in South Carolina, and she's like, I don't understand all this conversation on social media about this tournament. Why is it such a big deal? And so I try to explain to them, like, you know, Texas football, Indiana basketball. And when you go to these section finals, I said, if you can picture this, if you play hockey in Minnesota, it is the ultimate prize. And these kids drive to the rink that night, knowing when they get in the arena, that one of the teams is going to live out their childhood hockey dream. And one team is going to have their season. And for some of these kids, their hockey careers come to an end. It's the ultimate all or nothing. And then realize that the arenas are sold out within an hour, like Hill Murray White Bear was, and, and it is the place and the ticket. And the night and it lives on forever. And so, yeah, it's, it's a, it's a magical time of year. That's all the only way I can put it. The girls had their tournament two weekends ago. And, that upstart, uh, scrappy crew for me, Dina, pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, uphill both ways, that kind of a operation. They were able to defeat my Hillmurry Pioneers in a, uh, very exciting game from what I understand. Um, I was unable to watch that game, but You know, happy to hear that the, uh, that the Dinah Hornets were able to put one in the victory column and, those kids are going to now go back to their tough lives. No, I'm just teasing for all you. I know you're making fun of it and I get it. I, I, I got a buddy that, that's from YZ and I said last week before the section final between the Dinah and YZ, It's a big one between the have and the have mores, he didn't care for that. But, uh, you know, back to Hillbury, um, they had a great, just a great season. And they, they had the goalie of the year, uh, her last name is Zahn, she's terrific. She's gonna play, uh, Division I college hockey, I think out east of Dartmouth. Oh, good for you. But, my point is, it was a terrific tournament. Women's sports is just, it's just blown up here. And you know, locally, we just thought Caitlin Clark come to town and go for women's basketball tickets were going online for four or 500. And she's now going to make the move to the WNBA and take a significant rate cuts. Well, yes and no. On a national radio, you know, this morning I was listening to, and they were talking about that in years gone by, that might've been the case, but the WNBA has gotten so big that a lot of the people that. And she's done some work for State Farm and she's making all kinds of money and she's She's super charismatic. I really do enjoy her. But anyway, they're going to carry those sponsorships right over and you know, they looks like Indiana, I think, and the WNBA has the number one pick in the draft and they've doubled their season tickets, uh, for next year. No kidding. Before the draft, just knowing that they're drafting Caitlin Clark. So I just think it's wonderful. Like, you know, we live here in Minnesota where now there's a professional women's team, and I just think it's great. Um, you know, you had an athlete for a daughter. My daughters were involved in competitive cheer and my youngest played lacrosse, Annika did. So I just think it's great that these girls have something to shoot for. They're not all going to get there. Not all of us on the boys side made to the pros. Part of the deal, right? I, I probably peaked in that State Tournament in 1985 and ended up playing junior hockey and played Division III hockey and had a great experience. But my point is, there's something out there for these girls to shoot for and I think it's awesome. And I just love the fact when, you know, when they show videos of Kaitlyn Clark going into a community. Like when she came to the University of Minnesota, it was just like a week ago. And there are so many families with young girls and these young girls. I mean, they are so excited to have an idol like a Caitlin Clark, who seems to be a great role model. She's from Iowa, for God's sakes. Not just the university, but she grew up in Iowa. And it's one thing to, to, to be a fan of a Taylor Swift and, but there's really only one Taylor Swift. And, Caitlin Clark is the type of person that could inspire a lot of people to become great basketball players and live out their dreams. And I just, you know, the, the road to the, uh, to the WNBA, as difficult as it is, there's very, very few roads to the land of Taylor Swift. Right? Well, yeah. I mean, I think you're exactly right. I mean, you think about Taylor Swift and, you know, the once in a generation talent she is as an entertainer, but you know, Caitlin Clark, to your point, wherever she goes, it's like she's a rock star, like legitimately watching her enter these arenas. It is, it's pretty amazing when you think about it. And again, I go back to where women's sports are right now. It's, it's come a long way. You and I both are in our fifties and we grew up in an era where it was. Let's just put it this way, um, they didn't have these professional leagues at that point. They didn't have all the high school sports that are now available and accessible to these girls. Girls hockey was not even thought of. Ringette was still on the horizon. So I, I just, I really truly believe having coached college hockey on the women's side. Uh, for the better part of a decade that that it's such a good thing. It is such an awesome thing to have those opportunities out there. And like I said earlier, not everybody's going to get that opportunity, but if you're good enough, you know, you now can get a scholarship. You can play division one. Women's sports, women's hockey, you could be a professional player on the hockey side. We've seen it locally on the basketball side. The WNBA is the benchmark. I hope the PW HL can get there and I think they've still gotta make some modifications. But the WNBA has taught us that this can work and work at a high level. And I think Kaitlyn Clark is only gonna elevate that level once she gets there. Absolutely. And it's just, it's very fun. You mentioned, my daughter, she was a gymnast, and she was on a very, very successful club team here in Minnesota. And what's been super fun is watching her teammates who have gone on to, uh, substantial college scholarships, and as freshmen, have competed at a very, very high level. This Ella Zerbis, who's at Utah, which is, you know, a top four. Uh, program in the country and she's now competing in three events and, like top two, three in all of these events. And our friend Jordan Leiden, who's at the University of Minnesota, uh, her brother has got a wrestling scholarship at the U. There's a family that's got a little bit of athletic ability. It just doesn't seem quite fair. And her friend Maddie, who's out at Denver, Riley, uh, chose not to continue with her. You know, she's always been a much more academic person. And, uh Well, your kids are all very good academically. Something like that. But how about the practice, John? I just looked back, and you and I have had this discussion before. Oh, it's child abuse. Well, it's borderline. It's child abuse. It's like, it's unbelievable the commitment that you have to have to be a top level gymnast. And Rowley was right there with all those kids. Yeah. She absolutely could have done it at the college level. Chose not to do it. But it's incredible the dedication that takes. Yeah, the girls that I was mentioning are, were a completely different level. But I will say this, it's taught, it taught Riley discipline. She made some wonderful friends. You know, she had abs like a Hershey bar. it's remarkable just how fit those girls were. But the reason we're talking today is about the, uh, the boys state high school tournament. And, uh, I just want to, there were a couple of, I would say, pretty significant upsets in section finals. I'm going to start with my dear pioneers who weren't as strong as they'd been historically, but they got the, uh, the, the white bear lake team and those two teams for many, many years have, uh, matched in the section finals and the bears got the best of them this year. They had a goalie that, uh, that wasn't letting anything in that night. But the big, the big disappointment has to be with those Minnetonka skippers. Yeah, that's the shocker, right? And, and I think that the difference between Class A Looking at the state tournament brackets and the AA, Class A, seven of the top eight teams ended up in the state tournament. Bunch of number one seeds, I think six number one seeds in their sections. The tough part on the AA side is you had sections like Minnetonka section where Shakopee, Chanhassen and Minnetonka are three of the state's top seven teams and they're all in the same section. And then you look at Edina, Wyzetta and Vanild. There's three more of the top 10 or 11 in the state. So there's some real big hurdles to overcome. And everybody's talking about this Chanhassen Winterver Mettatonka as being this, you know, miracle on ice type of upset. No, it's not. They have the number three or four team in the state. They played last year in that section final. Their goal is off the charts. He was a first team All Metro player from what I read. He's phenomenal, but Champ hasn't took him to overtime in this exact same game last year. And so yeah, it's an upset. Yes, Minnetonka was number one. They were the defending champs and they were undefeated, and I think their, to me was, the trouble is, yeah, it's great to be undefeated. And they had a couple of ties, I think they were 25 oh and two coming into that game. Yeah. They have not, they had not yet tasted defeat and they got down in that, that hockey game and it was so unfamiliar to them. They struggled and yes, they had a lot of shots on goal. They finally made it to one late, couldn't get that time goal. The goaltender for, for Chanhassen was unbelievable. I think Minnetonka shot him something like 39 to 20 in the hockey game, but it's great. I mean, it's great for the high school hockey tournament to have these types of upsets along the way. Now Chanhassen is a legitimate favorite to win the whole thing. And their team won the state high school football tournament. So just going back to the Chanhassen game, how concerned do you think Chan was when they were up 2 0? Because as we know, what do we know about that? And in hockey it's funny because it is. But finish the line. The worst lead in hockey. Is a two goal lead. That's the worst lead in hockey. You get nervous when they make it 2 1, and Minitaka came with that, that big push. But, uh, I think it's going to end up being Chanhassen and Edina in the final. Oh boy. And I think those are the two best teams. But, another really cool story. You mentioned White Bear beating Hill Murray. I think the first time in five years. Hill Murray's kind of dominated that rivalry in the last decade. But, White Bear Lake has now I think 19 trips to the state tournament and they've yet to win a first round game. No, really? It's remarkable. White Bear Lake has never done it. The last time it happened, I was there as a little 13 year old snot nosed kid. My dad's golf pro buddy from White Bear Lake was Ray Venowitz. And I fell in love with the Mariner Dolphins. And so I went to all their section games. And And then my dad, you know, took me to the tournament that first day they won, we got to go to the hotel after they were standing at the old Radisson, right by the Civic Center, I brought my program into the lobby, Ray Venowitz had the team come down and I got to get autographs from all the players, it was a huge deal, and of course they got to this championship game and I got to go back and sit in the student section with all the White Bear Mariner fans, and who kicked their butt? 6 Edina. No. Of course. Of course. Yeah, the, uh, Edina, we can joke about it. Boy, do they do okay. they've got quite a program over there. And I'm sure it attracts some, uh, some pretty good athletes. they have a program that seems to work. They do, okay. And, and you know what, other programs, I mentioned the run that we had at Burnsville, now they're combined with Apple Valley. Darby Henderson and I have talked, you know, while assistant coach about Richfield now having to be a combo team. Edina throughout the years has stayed pretty steady. And you know, part of it is it's a wonderful place to raise a family. And now, you know, you look at the, the wild players when, when the wild first came to Minnesota in the early two thousands, they all lived out in Woodbury because they practiced out that direction. Now they, they practice in St. Paul. So all the families, the guys that have kids on the, on the hockey team. All are raising their kids in a diner. The single guys all lived on a Minneapolis and the family guys all live in a diner. So now you've got the little Folinos and the Spurgeons and now Zach Parise's kids. They're all playing in the Adina program. So as the old saying goes, literally, the rich get richer. It's a hard knock life for those folks out in Edina. Couple of things about the state tournament that are my favorite things. For starters, there's nothing better. Then the, uh, the introductions during the first game where these young men have been, have been working on their hair, their facial hair. what kind of am I gonna wink? What am I gonna do when I skate up and have that camera right in my face? Take us back to when you were a player and that moment was upon you. I'll be honest with you, I just didn't wanna fall, and I know that sounds ridiculous. You're you're nervous. You're excited. You see the camera guy out there in his street shoes and he's right up on your grill and you want to be cool for sure. You gotta try to be cool, but you just go out there. I think I snuck in a high mom to be a complete dork. And, um, you just try not to fall and, and, and move on, right? Like it's such a nervous time of the game. Like it, and I get, it's become a whole thing. You know, John King has done a remarkable job with those videos and there's a great charitable side to it. I mean, they're unbelievable. Now the kids have picked up on that. You know, we just had our hair. In all those crazy ways back in the 80s because that's what it was now. It's become a thing, right? These kids start right after christmas. They don't get haircuts. Oh, I mean some of them start like right after the last state tournament I think and I think it's fantastic. I really do. I I just think it's great What this thing has become when that video comes out, it'll be next week now. I mean, we're all over it, right? You can't stop laughing. It's so well done. Singer's great at that stuff. He does a bunch of those Not weird, wild commercial. He's super creative. Does the podcast with Ryan Carter. Uh, Wild on 7th. He's a very talented man. And I just love what this thing has become. Like, it's another layer to this state tournament. You know, and this thing just continues to grow. And it's still the same big deal that it was when we were kids. And I love that. Well, and the fact that ESPN, uh, what's his name? Barry Melrose? he came out and did like a documentary about the, uh, the hair, the all hair team. Yeah, and he himself was a guy who had beautiful flow as they say, but how about the fact that John King was gonna shut that thing, that program down, like he was, he was gonna sunset it and somebody got to him and said, you can't do it. This is, This is legendary stuff. And I mean, when you're making SportsCenter, it's, you know, it's got a life of its own now. And if you play hockey in Minnesota and your team has any chance of going to the tournament, you let that hair grow. And I do think in a weird way, there's only one team in each class that ends up winning. But I always feel like there's something about that all hair team that is like a consolation prize for all of the teams that don't walk away with the, uh, And when that video comes out, I mean, I remember, a few years back when, you know, Mata Midi's been in it. And there are a couple of guys that clearly spent a lot of time preparing for this moment. Um, in fact, our friend Beardsy, remember Beardsy's kid? Yeah. He came out, he looked like, he looked like a lumberjack, like the bounty man. He looked great. And what I love about that video is. They throw love the way of the managers, some of the coaches, like it's not just like they involve everybody. And you're right. There is something with social media now in the world we live in that that thing has its own cycle. That's, and I hate to say it, but it's, it's just about as big as. Any of these games will be because these kids all live on their phones. We see it all the time. And once that video comes out, it just starts circulating and it is a huge badge of honor to have Mr. King select you. For the all hair team and it's fun, big fun. And they, and they deserve it. They deserve the recognition. To go through your, many cases your senior year in high school with some of those terrible mustaches. Oh they're awful. You know the recognition. And think about that your, your senior picture might have the mullet. Yeah, I always get a kick out of the poor kids that. You know, they dye their hair, and then they lose in the first round, and every time they look in the mirror, it's a reminder of the fact that they were losing, no I'm teasing, Jack's football team, when they made it to state, they all, uh, you know, got their hair done, and it was all, everybody was blonde, and it was just ridiculous, and then they got just shellacked by Mankato West or something like that. It was terrible. Um, another thing that I absolutely love about the state tournament is your friend Lou Nanny. Now you recently decided that the Kindness Chronicles was not enough for you. So you decided to do some moonlighting on some low octane program through something KFAN or I don't know who it was through or what where that all came from but you have started a competing podcast, um, and of course you go out and the first guest that you land is Lou Nanny. And it's called Wooden Sticks. It is called Wooden Sticks. It's on the TalkNorth Network. Oh, good for you! I don't think there's anything out there that can compete with this format. Ninus Chronicles stands on its own. We're out here elevating, um, the people that are doing good things. It's a different Whole different genre. KG, you're, you're fine. It you're good. We love you. We love you. And I listened to your first episode. We're not going to go there, but the first episode, you are a pro. It was very well done for starters. Where'd you come up with the name? Wooden sticks. What is that referring to? So the guys from talk north, um, came to me a few months ago and instead we want to do something. And I'm like, yeah, I think that's a great idea, but there are so many. Podcast, especially in the hockey world. I said, we got to think of something. And, you know, LaPanta and Russo talk about the wild, you know, I just mentioned Carter and King do a wild one. I said, we we've got the current events covered. I said, what about a podcast that would shine a light on players, coaches, managers, hockey legends from days gone by. So not anyone that's playing now, folks that played at a different time. And wooden sticks refers to where. I started the game and the equipment was so dramatically different than what the players are using now and we had these big heavy wooden sticks and so. Hockey podcast like the top of the food chain would be spitting chicklets. Yes, and so it's catchy It's got a tie into the game and so wooden sticks was well I'm an old guy doing a podcast with a lot of players and coaches from days gone by let's go wooden sticks and so louis was was my absolute dream, wish list. Number one guy I wanted to have on the show. I called him and he gets bombarded with this stuff and I could tell it wasn't his first idea or favorite idea, but, um, out of the goodness of his heart and the kindness that Louis brings to the table, and he did and he was spectacular. And honestly, I just, I could have done it for five, six hours straight, just listening to him tell stories, especially when he got into You know, the whole state tournament thing. And this is his last year, right? It's 60 years of being a part of the broadcast. It's a remarkable, but it will 60, 60, zero. Yeah. So he was a senior at the U of M and, uh, was just wrapping up his last year of college hockey and did some work on that tournament and in some way, shape or form never left. And so it'll, it'll never be touched. Right. I mean, 60 years. In that spot, you know, I mean a fixture and it's going to be bittersweet because we're going to celebrate. Those 60 years, but we're never going to have the legend that is Lou Nanny on the broadcast after this year again. So it kind of sucks. And, you know, Louie couldn't be more gracious and, but, but before we get to Louie, I do want to ask you about wooden sticks for a second. Okay. What was the brand of the wooden stick that you didn't want to be seen on the ice with? For example, Like, you didn't want to be the kid that was wearing tough skin jeans or rustler jeans back in the day, remember? You know, they like cut into the back of your legs when you're, when you would squat down. For me, they were huskies, generally speaking. I always knew where to get the jeans. They were always, all the way to the right, all the way to the bottom. That was where my size was. Um, you know, our friend Wally, remember, you know, Tom Wally, you know, he was a, yeah, I love Wally. He once said to me, can you imagine what it would be like? if the waist on your pants was larger than your inseam and I told him to go pound salt. I thought what an offensive thing to say you skinny little prick. Yeah, I don't care for that kind of conversation. But, uh, what was the stick like, like, you know, was a Christian stick a great one and a Sherwood one, maybe not so great, but take us back to the kind of hierarchy of sticks. I didn't care for the CCMs, and they had great equipment. Um, so, a lot of their other stuff was quite good, but their sticks were not high level. And so, when I was a young goalie, Tony Esposito was the goalie in Chicago, and he was a left handed goalie. And there weren't many left handed goalies in the game of hockey back in the, uh, mid to late 70s when I started really getting into it. And I was a lefty, and I saw Tony Esposito had this beautiful Northland goalie stick, and that was the stick for me. I had to have the same stick as my idol at that time, Tony Esposito, and so no way did I want the CCM. I had to have the, the Northland, and it was a terrific stick, but I'm telling you. I still have one of my Northlands at my parents house in storage. And when I was starting this idea of the podcast, I'd gone back there to do some stuff around the house at my folks place, and I went downstairs and found all my old sticks. I can't even begin to tell you how heavy those things are. Unbelievable how heavy. Those sticks used to be, and now they're light as a feather. Well, that's why you're so buff. I mean, uh, yeah. Back to those Husky jeans, which I grew up with too. Yeah. Unfortunate. So if you're a left handed goalie, does that mean that the stick is in your left hand and the glove is in your. Right? Yeah, and that's the only quirky thing. Well, that's not the only quirky thing about me, but it's one of those quirky things because in baseball, I threw right handed and caught with my left hand. Yeah. And in hockey, my stick was in my left hand and I caught with my right hand. Well, you know, as I'm, as I'm standing here, just, and I am standing, you know, because I like to keep my circulation at its best. Of course you do. Um, I, I was never a goalie. I was never really much of a hockey player. I could skate a little bit, but I couldn't stop. Which is a bad, you know, I had to find the boards to stop. So that just kind of wrecked it. Um, but I think that I feel more comfortable with the stick in my left hand. You know what? Maybe we're both left handed goalies. You just had a little more success than I did. Yeah. You could have done it though. I mean, who knows? Well, I would have taken up some space in the net. I would look like a Bob Brofsky, you know, he, he fills up the net. You talk like you were this, like, listen, I went to college with you. You were the definition of Bob. It's St. Thomas. I don't know what you're talking about. Well, when I was, when I was younger, there's some pictures of me, it looked like I could have used, uh, maybe a salad and a couple of exercise opportunities. I had a silver, too. Top that. You what? You heard me. I had a silver, too. I looked like the Lone Ranger. It was embarrassing. So, I, um, I used to go open skating at the Burnsville Ice Center. Um, and my parents would, you know, give me a 5 bill, I'd go skate for a few hours. And, you know, the idea was I was Quote unquote training to be a better, you know, hockey. Yeah, my legs strong well eventually your buddy show up you start playing tag and you're chasing each other on the ice and The the person that kind of runs the open ice kicks you off the ice you get in trouble And you know your your parents are like feeding you these five dollars like every other day to go to this open skate Well one particular time I got because of we're, you know, we're playing tag and I was kind of monkeying around on, on these long plastic gold benches. They still have these benches in the lobby at our ice center. And I fell off onto the bench face first and chipped my front tooth in a half. Like, I can't tell you how much it hurt. Like Lloyd Christmas. Like Lloyd Christmas from, uh, Yes. So I told my parents it happened through the course of skating, right? Like I was out there and I took a bad fall and they felt so bad for me and went in the next day and got the procedure done. They put the silver shiny cap on it. Well, a week later, one of my buddies is over at my house and, you know, I used to have friends over. We used to have spectrum sports. You can watch the Northstar games on like a pay per view basis. And. You know, one of the kids said, wow, you wouldn't have gotten caught in that game of tag. You would have been in the lobby when the felon chipped your tooth. And of course, I'm caught now, right? Oh, no, you tell a big lie. So I'm grounded. The party came to an end. It was depressing. I've got a silver tooth. I mean, it was, it was a low point. Husky jeans. I've been husky jeans. I got a silver tooth. I got the hair parted down the middle. I'm like. Things are not going my way. Um, so yeah, we all have our, those were, those were tough days. I'm not gonna lie to you, those were tough days. But it all seems to have come together for you. You know, you, Well, I got that luscious hair now. Yes, yes. Strong jawline. You know, it's funny, his silver teeth, that's kind of become a big deal. Like, uh, Justin Jefferson's got it, 50 Cent, or Fiddy Cent, I think is how you pronounce that name. I think there's a gold, and I don't think it looks as obnoxious as mine did, I can tell you that. How long did you have to live with the silver tooth? It was a year or two and then I died. Yeah, it was bad. I'm not kidding you. And those were big years. Like, you know, 6th, 7th grade. It was like, ugh. But then, I got a nice, beautiful veneer on there and, you know, it's funny. You get me thinking, right? It's amazing that, and this hopefully can be edited out if it's not appropriate for our audience. But, uh, you know, I talked about the high school hockey experience. I'm going to try to bring this thing back to the state tournament. When the light bulb first went on for me. That my buddies and I were not just a bunch of idiots because we really were A bunch of idiots, but we could maybe do some damage and go to a state tournament We were in the bantam state tournament in your neck of the woods at aldrich arena So this would have been our ninth grade year and we were really good like we made it to the championship game And I had my first legitimate kiss in the parking lot of the aldrich arena With my first like was it with lucky? Mike Lutcraft? It was a girl named Lori Reed. Oh. Yeah, and um, It was puppy love, you know. That first relationship where you really have no idea what you're even thinking. You know, getting dropped off by your parents at your girlfriend's house and vice versa. It didn't last long. The relationship probably lasted six months. But I just remember during that state tournament with Her walking out with me to the parking lot. And I think I was just dumping my bag in the car. We were going to stick around to see the next game of the tournament. And there I am in the parking lot at Aldrich doing, you know, the first time ever lock and whip with a young lady. Oh my. In my life. That's fantastic. Yeah, maybe we should have a first kiss, uh, episode. We've already had yours. Can you come here? What's yours? Mine was, uh Margie Bedard. I loved Margie. Yeah, she was, uh, she was fantastic. It was at 214 Ferndale. I'll never forget it. We all remember those things. In fact, she's my, uh, my answer for a whole bunch of, uh, you know, those test questions when, uh, you're trying to get your phone open and stuff like that. So I don't know if Margie knows that. She probably had kissed a dozen boys before me. No. But, uh, we went to college with Margie. I see her every once in a while. She's done very well for herself. Lovely girl. Yeah, you know what? I'm getting kind of misty eyed over here thinking about the good old days. Um, so back to the state tournament. Uh, this is Louie's last year. I, uh, encourage everybody to, uh, to, to take in. A game or two with Louie because it's, uh, it's spectacular. Um, Matamidai made it again, you know, defending champions. Uh, Posh, another goalie. Great guy. He was my goalie coach at, uh, at the University of St. Thomas. He worked with Terry Skrypak. Oh, yeah. Just a really down to earth, humble, nice man. Done a great job with that program too. And, and I think that that side of the bracket, you know, class A in general is just such a wide open tournament. I, um, I'm really looking forward to this year's edition. And the Louis stuff will be tough, right? I mean, it'll be tough because it's the last one. There's some really cool t-shirts at Soda Stick that have a, a charitable side to it that Lou Annie's picked out a charity. I believe it's a scholarship fund for folks over at the University of Minnesota. So check that out@sodastick.com. It's a really cool t shirt that shows Lou Nanny in his headset, probably from the 80s, I would guess. Oh, cool. Those quirky looking headsets. Oh, yeah. It's kind of an old, tip of the, tip of the headset to Louie here for 60 years on the job. Really neat. I saw that on, uh, I think it was Jim Rich did it on Channel 9 on their Sunday sports day. Back with Ralph John Fritz. Remember Ralph John Fritz? Well, you know, my senior year, you know, your pioneers ended up playing us in the final, but you know, you had Tom Hanneman, Ralph John Fritz, Mark Rosen, Lou Danni, Herb Brooks, uh, you had the Who's Who of Minnesota Media cover this event. The years before that, when ABC had it, Howard Cosell came into town to do a couple of editions of the state tournament. So, yeah, Howard Cosell, you can go back and archive the video, like, that's how big this tournament was. Lou Danni mentioned this, um, on, on that Channel 9 newscast Sunday night, that at the prime When, when WCCO had it in the 80s, they spent more money to get the state tournament for that weekend than any channel ever spent in town to have an entire season of North Star Hockey. No. They would do 65 NHL games in a hockey market and pay less than WCCO did to have that state tournament. And I think people do forget, like in our era in the 70s and 80s, there were only five or six channels. So everybody legitimately watched the state tournament. I mean, everybody. It was a big deal. All four years of my high school career, the Pioneers made it to the state tournament. Won a little bit, but mostly lost to Burnsville. But lastly, before we depart, I want to make a plea on behalf of a young man named Gunner. Gunner was the young fella that after the Zephyr victory last year was thrown over the glass onto the ice. Do you recall this? The young man that was, he was tossed, I would consider it more of an assault. Um, but the uh, the authorities, the authorities blamed it on young Gunner. And as a result, yeah, Gunner is not able to attend anything at the XL Energy Center for a two year period. So, yeah, I'm not kidding ya. So you remember how they had free Mandela back in the day? I think we should, free gunner. In fact, uh, I've seen some sweatshirts with free gunner and a picture of poor gunner being hoisted over the, uh, over the glass. Um, They make a husky version. I'd, I'd gladly put some money towards this, uh, great campaign and I'd love to have that sweatshirt. In fact, we, we're double dating this weekend. We should wear said sweatshirts to our double date. Yeah. How proud would our better halves be? Absolutely. I think that's a great plan. I'm sure we'll be going to a restaurant that that would be the appropriate attire. By the way, do I understand that you're going to be doing a Class A game or something? I get the moonlight this year, um, because the wild come back late Friday night from Denver and I'm lucky enough that I get to be on the, uh, on the broadcast for the class a championship game. I'll be at the desk with, uh, Tom Hauser and I will be doing like a pregame intermissions and a post game during the class a championship. And it's going to be a great funnel no matter what. But if somehow. Some way the Northfield Raiders can pull off a couple of upsets and get there, obviously. Oh, man. My good buddy. So, yeah, it's gonna be, I'm really looking forward to it. Just to have a little taste of it. Um, it normally doesn't work out with my wild schedule because they always travel, uh, during the state tournament to keep that building open for the, you know, for the kids, which is great. But, um, yeah, just to be a part of that broadcast, even for a couple hours. It's full circle. Full circle. That is fantastic. And Tom Houser couldn't be a better guy. A Tommy. He went to St. Thomas. He's a Tommy. He's a terrific guy. Um, and that whole crew. That, again, it's a labor of love. You know, I talked to Chris Long about this and you know, they're all so excited about, you know, Louis and the tournament, but they all do it because, like us, they just love it. Like, they grew up with it. They love it. It's special to them. And so, you know, in life, we always get beat up that we talk about all this and all that the politics, you know, but it's nice to have something that for all of our lives is still just as special as it ever was. And I think it's great to see these kids, you know, get to live out their hockey dreams. We just saw the girls tournament. It was awesome. The boys tournament will be that this coming weekend and I just, it does. It warms my heart. I'm sentimental. I'm getting. Much older, and it just, it makes me feel good about it, and can't wait. So, last question, what do you remember more? The victory, or the smooch? Well, the victory, the victory far overshadows the smooch. I understand. The story was a lovely girl, and it was a, you know, for me, I mean, I was like you, a little bit on the girl crazy side, but. Wait, wait, whoa, whoa, whoa. Don't be, don't be pullin me into that. I was very We're cut from the same cloth, young man. Oh, no. But, I will tell ya, I, I, someone just asked me the other day about my memory of it. I don't really remember a lot of the games, but I've watched back the, the coverage, and it's now on, you know, we've had it on, on the DVDs, and you can Pop it on your computer on YouTube, all that good stuff. But really what I remember most is sitting in the locker room, knowing this was the last time, you know, we had played all our lives since we were six and seven years old. This was the last time we were going to be together. So we, we really didn't want to take our gear off. And so my buddy Herm Finnegan had one of those old, big, silver, shiny. Boomboxes from the 80s. You've all seen them, John. Remember those things? Hell yeah. And you put the big old batteries in there and you crank it up. We were listening to We Are The Champions. We're sitting there arm in arm. We're singing the song together. Seems a little cliche. Seems a bit cliche. I understand that. Okay. But what wasn't cliche is the recognition of, listen. This is it. This is the last time we're gonna ever have together. We're all going our separate ways. This is pretty cool. And finally, our coaches came in and said, listen, your parents are sitting out there. They've been sitting out there and they want to see it. Remember in the civic center, there's kind of an area underneath the bleachers. And so I came out of there, um, after getting my gear off and I, I go to find my parents. They both got tears in their eyes, and I'm telling you, I was a dumbass kid, like a lot of us at 17, 18 years old. It took me a while to figure things out, but at that moment, I figured it out. This wasn't about me. This was about our family and the sacrifices they had made, the early morning practices, the equipment, which was expensive. We were a middle, you know, middle class family. And that, that night was as much about them as it was me. And it took me seeing them in tears. To figure that out, because I wasn't the smartest kid, but at that moment, that's what I remember, you know, almost 40 years ago now, uh, as being so special. I was like, oh, it hit me like a, like a club over the head. Like, oh, this is pretty cool for them too. And uh, and you know, and that's Kindness Chronicles for you. The young man finally recognized just the sacrifices. You know, um, you probably should have played, uh, Separate Ways. Isn't that a journey song? Oh, my very favorite band and one of folks, again, I, I don't like to push my weird habits out on, on everybody here that listens because then things are revealed. But I will tell you, if you go to YouTube tonight, as soon as you're done listening to this podcast and you YouTube journey separate ways, the video. When they are out there, somewhere in San Francisco at an airplane hangar, lip syncing this beautifully delicious song from the 80s. If it doesn't make you smile, then I think there's something wrong with you. Yeah, that is, that is sincerely one of the cheesiest videos that has ever been made. Someday love will find you and they're doing the And I think, like, Jimmy Fallon or somebody, there was a group of guys that made A video that perfectly mock it mimics and beautifully mocks that video. And, uh, it's cheesy goodness telling yous it's cheesy. Goodness. No doubt about it. It's so good. Alright. I mean it, I mean, oh, I'm sorry. You're getting me going. My favorite band. Oh, I love Charlie. It's Holy cow. So, uh, what, what you got planned the rest of the day? You got anything fun planned today? Yeah. Uh, not really. We're traveling again, uh, leaving tomorrow. It feels like every week it's been another road trip, but no, I, um, I got my laundry done. Um, gonna hang out at home tonight. Chrissy is on her way home from, uh, South Carolina, visiting her family down there and probably just gonna hunker down and just stay with the pups and maybe watch some Dateline. Fantastic. Well, um, Steve Brown is just making his way down here. We're going to do another, uh, podcast we're gonna be discussing, uh, cancel culture and, uh, don't be that guy. So, uh, I, uh, appreciate, uh, the opportunity to connect with you. I know that you're a busy man this time a year and, uh, we'll see you, uh, yeah, because of your, your, your game commitment, we, uh, aren't gonna be able to go to some fancy restaurant, but instead I think we're going to Taco Bell. I don't think we're going to Taco Bell. I think we should go to Mancini's. Oh! That is a winning plan. Do you think we're going to be able to get a table at Mancini's during the State High School Hockey Tournament? Oh, State Tournament time. Maybe we go to the Brick House and show the ladies what it's all about. You negotiate that. I'll work on it, Johnny. And with that, State High School Hockey Tournament, off we go. Bye, KG. Bye, Johnny.