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January 25, 2024More than 10,000 hockey fans are expected to converge on the small town of Warroad this week for Hockey Day Minnesota.
The annual event, which this year runs Jan. 25-27, is sponsored by the Minnesota Wild and Bally Sports North.
Warroad event co-chair Brenda Baumann recalls discussions about hosting Hockey Day started in 2016, but “the community wasn’t ready.”
With the recent addition of hotel rooms and a resurgent downtown the community now feels ready.
“We’ve got a celebrated history of hockey,” said Baumann. “Hockey Town USA should have Hockey Day Minnesota. And the time was right and here we are, we’re ready to debut all the things that we've been planning for two and a half years."
There will be three days of hockey games on an outdoor rink built for the event.
Warroad is home to the Gardens, a venerable hockey venue filled with championship banners, and the adjacent Olympic Arena.
In addition to hockey, organizers plan outdoor activities, live bands and a debut showing of “Electric Indian” a Twin Cities Public Television documentary about the late Henry Boucha, a Minnesota hockey legend who called Warroad home.
Local businesses are ready to capitalize on the influx of hockey fans.
“We want the businesses in town to really be engaged in this thing,” said event co-chair Tad Palmquist. “And man, have they ever gotten engaged. Our downtown district is going to be a party all on its own.”
Hockey fans have booked rooms as far away as Bemidji, said Palmquist, and the three-day event will give an economic boost to the local and regional hospitality industry.
The event co-chairs have been working toward this week for two and a half years, and are heading into the three day event with smiles on their faces.
“As much as we put our sweat equity into this, it’s the community that’s really rallying,” said Baumann. “And that makes us smile. We hope that we’re doing the town and northern Minnesota proud by hosting Hockey Day this far north in Warroad, Minnesota.”
