The finest excuse to jump on Highway 100, turn west onto I-394/Hwy. 12 and make the easy 25-minute drive to Delano always had been to watch a summer ballgame. The Delano Athletics are the home team, the ballpark is Athletic Field and it always seems to be undergoing subtle yet splendid improvements.

This is now my favorite ballpark in the Great North, and that includes Target Field in Minneapolis and CHS Field in St. Paul, where a combined 57 different pitchers (position players excluded) were employed for the Twins and their Class AAA Saints in 2025.

There was a moment in January 2017 when there was a glance taken at the state high school hockey rankings and shocking information was discovered:

Not only had Delano been producing a boys hockey team for three decades, but now the Tigers were rated No. 3 in Class 1A, behind only Hermantown and Breck.

Slight investigation revealed Delano was led by standout forwards Ben Meyers, Brian Halonen and John Keranen, seniors who had been playing together since they were in kindergarten. Meyers would go to the USHL, then have a full career with the Gophers.

This has been followed by five-plus pro seasons with Colorado, Anaheim and Seattle, where Meyers has played 36 games with the Kraken this season.

And it must be said, Ben looked dominant in that game witnessed in 2017 in that original, bare-bones indoor rink for Delano hockey. The enthusiasm for the sport has now led to an impressive new rink that’s part of a large skating complex.

Back in 2017, it was discovered that Tom Emmer had been a hockey promoter since moving to Delano with wife Jacqueline and their seven children in the mid-’90s. The hint on this was that Emmer’s Twitter avatar carried the message, “Husband, father, hockey fan and Congressman for Minnesota’s Sixth District.”

Back then, when asked when he first started in politics, Emmer was known to quip: “Working on the Delano Youth Hockey Board.”

Emmer played hockey for St. Thomas Academy and then three seasons at Alaska Fairbanks for the Nanooks.

The congressman and I had a brief and fine conversation back then about his fondness for the fastest game on ice. Now, nine years later, considering his standing as the majority GOP whip in Congress and his support for our angry, masked visitors — I’m not a constituent of his, but must confess our views of this ICE aren’t similar.

Which gets us to the second game of the Class 1A semifinals that were being played March 6 at Grand Casino Arena — No. 2-rated Delano (23-4-2) facing No. 3 Warroad, hoping to join Hibbing/Chisholm in an all-North final at noon on Saturday.

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1/14

Hibbing carried the No. 1 rating into the 11 a.m. game against Mahtomedi. The national anthem still had echoes reverberating through the building when Jackson Strukel carried the puck into the offensive zone and rifled in a goal after 17 seconds.

The Bluejackets’ Tate Swanson was named as Strib Varsity’s All-Minnesota Boys Hockey Player of the Year this week. A Hibbing hockey legend from the ’80s (take a guess) gave me a scouting report a few days ago:

“Tate is a really good hockey player. And his kid brother, the sophomore, is going to be the real deal.”

Cole is a bit larger — and there might be an edge to him. After the victory over Cloquet in the Region 7A final, he made an impolite gesture toward the losing fans and the hoity-toity Minnesota State High School League (rather than saying don’t do that again) didn’t allow him to play in Wednesday’s first round. The Bluejackets won 4-1 over Dodge County, down Rochester way.

Tate set up his brother for the goal that made it 3-0 against Mahtomedi on Friday. The final was 4-2 for Hibbing/Chisholm. The Bluejackets’ magnificent rink — Hibbing Memorial Arena (built in 1934) — was often the site of the one-class, Region 7 title game, but also often featured other Iron Range teams with the chance to reach the state tournament.

Hibbing went nine times in the one-class era from 1945 to 1991. The Bluejackets won twice: In 1952, ending Eveleth’s run of four consecutive titles with a 4-3 victory over the Rangers in the final; and in 1973, beating Alexander Ramsey 6-3, with Joe Micheletti getting a hat trick.

Warroad defeated Hibbing 5-3 in the 1994 Class 1A final. And now, there will be a repeat of that final after Warroad’s speed and passing produced constant chances as the Warriors eliminated Delano 6-3.

It was the first upset in the championship brackets for 1A or 2A in this tournament, but watching Warroad closely, it was a very mild one.