International Falls defeated Cloquet last week in the opening round of voting for the “Capital of the State of Hockey.”
In the annual contest, which is posted on the Minnesota Wild’s website, Falls and 31 other cities from across Minnesota were placed head-to-head in a tournament between the “Housley Bracket” (metro communities) and the “Broten Bracket” (non-metro).
Hockey fans can view the tournament bracket and place their votes by clicking on the State of Hockey link on the home page of www.wild.com. The weekly voting on two cities paired together began late last month and will continue throughout the NHL regular season.
Defending champion White Bear Lake, given a bye to the final round, will take on the winner in the championship matchup.
Fans wanting to support the Falls in the second round will have to wait until after Christmas. The winner of this week’s voting between Duluth and Hermantown will face the Falls in voting starting Dec. 26.
The final round of voting between the 2011-12 winner and 2010-11 champion White Bear Lake will begin April 2 with the title to be announced April 7.
