Fans Nearly Spill onto Ice After Glass Shatters During Section Finals Hockey Game in Rochester, MN
It’s officially March, one of the best times of the year. The days are getting longer, baseball is returning and brackets will be filled out, then busted, all within just the next three or four weeks. But up here, March also means it’s time for the Minnesota State Hockey Tournament, which takes place next week (March 6-9).
But some would argue it’s the lead up to the state tourney, during the section tournament, where the games are most intense. All across the state, hockey towns drive however far necessary to pack thousands of people into small-mid size arenas with a trip to Xcel Energy Center on the line.
These are the Moments that hockey kids dream of from the time they’re able to understand why they’re only 6 years old and already have four years of skating experience. But in a packed Rochester Rec Center on Friday night, things got a bit crazier than expected between Rochester Century/John Marshall and Lakeville South.
Glass shatters at Rochester Rec Center
It happened after a 2nd period Rochester goal put Century/John Marshall up 2-0. As is customary in high school hockey, the goal scorer jumped into the protective glass surrounding the rink, where the Rochester student section was designated, as a way of celebrating the goal with classmates. The rest of his on-ice teammates followed. But then… pop… pop goes the glass.
We got broken glass in Rochester! pic.twitter.com/Zu6pvhgDmE
— 10,000 Takes (@10k_Takes) March 1, 2024
Fortunately, nobody was seriously hurt, though there was some blood spilled (see below). So what happened? A raucous student section pounding on one side of faulty plexi-glass and hockey players jumping into it from the other… is kind of a recipe for disaster.
Related: Hermantown and Cathedral Clear Benches in State Tournament Brawl
How do we know it was faulty? Did you see the video? I’ve seen a lot of rowdy hockey crowds pounding on glass that never gave way and just as many hockey players hit it much harder than that high school kid did. And that doesn’t usually happen.
The game was suspended momentarily while the arena scrambled to find new glass panes to install. According to the Rochester Post Bulletin, the glass they found was two inches shorter than the panes that broke. Here are two of the fan victims, one of which nearly fell onto the ice. They appear unphased by what happened. Just a couple of kids making memories to last a lifetime.
The aftermath 😂 https://t.co/86FyteV4Q7 pic.twitter.com/L5v5mXiEiY
— 10,000 Takes (@10k_Takes) March 1, 2024
Intense doesn’t begin to describe how crazy some of these arenas get. If you haven’t been in one, it’s difficult to understand. Whether you’re in the crowd or on the ice, those are the atmospheres that make sports one of the most addictive human experiences in life.
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