Unique Events and Venues: Hockey Day in Minnesota

It is the start of the third weekend in January and a morning temperature of -20 degrees has greeted Minnesotans. For many, of course, it is a reason to hunker down, bury yourself under a blanket and wait for the thaw.

But for devoted hockey fans, it is reason to celebrate: It’s time for Hockey Day in Minnesota festivities. The outdoor events that feature high school and college games have been played annually since 2008. The Wild, Minnesota’s National Hockey League team, participates in the celebration, too, but their games are indoors in multi-million-dollar arenas, not a sheet of naturally-made ice.

In 2008, the first official edition of Hockey Day in Minnesota was played at Baudette Bay on the Rainy River, the body of water that separates the United States and Canada. The air temperature then was like today, -17 with a windchill factor of -50. Yes, it was cold, but Minnesota hockey players and fans are a hardy bunch, so the games continued.

The foundation of Hockey Day in Minnesota began a year earlier when high schools from St. Paul Johnson and Lake of the Woods played outdoors in a tribute to their deep roots of hockey tradition. The event was called the Baudette Bay Hockey Classic. St. Paul Johnson is the alma mater of Herb Brooks, the legendary coach of the 1980 U.S. Men’s Olympic Hockey Team. In 2009, Phalen Park in Brooks’ childhood St. Paul neighborhood, had approximately 20 hours of television coverage of the event.

The Hockey Day in Minnesota host site rotates throughout the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota. In its earlier years, at the conclusion of each event, an announcement was made on what community will host the following year. The community-wide excitement of being selected as the host is akin to being awarded the Super Bowl. But with the expansion of the event to a weeklong celebration, host sites need more lead time to prepare the infrastructure necessary. This year, Hockey Day in Minnesota is taking place in Hastings, a Mississippi River community located 25 miles from St. Paul. In 2027, the hosting baton passes to the Brainerd Lakes Area in central Minnesota. Brainerd is known as the home of legendary lumberjack Paul Bunyan.

“It’s remarkable to see how this event has grown over the years,” said Ryan Phelps, a Minnesota media member and lifelong high school hockey fan. “Baudette had a great set up already in 2007. Each year, it’s gotten better and better. The bleachers, the party tents, it’s incredible. Now, to visit the Hastings site, it’s like a circus came to town. It’s a weeklong celebration, outdoors, but with all the amenities.”

Phelps directs the livestreaming of the event’s games.

“There was no television coverage on Baudette Bay in 2007, so we worked with a handful of radio stations around the state, to provide a full day of audio coverage,” Phelps said. “We had feature stories and interviews with all the big names of Minnesota hockey. We even had Gov. Tim Pawlenty lined up as our analyst, but he had to bail at the last minute. The next year Fox Sports North showed up and the rest is history. It’s been a lot of fun, as NSPN.tv has taken over the streaming services all week, to be a part of the broadcast, once again.”

Tim Leighton is communications coordinator for the Minnesota State High School and a member of the High School Today Publications Committee. For more information contact Tim at tleighton@mshsl.org.