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Feb 24-25-26, 1955 St. Paul Auditorium

1955 State Tournament Leading Scorers

Player Team Goals Assists Total Points
Merv Meredith Minneapolis Southwest 5 1 6

GEOGRAPHIC SHIFT

This was the first tournament where four metro-area schools earned berths in the semifinals.  The schools were Minneapolis Southwest, South St. Paul, Minneapolis South, and St. Paul Johnson.  During the single-class era, an all-metro semifinal would only happen three more times.  This was also the only tournament to feature a Minneapolis vs. St. Paul battle.  St. Paul Johnson won the championship for the third time with a 3-1 victory over Minneapolis Southwest.  Herb Brooks scored two goals for the Governors.  Southwest, a backdoor entrant from Region 1, upset Eveleth 4-1 in the quarterfinals.

SLAP SHOTS

  • 1 day prior to the 11th annual (1955) State Boys High School Hockey Tournament, the Chicago Blackhawks played a home game February 23, 1955 at the St. Paul Auditorium vs. visiting Boston Bruins in a 3-3 tie.  This marked the 1st ever NHL game played in Minnesota that was billed as a fundraiser to send the U.S. Olympic Team to the 1956 Olympic Games in Italy.  (From 1952-1956 Blackhawks played numerous home games outside of Chicago in other cities within the Midwest).  "I was pleasantly surprised by the [talent] of the play.  There are only 2 Americans in the NHL, I just hope this hockey boom in Minnesota will develop some [NHL caliber] players for us." Blackhawks G.M. - Tommy Ivan.
  • The game of the tournament, and one for the memory banks, was Minneapolis South dethroning defending champion Thief River Falls, 3-2 in 11 overtimes in the quarterfinals.
  • South's Jim Westby ended the drama with an unassisted goal at 1:50 of the 11th extra session that was played during intermission of the St. Paul Johnson vs. Roseau game.
  • South goalie Roger Evenson made 50 saves.  The Tigers went on to finish fourth.
  • Tournament Attendance: 27,213

Minneapolis Southwest - Region 1

Roster Position Number White
Don Armstrong D 15
Bill Colby W 12
Harry Hageman W 6
Raoul Kunert W 5
Merv Meredith W 7
Wayne Meredith D 4
Edward Noble W 2
George Noble G 1
David Rovick C 3
Roger Rovick C 10
Eric Sundquist W 11
Fred Warne D 8
Paul Wohlford Coach

South St. Paul - Region 2

Roster Position # White # Maroon
Henry Metcalf G 1 75
Bob Zywiec D 2 72
Wayne Halley D 3 71
Russ Ohman D 4 70
Bob Sharrow C 9 69
Jack O'Brien C 6 67
John Roth W 10 66
Bob Anderson W 8 65
Kay Francis W 11 68
Bob Johnson W 7 64
Dick Bohrer W 13 63
Ray Lascewski W 12 62
George Karn Coach

Thief River Falls - Region 3

Roster Position # Blue, White & Gold
Rodney Collins G 1
Bradley Teal D 2
Loren Vraa W 3
Joseph Poole C 4
Jack Quesnell W 5
Jack Poole C 6
Glenn Carlson W 7
Clifford Strand W 8
Duane Glass D 9
Fred Dablow D 14
James Hall W 15
Clavin Offerdahl G 16
Dennis Rolle Coach

St. Paul Johnson - Region 4

Roster Position Number Blue
Herb Brooks C 5
Rodney Anderson W 3
Roger Wigens W 9
Stu Anderson C 8
Karl Dahlberg W 11
Ken Fanger W 10
Ryan Ostebo D 14
John Patten D 12
Chuck Rodgers D 4
Jack Holstrom D 2
Bill McKechnie W 6
Tom Wahman G 1
Rube Gustafson Coach

Minneapolis South - Region 5

Roster Position Number Orange & Black
Larry Alm D 9
Richard Alm W 14
Robert Carlson D 12
Norman Dahl C 4
James Ekberg W 5
Roger Evenson G 1
Michael Gallagher D 13
William Holm D 10
Richard Koob C 7
Dale Rasmussen W 8
Gerald Westby W 6
James Westby W 3
Rudolph Kogl Coach

Edina Morningside - Region 6

Roster Position Number White & Black
Murray MacPherson G 1
Walt Sirene D 3
Bob Steinweg D 5
Austin Brisbois W 7
Larry Johnson C 8
LeRoy Ryan W 9
Jim Richards W 10
Jim Everson C 11
Bill Strout W 12
Bernard Nielsen D 13
Pete Kuhlman G 14
Arvid Anderson D 15
Ted Greer Coach

Eveleth - Region 7

Roster Position # Maroon & White
Gordon Gunderson G 1
Jerry Norman W 2
Donald Judnick D 3
Bobby Began C 4
Ronald Deblock W 5
Jerry Judnick W 6
James Papike D 7
James Drobnick W 8
John Castellano W 9
Gus Hendrickson C 10
Paul Lavato D 11
James Rossi D 12
Clifford Thompson Coach

Roseau - Region 8

Roster Position Number Green & White
John Almquist G 15
Allen Blumer D 12
John Delmore - Captain C 1
Samuel Grafstrom C 5
Duane Gund D 7
Richard Johnson W 3
John Larson D 14
Duane Olson G 11
Orris Rasmussen W 4
Jerome Rice D 8
Michal Robertson W 2
Richard Skime W 6
Oscar Almquist Coach