What You Need To Know About The 2025 Minnesota State Boys Hockey Tournament

The unofficial Minnesota holiday is here - it's state hockey tournament week in the State of hockey!

Every year, the Minnesota State High School League's boys' hockey tournament fills the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul with excited fans. Being able to fill an NHL arena for a high school athletics tournament is unheard of in most places around the country. In Minnesota? It's an annual occurrence.

Whether you're looking to check out your first-ever boys' hockey tournament, you're a returning fan, or you just want to follow the action from home, here's everything you need to know.

When is the 2025 Minnesota high school boys' hockey tournament?

Known to many fans as just "The Tourney", the 2025 MSHSL Boys Hockey Tournament starts on Wednesday, March 5, but not for every team participating.

Day 1 is when the Class A (smaller school) teams hold their opening round. Day 2 is Thursday, March 6, and will see Class AA (bigger school) teams hit the ice for the first time.

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Friday,  March 7 is semifinals day for both Class A and Class AA, and the tournament wraps up on Saturday, March 8 with the both class championship and third-place games happening.

Who is playing this year? What are the bracket matchups?

In Class A, action gets underway at 11 am Wednesday, as Mahtomedi takes on St. Cloud Cathedral. Orono takes on Northfield in the second game of the day at 1 pm before an intermission between the afternoon and evening games.

The evening games start up with top-seeded Hibbing/Chisholm taking on Luverne at 6 pm and the nightcap sees East Grand Forks taking on Northern Lakes, which is made up of students from Pequot Lakes, Aitkin. Crosby-Ironton, and Pine-River Backus at 8 pm.

You can see the full bracket, including the scheduled dates and times for the consolation bracket and third-place game here. Tap on the image to see it in full size.

In Class AA, it's almost completely a Twin Cities area affair this year with the outlier being Moorhead. Class AA action starts at 11 am on Thursday with Andover taking on Stillwater Area and Shakopee vs. St. Thomas Academy at 1 pm. The evening games have Lakeville South vs. Moorhead at 6 pm and Edina taking on Rogers at 8 pm.

You can see the full bracket, including the scheduled dates and times for the consolation bracket and third-place game here. Tap on the image to see it in full size.

How much are tickets to attend the Minnesota Boys Hockey State Tournament?

All games at the Xcel Energy Center for both Class A and Class AA are $20 for adults and $13 for students (K-12). This includes the third-place games on Saturday.

For consolation games at Mariucci Arena, adult tickets are $15 while student tickets are $10.

Non-school-age children are free except for the Class AA games, which require a ticket. Children who have not yet had their second birthday do not require a ticket.

Tickets can be purchased ahead of time via the MSHSL website.

You can also learn more about tickets, parking, what is allowed at the games, and more on the MSHSL's spectator guide.

How can I watch the Minnesota Boys Hockey State Tournament on TV or Online?

The tournament games (except for third place and consolation games) will be televised statewide to watch for free via antenna. The broadcasts are being done by "Prep 45", which is the sports brand for Twin Cities ABC affiliate KSTP subchannel "45 TV", and will be made available across the state on various channels owned by Hubbard TV.

Here is a rundown of where you can find it:

Twin Cities: KSTP subchannel Channel 5.2

Duluth: WDIO subchannel 10.2 (and 13.2 on the Iron Range)

Rochester: KAAL subchannel 6.2

It will also be available on KSTP's various translator stations across Minnesota on their x.2 channels. You can see a list here.

The games will also be available to stream on smart TVs, phones, and tablets via the KSTP, WDIO, and KAAL apps and on a computer via the Prep45 TV website.