Hill-Murray boys hockey seeks restraining order against high school league

Hill-Murray’s boys hockey team is going to court in an effort to guarantee the Pioneers will play in this week’s state tournament.

A lawsuit on behalf of nine Hill-Murray senior players was filed Tuesday in Washington County. It seeks a temporary restraining order against the Minnesota State High School League. The Pioneers are in danger of being disqualified from the tournament because of a positive COVID-19 test from a recent opponent, per the lawsuit.

“It’s in the judge’s hands right now, and our understanding is he could rule as soon as today,” said Bob Kaufman, whose son is a junior on the team.

Hill-Murray, the defending Class 2A state champion, is scheduled to play Wayzata in a quarterfinal game at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Xcel Energy Center.

Under MSHSL COVID-19 guidelines, the Pioneers cannot be cleared to play until Thursday at the earliest, a full week after “close contact” with a team that has registered positive tests. According to the lawsuit, Wayzata — Hill-Murray’s quarterfinal opponent — agreed to play the quarterfinal on Thursday, if necessary.

“The League does not comment on pending, threatened or alleged legal action,” the MSHSL said in a statement.

A call to attorney Beau D. McGraw, who filed the suit, was not immediately returned.

Department of Health sports quarantine guidelines recommend 14 days as the safest because it provides “the greatest protection against spreading virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2.” Other options include 10 days without testing and seven days “with a PCR-negative test (not an antigen test or antibody/blood test) if the test occurred on day five after exposure or later.”

These recommendations are in line with those of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The way these kids are being treated is criminal,” Kaufman said. “You can go to Mall of America and be elbow-to-elbow with people. We’re tired of the disparity. These kids are low-risk.”

The lawsuit includes an affidavit from NHL scout Fred Bandel and former North Stars player Neal Broten.

Bandel, who according to his statement has worked for the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers, said the state tournament is “an extremely important evaluation” period for players and that without intervention from the court, “These high school boys will be unfairly denied an opportunity … they have trained for and dreamed about their entire lives.”

Broten, who played 16 years in the NHL and was a member of the gold medal-winning Miracle on Ice team at the 1980 Olympic Games, testified that playing in the Minnesota state tournament is the fondest memory of his career, and that barring the Pioneers from playing Wednesday would be “unjust.”

“I can’t think of a worse way for some of them to end their hockey careers,” he said in his affidavit.

Hermantown was scheduled to begin play in the Class A state tournament Tuesday with a mostly junior varsity team. Every player who was on the ice for more than a minute in the team’s section final victory must sit out the game because of a positive test registered by opponent Virginia/Mountain Iron-Buhl.

Earlier this month, a Mankato West student was pulled at the last minute from the Class 1A, Section 1 boys swim meet because of contact tracing and missed the state meet — his relay team advanced with an alternate — during his 14-day quarantine period.

Last week, the Minnesota Department of Health identified expanding clusters of the more-contagious B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant and described youth as the “leading edge” of the surge.

On Tuesday, the state said variants from Brazil, South Africa, and the United Kingdom are driving up new case rates in Minnesota. MDH reported 1,278 coronavirus infections Tuesday, up from 870 on March 23 but well below the state high of more than 7,800 in mid-November.