The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1937-01-14
Sports Editor OF

! minneapolis, Jan. l1,-ttOcKey is max
/ ing a grand comeback in Minnesota
On two successive nights recently at the
Minneapolis Arena, record crowds
watched the professional and collegi-
ate brands of the game. The first
night, despite college hockey game in
ST. Paul and good fight crowd at the
Minneapolis auditorium, the best at
tendance of the season was recorded at
the Arena where st. Paul handed Min
neapolis to defeat.
The second night saw the arena
nearly packed for the second game of
the Minneapolis-Dart series
which topped previous series with
Princeton and Yale in the matter of
attendance and excitement.
The state colleges and high schools
in the Twin Cities are playing more
hockey than in recent years. Duluth is
having a great season as we'll as the
rest of the International league and
junior college loop.
Hockey always has been popular in
Minnesota. Only during recent years
has it slumped But with the increased
interest in all other sports, as mani
tested by the better crowds of the past
few months, hockey, too, is getting its
share of the returns. Yes, it's making
comeback and good one at that.
City Cagers Tougher
The basketball teams outside the city
who have managed to rule the state
tournaments for SO many years can ex-
pect a stronger bid from Minneapolis
high schools this season.
The ban on out-of-town games has
finally been lifted and, as a result, the
Minneapolis props have played a total
of 81 games before even starting their
own conference campaign.
1t has long been the wall of outstate
teams that the Minneapolis tournament
entries have been a soft touch, that
they only had to play the seven con-
ference games to determine the district
winner that advances to the regional.
They say seven games isn't enough, that
they should play at least dozen as do
the teams outside the cities.
Well, the Minneapolis teams are COM
planning, too, that seven-game Sched-
ule didn't prepare them we'll enough for
the rigors of tournament play and that
they weren't on par with the out of
city teams. So the city cagers went to
work this year and lined up an in
tensive pre-conference schedule against
out-of-toWn opponents. There's not a
Minneapolis team that will not have
played dozen games by the time the
tournament season rolls around.
All these games showed Minneapolis
to good advantage and gave the city
boys the chance to prepare themselves
very well for what promises to be the
hottest city campaign in years as well
as increasing the statewide interest in
high school basketball no small bit.
The Edison team made fine show
ing against the champions of South and
North Dakota. It's just a matter of
time before the city officials will be
looking for games with outstanding
high school teams in Wisconsin, Indiana,
Michigan, Illinois and Iowa.
The same is true of high school foot
ball. South went to Lincoln Nebraska,
and made an impressive showing in a
one-sided victory. South next fall will
play at Hibbing in what should be
another grand game.
They're starting to travel and it
means that the Minnesota high schools
will be bidding for more glory. And,
incidentally, the educational advantages
are not bad, either.