Minnesota Hockey Day 2016: Hockey Day Minnesota returned to the northern part of the state, this time unfolding at the scenic Bayfront Park in Duluth. Against the stunning backdrop of Lake Superior, the Duluth-Denfeld boys secured a 5-2 victory over Eveleth-Gilbert. The following match showcased a fierce competition between two formidable teams, with the Lakeville North boys showcasing their road prowess and eventually triumphing over Duluth East in a 3-2 game by the lake.
However, the college and professional teams faced challenges this time around. Penn State, recognized for numerous achievements beyond hockey, asserted dominance over the Gophers, emerging victorious with a 5-3 score. In the professional arena, the Minnesota Wild fell short in their attempt to secure the Minnesota split, succumbing to a 4-1 defeat against the St. Louis Blues.
The Wild’s performance, with only one goal scored last year, lacked notable surprises or forgotten names. Matt Dumba secured the lone Wild goal, receiving assists from Zach Parise and Charlie Coyle. Jarret Stoll’s roughing penalty stands out as the most noteworthy detail in the box score.
Approaching the 11th edition of Hockey Day Minnesota against the backdrop of another iconic bridge, the event shifted to Stillwater, situated on the banks of the St. Croix River. The weekend in Duluth created lasting memories for numerous kids on the ice, and perhaps spectators also took away something special from the event. Notably, this year’s broadcast on FSN featured a live Girls High School game and coverage of the Gophers Women’s team, albeit on Fox Sports Plus.
Hockey Day Minnesota 2016 – Event Details
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Wild.com is where you can get your Wells Fargo Hockey Day Minnesota 2016 tickets today. The money made from the event will go to local Duluth kids hockey programs. Click here for more details and a full list of events.
HDM PARADE OF STARS.
It will all start with a short march at 9 a.m. on Saturday from the Bayfront Park ice gate for Hockey Day. Duluth Mayor Emily Larson, U.S. Representative Rick Nolan, mascots from the schools taking part, and NHL players Nordy from the Minnesota Wild, Champ from the University of Minnesota Duluth, and Huskie from the Duluth Huskies will all be in the parade. Many young hockey players from the Duluth area will also be there.
DROPPING THE TORCH
Two important men who represent Duluth’s hockey history, Pat Francisco and Bob and Jerry Fryberger, will drop the puck before every boys’ high school game.
Pat Francisco, a past star at Denfeld who is now in the school’s Hall of Fame, played for the Bulldogs at the University of Minnesota Duluth from 1963 to 1967. Francisco has played hockey in Duluth for more than 30 years. He played a big role in building the Heritage Center in West Duluth. He will start the Duluth Denfeld game at 10 a.m. on Saturday, February 6.
Hockey Day Minnesota 2016 in Duluth Recap and Photo Gallery
It was three days of nonstop hockey action and great moments at Bayfront Festival Park. Hockey Day Minnesota 2016 is over. This year was the tenth year of this event for hockey fans across the whole state. Although there was a little sun during the second game, which caused some minor ice problems, the weather was mostly nice, and the setting was beautiful. The horn from the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge went off when a Duluth team scored a goal, which made the whole mood better.
Eveleth-Gilbert and Duluth Denfeld played each other in the first game. They are foes in the same section. Even though the visitors took an early lead, Denfeld tied the game and kept the pace going in the second half. The Hunters beat their Hockey Day Minnesota opponents by a score of 5-2.
Last March, Duluth East lost 4-1 to Lakeville North at the Xcel Energy Center in a repeat for the Class AA State Championship. In the second game, they wanted to get back at Lakeville North. In the end, Lakeville North beat East 3-2, even though Ryan Peterson gave the Greyhounds an early lead.
Duluth named host for Hockey Day Minnesota 2016
Hockey Day Minnesota 2016 will be held in Duluth on February 6, 2016, with games being played outside in a famous park. This great news came from Wells Fargo, FOX Sports North, and the Minnesota Wild.
The outside games will be held at Duluth East and Denfeld. If you remember the Class 2A state championship game from last year, Duluth East will play Lakeville North again. Duluth Denfeld will play Eveleth-Gilbert. Lakeville North won the 2014–15 season, ending a run of 16 straight wins.
Lakeville North’s head coach, Trent Eigner, praised the players’ hard work and competitive energy on the ice and thanked them for being chosen for such an event. He said, “It’s a great tribute to the program.”
Hockey Day Minnesota 2016 Details Announced
Back in the Northland, the 10th Hockey Day Minnesota will take place at Bayfront Park in Duluth. A newly built ice rink will set the scene, and the Twin Ports will make a beautiful backdrop. The show will take place on February 6, 2016.
Part 7A play will begin with Game One between the Eveleth-Gilbert Golden Bears and the Duluth Denfeld Hunters. The Golden Bears had a 7-4-3 record and came in second place in the Iron Range Conference, one game behind Hibbing-Chisolm. Eveleth-Gilbert won the state title in 1998, which was their last time in the tournament. They lost to Lake of the Woods at Baudette Bay in the second season of Hockey Day Minnesota, so this is their second time on the show. They’ve played in 15 state titles and won seven of them.
The Wild will not play a home game in St. Paul for the first time in HDM history, which is a big change from the norm. Instead, they will play St. Louis at Scottrade Center at 7 p.m., which is a game in the Central Division. It’s unbelievable that the Minnesota Wild are 7-2 on Hockey Day Minnesota.
Hockey Day Minnesota Schedule Announced
The Hockey Day party will start at 9 a.m. with a short parade from the gate to Bayfront Park to the ice. Mayor Emily Larson, U.S. Representative Rick Nolan, school mascots, Champ from UMD, Huskie from the Duluth Huskies, and young hockey players from the Duluth area will be in the parade.
From 3 to 4 p.m., the Duluth Area Sled Hockey team will show up out of the blue on Bayfront Park’s smaller ice. Every day from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., there are Mite 1 games.
In the evening, at 7 p.m., there will be a party outside at Bayfront Park, where the Minnesota Wild vs. St. Louis Blues game will be shown on a big screen. Everyone is welcome to attend this event for free.
During the afternoon, the main outdoor rink will be busy with activities like a sled hockey game by the Wild, a Peewee AA game between Duluth East and Stillwater, and a tough match between the Duluth Police Department and the Duluth Firefighters.
Where was the first hockey day in MN?
Baudette
The community of Baudette deserves a lot of credit, as they were already preparing to host an outdoor high school game as part of a winter celebration. The first Hockey Day Minnesota was essentially based in Baudette, plus a Gophers men’s game in Minneapolis and a Wild game in St. Paul.
From 2006 to 2007, the Minnesota Wild’s marketing team looked for new ways to promote hockey in the state. People who were planning to watch a Minnesota Gophers game and a Wild game together had their plans changed by a phone call from the northern border of Minnesota.
Around this time, NHL and college hockey games played outside were becoming more and more famous. The coaches from Lake of the Woods and St. Paul Johnson were already talking about going to a special event. The idea came from Baudette city councilman Jeff Hovde.
The idea for the Baudette Bay Hockey Classic was pitched by Hovde to Fox Sports North in the Twin Cities. He asked a producer if the network would be likely to show the game in January 2007. FSN told Hovde that they would decide and get back to him.
Why is Minnesota known for hockey?
Minnesota holds the nickname the “State of Hockey” because no one produces hockey players quite like the state does. Hockey players have been coming out of Minnesota for years, but the moniker was not established until the early 2000s.
A big part of hockey comes from Minnesota, where one-third of Division One college players and 20% of American NHL players are from.
Adam Scher, a senior historian at the Minnesota Historical Society, gives a more complex explanation for how this happened. Other people say it was because of the cold weather and the large number of lakes. In the middle of the 1800s, hockey was first played in Canada. The sport was brought to the Iron Range by people who came to work in the mines in the late 1800s.
In this setting, mine workers’ kids played hockey for fun, which led to the rise of hockey stars like John Mariucci. Ross Bernstein, an author who writes about Minnesota hockey, says that mining companies actively supported hockey to help their workers and their families.
What is Minnesota known for hockey?
We continually lead the country and set records, which we should be proud of. This past year, Minnesota set the single-season record for the most players from any state to play in the NHL (67!) and had the most Division I men’s (223) and women’s (221) players of any state.
It is proud to be called “The State of Hockey,” but it is really more commonly known as “The Land of 10,000 Lakes.”
Minnesotans really enjoy hockey, which makes it one of the most famous sports in the state. Every year, more than 135,000 people come to the Xcel Energy Center for the Minnesota Boys State Hockey Tournament.
In the past sixteen years, the University of Minnesota women’s hockey team has won the NCAA National Championship eight times. Also, Minnesota is proud to have one of the six teams in the first season of the Professional Women’s Hockey League, which started at the Xcel Energy Center in early 2024.
Here are some of the best ways to really get into Minnesota’s sports culture, which is as much a part of the state’s people as walleye are a part of its lakes.
Where was Hockey Day Minnesota last year?
Hockey Day Minnesota 
​Previous locations include Baudette Bay (2007, 2008), Phalen Park (2009), Hermantown (2010), Moorhead (2011), Minnetonka (2012), Grand Rapids (2013), Elk River (2014), Saint Paul (2015), Duluth (2016), Stillwater (2017), St. Cloud (2018), Bemidji (2019), Minneapolis (2020) and Roseville (2021).
Since 2007, the Minnesota Wild have held Hockey Day Minnesota to honor the sport that has made Minnesota the home of hockey. Bally Sports North, Minnesota Hockey, and the town that gets to host work together to make this event happen every year.
Along with Grand Rapids (2013), Elk River (2014), Saint Paul (2015), Duluth (2016), Stillwater (2017), St. Cloud (2018), Hermantown (2010), Baudette Bay (2007, 2008), Phalen Park (2009), Hermantown (2010), Moorhead (2011), Minnetonka (2012), and Roseville (2021), Hockey Day Minnesota has been held in many cities.
Where has Hockey Day Minnesota been played?
15,000 Fans Visited The Hockey Day Village During Hockey Day Minnesota in Warroad. Just east of the Hockey Day Village, seven Warroad Warrior banners, proudly sporting the black and gold Warroad Warrior logo, greeted fans arriving at Hockey Day Minnesota 2024 held in Warroad.
Inspired by Hockey Day in Canada, which has been a practice since 1952, the Minnesota Wild’s corporate executives came up with the idea of Hockey Day Minnesota. In the summer of 2006, Matt Majka, who was Chief Operating Officer for the Minnesota Wild at the time, led the charge. He clearly remembers an important August day when he and a few coworkers gave Fox Sports North (FSN) a one-page outline of what Hockey Day Minnesota might include.
Mike Dimond, who is the senior vice president and general manager of FSN, liked the idea and acted right away. The proposal was an instant and long-lasting success because everyone worked together on it. Dimond knows how important it is to work together with Minnesota Hockey, the University of Minnesota, and the Minnesota Wild to make Hockey Day Minnesota an event that people will never forget. He says that even though each host city makes the event special in its way, the love and excitement for the game never go away.
Even though Hockey Day Minnesota is over, its impact lives on. The whole state of Minnesota has gained from this hockey celebration by putting on exciting games, building community, and making memories that will last a lifetime.
Hockey Day MN used to be a day to celebrate hockey games, but now it’s also a chance for local businesses, singers, and artists to show off their work and talk about how much they love hockey. The event also brought attention to how important it is to keep outdoor rinks and minor hockey teams in good shape.
Hockey Day MN has an effect that lasts after the game is over. The money raised has helped local groups and charities that help people in need by giving them important resources. Because of how well the event went, other cities have held similar hockey festivals, making the sport famous outside of Minnesota.
Hockey Day MN organizers plan to keep the practice going in the future while also making changes to the event to fit the needs of the community as it changes. It’s getting more and more important that Minnesota’s people, culture, and past are honored on Hockey Day MN every year.
