Hockey Day Minnesota Photo

By Scott Lowe - MYHockeyRankings.com

If a picture truly is worth 1,000 words, the photos from Hockey Day Minnesota 2025 are worth millions of them. It’s not hard to see from the amazing pictures posted on the Hockey Day Minnesota Twitter/X account that, as usual, this year’s event exceeded expectations.

Kudos to the organizers and countless volunteers who so generously gave their time to put on another first-class hockey event.

The scenes painted by the online photos show no dreary conditions. No snow, sleet or rain. All you can see are blue skies, sun, some shadows, amazing jerseys, packed bleachers and beautiful backdrops.

Oh, and there are smiles. A lot of smiles. The joy among the participants and spectators is palpable, even in still photographs.

That’s when you know there’s magic in the air. Hockey as it should be, played for the fun of it on an outdoor sheet of ice.

Any hockey fan or player had to feel a sense of jealousy as the photos and videos traveled through cyberspace and popped up on our computer or phone screens late last week. Perhaps with all the notoriety and the internet buzz created, Hockey Day in Minnesota will start being added to bucket lists by hockey afficionados around North America.

Pretty much the only thing that put a damper on the four days of festivities – that’s right, it’s the State of Hockey, so Hockey Day Minnesota activities take place over four days – was the Minnesota Wild’s performance in a 5-4 home National Hockey League loss to Calgary Saturday. That game represented the official culmination of Hockey Day Minnesota 2025 activities, although the outdoor games and music pressed on at the host venue until the late-evening hours.

Officially, Hockey Day in Minnesota was Saturday, Jan. 25, but the Hockey Day festivities really began with games and other activities on Wednesday, Jan. 22. This year’s event ran from the afternoon of Jan. 22 through the evening of Jan. 25. Shakopee was the designated host town for Hockey Day Minnesota 2025, and this year’s host venue was Valleyfair, a destination amusement park offering more than 75 rides and other attractions.

Valleyfair was reconfigured and decorated for the Hockey Day Minnesota celebration to include an outdoor ice rink, complete with spectator seating, a VIP tent, player locker rooms and temporary event operations work spaces; bonfires located throughout the park allowing spectators to warm up outside; and the Mystic Lake Warming House, which gave attendees an opportunity to head inside to dodge the elements and possibly enjoy some of the music provided by DJs and live bands each evening.

There also were exhibitor areas, merchandise stands, an area featuring antique automobiles, food trucks and a Minnesota Wild fan zone.

The four-days of activities included 19 games played on the outdoor ice surface. Games featured youth teams from the 10U, pee wee and bantam age groups; girls and boys varsity and junior varsity high school teams; NCAA Division I women’s teams; and adults competing in alumni games.

Everything built up to Saturday’s official celebration, which included seven games.

The third-ranked University of Minnesota women’s team beat Bemidji State, 3-1, in a sun-splashed mid-day contest that followed a high school varsity boys contest between Eden Prairie, No. 15 in our latest Minnesota High School AA Rankings and Hibbing/Chisholm, ranked ninth in our Minnesota A Rankings. Eden Prairie won that matchup, 4-3, on a late third-period goal, the second of the day scored by Jace Kampsula.

Those contests were just the warm-up for the main event, however. The locals turned out in force to show their pride and support as Shakopee High School’s boys varsity, ranked 10^th in our latest MHR Minnesota AA High School Rankings, faced off against No. 16 Maple Grove.

With the hometown side leading by a 2-1 margin in the third period, the Sabers sent the crowd into a frenzy with three goals during a three-minute span to skate away with the 5-1 victory. Cooper Simpson, Daylin Cline and Cody Sawyer were the third-period heroes for the hosts, creating lasting memories for themselves, their teammates and everyone in attendance.

Shakopee improved to 14-5-1 with the victory, while Maple Grove fell to 9-7-1. Of course, while winning always feels better than losing, the final score and team records didn’t seem to matter quite as much on a day that was all about local and state pride and celebrating the sport that has brought so much joy and so many memories to Minnesota hockey players and fans of all ages. Win or lose, it was the experience of a lifetime for all the players who got the opportunity play on the outdoor sheet at this incredible venue throughout the week.

For those not among the 15,000-plus spectators who made it out to Valleyfair in person this year, there was a full day’s worth of live coverage Saturday on FanDuel Sports Network North. FDSN televised both high school games, the women’s college contest and the Wild vs. Flames matchup.

And don’t worry, they didn’t forget the girls.

Thursday was Girls Day at Valleyfair, with three varsity high school matchups on the docket. Minnesota AA No. 24 Northfield took on No. 2 A Orono, No. 22 AA Prior Lake faced No. 17 Eden Prairie and host No. 32 AA Shakopee faced off against No. 39 Brainerd/Little Falls.

Of course, the highlight of Thursday’s festivities was the matchup between the host Sabers and Brainerd/Little Falls, which ended in a 1-1 tie. Brianna Finnegan put the Warriors in front with a power-play goal early in the third period before Elisabeth Canny evened the score with a power-play marker of her own later in the final frame. The teams played a scoreless overtime.

Not only did players from Brainerd get to play on the outdoor sheet as part of this year’s festivities, but on Saturday they got the news that every young player in Minnesota hopes to hear. One of the most anticipated moments of every Hockey Day Minnesota is when a future host location is announced, and on Saturday, Brainerd was unveiled as the 2027 host. Hockey Day Minnesota 2027 will be held at Brainerd International Raceway.

"We are excited and honored about the opportunity to welcome Hockey Day Minnesota to our community,” Jack Freeman, Director of Athletics and Activities at Brainerd High School, said in the official announcement. “This will not just be a memorable experience for our students, but for everyone in the Brainerd Lakes Area. It’s a celebration of the game we love and an opportunity to showcase the remarkable people, hospitality, and pride that define our community. For our kids, this will be an unforgettable opportunity to experience the excitement and spirit of the game in the purest form, creating memories that will last a lifetime. On behalf of Brainerd High School and our entire community, we extend our heartfelt thanks to the {Minnesota} Wild for bringing this special opportunity to central Minnesota.”

Additional details, including the dates, matchups and the official schedule for Hockey Day Minnesota 2027 in Brainerd will be announced later. Hastings was presented as the 2026 host at last year’s Hockey Day held in Warroad. Next year’s games will be played at the United Heroes League outdoor rink in Hastings.

Hockey Day Minnesota was created in 2007 by the Minnesota Wild to celebrate the game that has helped Minnesota become known as the State of Hockey. The event is held in partnership with FanDuel Sports Network North, Minnesota Hockey and the local host community. All proceeds from the event go to support local hockey programs. United Health Care returns as the Hockey Day Minnesota presenting sponsor.

Previous host locations have included Baudette Bay (2007, 2008), Phalen Park (2009), Hermantown (2010), Moorhead (2011), Minnetonka (2012), Grand Rapids (2013), Elk River (2014), St. Paul (2015), Duluth (2016), Stillwater (2017), St. Cloud (2018), Bemidji (2019), Minneapolis (2020), Guidant John Rose MN Oval (2021), Mankato (2022), White Bear (2023) and Warroad (2024).

CLICK HERE for the Hockey Day Minnesota website.

In addition to the featured slate of games Jan. 25 and the Girls Day contests Jan. 23, this year’s Hockey Day schedule featured a variety of teams, age groups and levels of play.

On opening day Jan. 22, Rosemount (18-2-0), the No. 9 Minnesota Boys AA team, took on 40^th-ranked Eastview (8-8-0), while the Rosemount girls (14-7-0), No. 12 in the Girls AA rankings, faced No. 21 Lakeville North (10-8-1).

Friday’s high school slate featured fifth-ranked Minnesota Boys A Orono (9-7-2) vs. seventh-ranked Delano (8-9-0) and No. 19 Lakeville South (9-8-0) against No. 34 Prior Lake (7-9-2).

The high school and alumni games were streamed on subscription-based Minnesota Hockey TV.

 

Here is the complete daily schedule of games from Hockey Day Minnesota 2025:

 

Wednesday, January 22

Shakopee vs. Brainerd (junior varsity girls, 3:30 p.m.) 

Lakeville North vs. Rosemount (varsity girls, 5:30 p.m.)

Eastview vs. Rosemount (varsity boys, 7:30 p.m.)

 

Thursday, January 23 (Girls Day)

Northfield vs. Orono (girls varsity, 3:30 p.m.)

Prior Lake vs. Eden Prairie (girls varsity, 5:30 p.m.)

Shakopee vs. Brainerd (girls varsity, 7:30 p.m.)

 

Friday, January 24

Shakopee vs. Alexandrea (youth girls 10U “A,” 11:30 a.m.)

Shakopee vs. Orono (youth boys PW “A,” 1:00 p.m.)

Orono vs. Delano (varsity boys, 3:30 p.m.)

University of Minnesota Alumni vs. Collegiate Alumni (5:30 p.m.)

Lakeville South vs. Prior Lake (varsity boys, 7:30 p.m.)

Shakopee Black vs. Prior Lake Gold (youth boys, Bantam “B,” 9:30 p.m.)

  

Saturday, January 25

Eden Prairie vs. Hibbing (varsity boys), 8:30 a.m. 

University of Minnesota vs. Bemidji State (women, 11:30 a.m.)

Shakopee vs. Maple Grove (boys varsity, 2:30 p.m.) 

Shakopee vs. Maple Grove (boys junior varsity, 5:00 p.m.) 

Minnesota Wild vs. Calgary Flames (6 p.m. at Xcel Energy Center)

Shakopee vs. Eagan (youth boys, Bantam “AA,” 7:15 p.m.)

Shakopee vs. Blaine (youth boys, Bantam “A,” 9:00 p.m.)