If former Mankato East/Loyola player Derek Hager could give this year’s Mankato West boys hockey team a piece of advice this week, it would be pretty straight forward: “Soak it all in.”

Hager was a member of the 2006 Cougar team that went to state — the first boys team from Mankato to do so — and he still remembers the experience fondly.

“It’s something I’ll never, ever forget,” he said Tuesday, on the eve of West’s first state tournament game at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. “I’ve made trips to a lot of different places but playing at Xcel in the state tournament is the most memorable thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

Chris Miller, a defenseman on that East/Loyola team, has a similar take on his state tournament trip.

“I remember being on the ice and on the bench and looking up at the stands and the lights,” he said. “It’s a totally different perspective than being a fan and looking down on everything. It was really something else.” Like Hager, if Miller were to give the West players a piece of advise, it would be pretty simple: “Just enjoy every minute of it. It goes by way too fast.”

J.T. Miller, a captain and forward on the East/Loyola team who is no relation to Chris, has some very specific memories about his state tournament experience.

“I remember being nervous but excited. I remember walking into the visiting locker room and using the same locker that Jeremy Roenick hung his coat in the night before.

“At that moment I realized I was in the big time. I realized we had finally made it as a team.”

Another piece of advice he might give the West team is to get rid of the butterflies right away.

“I would tell them to treat those games at state like any other game,” he said. “We were kind of in awe, and that did us in in our first game.

“We got caught up in all the lights, gave up a couple of goals early and ended up losing 6-5 to Little Falls. That was a team we should have been able to beat.”

Whether West is able to come back from Wednesday’s opening loss to win today’s consolation game or not, J.T. Miller says the Scarlets’ appearance at Xcel can only be a positive for Mankato.

“I’m a little jealous of their 25-2 (25-3 at Wednesday) record but, otherwise, I support them all the way. They’ve played well, they deserve it.”

Jimmy Olson, the starting goalie on the 2006 East/Loyola team, agrees: “This is great for Mankato and for Mankato hockey. I know we dreamed about going to state our whole lives, and I’m sure the West players did, too.

“Now they’re living the dream.”