For the girls hockey teams that make Minnesota’s small-school Class 1A state tournament, quarterfinals kick off Wednesday, skip Thursday, flow into semifinals Friday and end with a championship game Saturday afternoon.

That meant Breck girls hockey, making its first trip to state since three straight titles from 2018-20, wasn’t at risk of being busy on the ice when its alum, forward Grace Zumwinkle, laced up her skates to win gold with Team USA on Thursday.

Instead, they were busy with something else. School, of course.

It’s the odd day back in the classroom in the middle of the state tournament crush for teams close enough to return home between knockout rounds. So, no team watch parties. That didn’t stop some of the Mustangs and their classmates from sneaking peeks at the United States’ 2-1 overtime victory.

“There was, definitely in the school, people were watching, not really doing schoolwork,” senior forward Madison Dovenberg said.

Not everyone, though. Sophomore Ashley Babbitt was in a can’t-miss chemistry class, “so I couldn’t watch it,” she said. “And then all of them accidentally told me,” she added, sounding slightly dejected, referring to her teammates.

“They did ruin it for you?” asked head coach Tricia Luoma. She’s familiar with the excitement of the Olympics, having played in three of them herself with the U.S., in 1998, 2002 and 2006, including winning gold in 1998.

Dovenberg nodded. “Yes.”

Connections to Minnesota’s hockey gold medalists — and hopeful gold medalists on the men’s side — run rampant at this year’s girls hockey state tournament.

Zumwinkle’s older sister, Anna, coaches with Luoma at Breck. The younger brother of men’s center Brock Nelson, Blayke, is an assistant coach for top-seeded Warroad, who will be No. 2 Breck’s opponent in the Class 1A title game.

Blayke was in Italy earlier in the Olympic tournament, then flew back to be on the bench by the time the Nelsons’ alma mater beat Dodge County 6-5 in overtime Friday.

“I’m actually tired,” Warroad head coach David Marvin said after the barnburner. “I’m ready to go back and watch some hockey. We’re going to watch this next [semifinal] game, and hopefully watch [Brock] Nelson win.”

Nelson did win and is headed to the men’s gold medal game against Canada on Sunday.

The connections to Minnesotan Olympians don’t just give teams an extra reason to tune in to Olympic broadcasts. They have real, lingering effects on the culture of a program, as Blake head coach Kristi King pointed out when referencing how alumni like 2018 gold medalist Dani Cameranesi set up the Bears to end their nine-year state tournament drought.

“You look at the people that have gone through this program,” King said, rattling off Cameranesi’s name, alongside PWHL player Izzy Daniel and Gophers Madeline and Audrey Wethington, whose younger sister Addie is on the Bears team.

“They laid the foundation for what we see in that rink every day when we walk in, those trophies, those banners, Dani’s jersey hanging up in the rafters, and every day, that commitment that these kids have shown that they want to turn this ship around.”

That impact even transcends schools with alumni competing at the Games. Dodge County became the first school south of the Twin Cities metro to win a girls hockey state title in 2025 by knocking off Warroad in overtime. The Wildcats watched the gold medal game together after Thursday’s practice, and often hear from southern Minnesota hockey notable Taylor Heise, who assisted the U.S. game winner in OT.

Despite Heise attending Red Wing and growing up in Lake City, both an hour away from the Kasson-Mantorville and Byron cooperative team, there’s a sense of southern hockey camaraderie between a team and a player who have both helped put the region’s game on the map. Heise ran a captains’ practice for the Wildcats in October and texted head coach Jeremy Gunderson “good luck” before their semifinal against Warroad.

“I think this [state tournament stage] is a good chance … to showcase the girls’ talents on a big platform and give them the stage that they should have,” Gunderson said. “Now people get a chance to see not only Olympic girls’ win, but to see a game like this fall the next day, I think it’s just great for hockey.”