Every hockey fan in Minnesota and likely almost every hockey fan in the United States knows that Minnesota is considered the “State of Hockey”. Winters in Minnesota are cold and snowy, as most know, but as soon as it gets cold enough to make a nice clean sheet of ice, many kids can’t wait to lace up their skates and play some “pondie,” which is the new term for pond hockey these days.
Many kids in Minnesota are basically born with a pair of skates attached to their feet, and it’s almost as natural to learn how to skate as it is to learn how to swim, since there are over 10,000 lakes in the state. If you’re driving outside of the big lights of the cities, chances are you’ll pass a few hockey rinks in backyards and parks. Many families construct their own rink and invite the neighborhood kids to play pickup games.
It’s a favorite pastime for many, including my own family. I grew up on skates and played a lot of outdoor hockey with my cousins growing up. My uncle had his own outdoor rink that was a bit unique, as it had several trees in his yard that couldn’t be avoided and became random parts of the rink that worked as obstacles we had to learn to skate around, and made us better skaters, but also created great memories. In this article, we’ll look at why hockey and Hockey Day Minnesota are so important to the state, starting with bringing the community together.
Being that hockey is so ingrained in many Minnesotans’ lives, it was only natural that they’d eventually come up with a “holiday” for it called Hockey Day Minnesota. It started in 2006 and just celebrated its 20th year. It seems like it’s been around a lot longer, and realistically, it probably could’ve started a lot earlier as well. For those who don’t know, Hockey Day Minnesota is exactly as it sounds: a day to celebrate Minnesota hockey, and the majority of the games are played outside.
There are high school games, college, American Hockey League (AHL), and, of course, the Wild as well, and almost all of them are televised or streamed on the local FanDuel Sports Network channel for the entire state to enjoy. It really couldn’t get any more Minnesotan if it tried, and each year, a different city around the state gets to host this amazing event.
Hockey Day is important because it brings together an entire community to help build the rink for the games to take place and to put on the event, as well as all of the hockey fans who attend. Many in the state look forward to this every year, and some make quite a trek to come see the hockey in person. Hockey started outside on lakes and outdoor rinks, and that’s how Hockey Day Minnesota started as well, to celebrate the game as it started, outside. The first few years were held on a local lake in the host city, and several have been held throughout the years, but most are held on a rink that was built by the community.
Families, friends, neighbors, and everyone get together to either watch or play, and some even have a Hockey Day party at their own house if they aren’t near where it’s being hosted. It’s a great day all over the state to get everyone together, and while it’s to celebrate hockey, it’s also a great time to spend with family and friends playing on the ice.
Minnesota Kids & Adults Alike Get Involved
While there haven’t been a high number of NHL players who played on Hockey Day as high school players, there have been a number who have played in it over the years, like Nick Seeler, Jake Guentzel, and Casey Mittlestadt, among others. While that number isn’t very high, the number of former NHL players who come back to play in the alumni game is, and many are Minnesota natives.
Players like Zach Parise, Joe Mauer, Mark Parrish, Ryan Carter, and Dustin Byfuglien are just a few names that played in this year’s game. Players like Parise also had the chance to play in an outdoor NHL game thanks to the Stadium Series in 2016, as he missed out on the Wild’s Winter Classic in 2022. While the high school kids love to play on this day, the alumni love to come back and play outside too, just like when they were kids playing on the pond outside their house.
In the past, it was just one day, but in recent years, it’s grown to a few days with a number of different teams getting involved, and now it’s a week-long event. There were several youth games, many high school games, boys and girls, military games, alumni games, an AHL game, a family skate, and, although it wasn’t on the outdoor rink, a Wild game finished the week-long hockey festivities on Hockey Day Minnesota.
Minnesota Kids Live For This
Every kid who plays sports hopes to make it to the big stage one day. In Minnesota, there are several big stages kids hope to eventually make it to, and one of those is Hockey Day Minnesota. Of course getting to Hockey Day Minnesota isn’t based on how many games they win like the state tournament is, it’s more the luck of the draw for what town gets to host, but regardless it’s a goal for many kids because they get to represent their town on the outdoor ice on television on one of the biggest days of the year for Minnesota hockey.
While many kids play indoors regularly now because there are a lot more rinks around than in the past, many kids still play outdoors. For many high school kids, the cool thing to do is go play pond hockey with their friends, regardless of whether they play competitive hockey or recreational. Typically, after school, if you drive around a town in Minnesota in the winter, there will be rinks filled with kids.
Related: Why Minnesota Is Truly the State of Hockey
For the kids that get to play on Hockey Day Minnesota, many of them grew up playing on their backyard rink, imagining themselves as playing professionally one day, but before that or right alongside it, they dream of playing on Hockey Day Minnesota like so many kids have before them. It’s something many of them have dreamed about since they were little, and some of them get to live it.
Hockey Day is Special
Hockey Day Minnesota is important to the state of Minnesota because it brings the community together around the great game of hockey that is part of the lives of so many Minnesotans. It’s also a way to share it with others and bring in new people who haven’t had the chance to experience the game as it was meant to be, played outside. It’s truly amazing to watch a hockey game be played outside in the sunshine and sometimes snowy weather, with the sun glinting just right off the shiny ice.
This was the 20th anniversary of Hockey Day Minnesota, and despite the bitterly cold temperatures, fans still made the trek because they love the game of hockey. Next year’s Hockey Day Minnesota will be hosted in Brainerd, Minnesota, and it’ll be interesting to see what they bring to the event and which teams will play.
