By Nicole Tearse

Here in Minnesota we are known for many things – cold weather, snow and for exaggerating our “O’s,” just to name a few. Of course, the most important thing that we are known for is being the State of Hockey. We pride ourselves in our numerous rinks and facilities that provide all ages to skate in all year round. You don’t have to drive far in this great state of hockey to stumble upon an ice arena. Lucky for us, in the winter Mother Nature helps us out by providing us with more ice than we could ever ask for by transforming our lakes, ponds and rivers into backyard rinks for what we like to call “pond hockey.”

Pond hockey is an element of hockey that is not often discussed, but the importance of it is great. Team practices, games and skills clinics are all important elements for the development of players, but pond hockey too often goes unmentioned. There is nothing like lacing up your skates and heading outside to play a pick-up game with your friends. Games where there are no refs, no pads and no pressure. It’s not a game of contact, more of a game of stickhandling and finding different and creative ways to find the back of the net. Whether you are out on the ice by yourself taking 100 shots on net, or you are out there with your closest friends, it is a time where you learn to really love the game and find yourself as a player.

Six years ago this concept was first celebrated in Baudette Bay with the first Hockey Day Minnesota.  Hockey Day Minnesota is a day to celebrate hockey on every level from Mites to the NHL.  From the backyard ponds to the Xcel Energy Center, it is a day for all to celebrate this great sport.   The first year Hockey Day was celebrated was with just one high school game, followed by a Gophers game and Wild game.

Now in its sixth year, the celebration will be kicked off in Excelsior on Lake Minnetonka on Jan. 21. Fox North Sports, partnered with the Minnesota Wild, will be broadcasting live from there all day long, expanding the number of high school games from the original number of one to three.

The high school matchups include Grand Rapids vs. White Bear Lake (boys), Duluth East vs. Minnetonka (boys) and Hopkins vs. Minnetonka (girls). The Gophers will take on Colorado College in the late afternoon and the Wild will finish the day off by battling the Dallas Stars that night. The high school games will be played on a full-sized rink on Lake Minnetonka with stadium seating that will seat 5,500 fans. This rink will be surrounded by a number of smaller rinks for Mite teams and pond hockey teams alike to enjoy and participate in this exciting day.

This is a day for all to celebrate this great sport by going back to our roots, to our backyard ponds where it all started. This is a day to inspire our young players that it is possible to go from shooting pucks in your backyard pond to shooting pucks at the high school, college and professional level. It is a day to remember just what it means to love the game for what it is, and who it has helped us become. Please come out and help us celebrate the greatest sport on earth, and prove that we deserve being called the State of Hockey.

For more information, please visit hockeyblastminnesota.com. Thanks, and see you all there!