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On February 13, 1996,
the Bagley Greyhound high school hockey team played their last game of
the season, earning recognition as the last Minnesota high school hockey
team to play their home games on an outdoor ice rink. The following season,
the small northern Minnesota town just west of Bemidji began playing their
home games indoors at the new A.F. Kaiser Arena.
The city paid for the rink with part of a grant from the "Mighty
Ducks" money that was available through the state for building public
indoor ice rinks. Little did the Bagley residents know that as their outdoor
resurfacer cleaned the rink for the last time, one of the by-products
of the new indoor rink would be the eventual death of the outdoor rink,
their pride and joy.
"The funding and manpower just aren't available to staff the outdoor
rink any more," stated Bagley mayor Steve Beltz. The loss of the
outdoor rink had many different impacts on the city.
"The outdoor rink was a place that you could go and hang with your
friends," states Adam Viktora, who is now a senior on the Greyhound
team. "When you had the outdoor ice, you could spend all day there.
Even my friends who weren't in the hockey program could play in the pick-up
games."
Now there are fewer opportunities for kids to play hockey and fewer people
in their hockey program, which has recently merged with the nearby city
of Fosston. The term "rink rat" hardly seems appropriate to
be used by the parents, and if the kids want to skate, they have to go
to the new rink, where there are no more opportunities to play the old
pick-up games like at the outdoor rink.
Unfortunately Bagley isn't alone in their loss of their outdoor rink,
and many communities are left with only memories of days gone by. Parents'
stories of skating from dawn until dusk and walking to the rink in their
skate guards can now be added to the list of their other stories, which
includes how they walked to school 10 miles every day, both ways.
"Situations like Bagley's are becoming more and more common, unfortunately,"
states Mark Jorgensen, executive administrator of Minnesota Hockey, who
grew up in Marshall, Minn., across the street from the local park. "I
remember as a kid racing home after school to get to the rink because
the kid who was last usually had to play goalie," chuckled Jorgensen,
who sees this as a less-common occurrence. "With indoor ice ranging
from $125-$165 an hour, teams can really only get a couple of hours of
indoor ice a week. A kid can't get the same type of development from 2-3
hours of indoor practice a week than they could playing outdoors with
their friends," insists Jorgensen.
One important fact about outdoor hockey is that if you don't put enough
manpower into making and maintaining an outdoor rink, you are left with
a poor ice surface, which doesn't do anyone any good. "Part of it
is today's economics, but some of it is the community and the hockey associations'
commitment to their skating and hockey programs," states Jorgensen.
The growth and involvement
of hockey associations has definitely had an impact on the use of hockey
rinks in the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. As a result, the focus
of the ice rinks has changed from neighborhood-based hockey programs to
associations. "Most of the organized ice hockey has gone indoors,"
states Karen Terry, director of Conway Park in St. Paul, who sees the
rise in hockey associations as parallel to the decline of outdoor ice
use in their city. "We still have a Mite program through our neighborhood-based
park that uses the ice, but the rest of the users are just recreational."
On the other side of the river, some of the Minneapolis parks haven't
given up on neighborhood programs. "Some of our parks are still trying
to build their neighborhood-based programs," states Michael Schmidt,
assistant superintendent for recreation in Minneapolis. At the same time,
Schmidt recognizes that associations have the majority of the kids and
for obvious reasons. "The emergence of indoor ice has created perfect
conditions and it's more comfortable for the fans," acknowledges
Schmidt. "But some parks want to create the opportunity for kids
to get involved in the game, and we want to support that."
While it's apparent that economics have played a part in some cities'
decision not to maintain outdoor rinks, there are some cities that continue
to make it a priority by using alternatives. South St. Paul is one area
where the community has found a way to financially maintain their four
outdoor ice hockey rinks.
"Two of the rinks are maintained by the city and the other two are
maintained by the South St. Paul Hockey Association," states Jim
Jacobs, head coach of one of South St. Paul's Peewee-level teams. "We
want our kids to have exposure to outdoor ice, so the parents and coaches
take turns chipping in to help shovel and flood."
Jacobs recognizes the importance of outdoor ice to a community that is
committed to their hockey program. "I've seen a lot of neighborhood
kids move up to the A and B level teams just by practicing outside,"
admits Jacobs. South St. Paul has two indoor sheets of ice that all of
the teams use evenly so there are no advantages for different levels.
"Once there is outdoor ice, we practice half inside and half outside,"
states Jacobs. "Even the high school team usually practices outside
once a week."
The city of Edina is another area that has found a way to work with their
hockey association to help maintain their rinks. In Edina, the hockey
association donates the money for the hours that the rink crews work on
the weekends to maintain the rinks. But it is important to recognize that
this is one community that makes it a priority and has great pride in
their outdoor ice rinks.
"We maintain 10 ice hockey rinks and 12 general skating rinks every
year and we work seven days a week during the skating season," states
Bill Hanley, a park and recreation worker who has been making and maintaining
ice for Edina for 18 years. During the hockey season Hanley and a crew
of 10 other city employees start work at 4 a.m. everyday, and the only
day they take off during skating season is Christmas Day.
"My old partner had been making ice in Edina for 33 years and was
known as the Ice God," jokes Hanley, who states that making ice has
become a friendly competition between him and his coworkers. "There's
always a race to see who can get their ice done first." And being
first doesn't mean a poor ice surface or giving in your pride. "If
you make bad ice, you're going to hear about it from your coworkers,"
insists Hanley, who says he still gets chills of excitement when he thinks
about the first chance to start making ice this season.
In Edina, maintenance is what makes their outdoor ice some of the best
in the state. Crews start off every day by shaving the rough spots on
the ice, followed by a thorough sweeping or shoveling, if needed. They
spend the last several hours flooding the rink with new layers of fresh
ice. "We all have our own techniques as to how we make our rinks,"
states Hanley. "But once they're made, we maintain each one the same
way." Some guys in other cities use the weather as a crutch as to
why their rinks are very good last year, but not Hanley. "We only
had three days last year that I didn't flood."
People like Hanley and his dedicated coworkers might be the reason Edina
has been so successful in their long tradition of hockey programs, and
Mark Jorgensen couldn't agree more. "Maintaining your outdoor rinks
is an investment in the hockey program and for the communities that do,
you can see the payoff with the quality of their teams.
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