The USHL was well-represented in Minnesota's Boys' Hockey State Tournament. The annual Minnesota Boys’ Hockey State Championship wrapped up March 8 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Moorhead High School captured its first-ever Class AA title after eight unsuccessful previous attempts, while East Grand Forks claimed the Class A Championship. Photo Courtesy of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/19907e58-204d-419a-b454-12cf6f3a86f6.webp] Photo Courtesy of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders Over 20 players across USHL [https://thehockeynews.com/ushl/]rosters and protected lists participated in this year’s tournament. Mason Kraft (Cedar Rapids RoughRiders), Max Cullen, Brooks Cullen, Zac Zimmerman (Fargo Force) and Tyden Bergeson (Madison Capitols) won the Class AA division with Moorhead. Griffin Sturm and John Hirschfeld of the Lincoln Stars were named to the Class A All-Tournament Team after finishing as runners-up in the title game with Cathedral High School. Kraft and Brooks Cullen of the Moorhead Spuds, along with Mason West (Fargo Force), Luca Jarvis (Youngstown Phantoms), Jonas Kohn (Sioux Falls Stampede) of the runner-up Stillwater Ponies and Cooper Simpson (Tri-City Storm) of Shakopee High School, were selected to the Class AA All-Tournament Team. Kraft was named the recipient of Minnesota’s 2025 Mr. Hockey Award, which annually recognizes the state’s top senior boys’ hockey player as decided by the Minnesota All Sports Alliance. He was selected 48th overall in the 2023 USHL Phase I Draft by the Sioux Falls Stampede. After playing one game for the Herd this season, Kraft’s rights were acquired by Cedar Rapids in May. He is expected to join the RoughRiders this week. As captain of the Class AA state champion Moorhead Spuds, Kraft led the team in scoring with 46 goals and 49 assists for 95 points in 31 games, sharing the league’s scoring title. The Minnesota State commit recorded 68 goals and 105 assists for 173 points in 88 career games for the Spuds. In the state championship game, Kraft scored four goals in the first period of a 7-6 win, tying the Minnesota state tournament record for most goals in a single period—a mark set in 1951. Kraft was among seven Mr. Hockey finalists with USHL ties, including Hirschfeld, Brent Solomon (Sioux Falls Stampede/Champlin Park High School), Simpson, Josh Toll (Tri-City Storm/Rosemount High School), Mason Jenson (Tri-City Storm/Rogers High School) and Nolen Geerdes (Madison Capitols/Rogers High School).
