ST. PAUL — Though Hockey Day Minnesota is staying down south, the north with be represented at Hockey Day Minnesota with a team from the Iron Range for the second season in a row.
The Rock Ridge boys will participate in the 20th annual statewide showcase, set for Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026 in Hastings. A partial schedule for the event was released by the Minnesota Wild on Friday. Festivities will take place at the United Heroes League outdoor rink.
Rock Ridge, which went 22-4-2 and lost the Section 7AA championship game, will be facing St. Thomas Academy. A time for the game has not been announced, but a news release with the matchups puts the Rock Ridge-STA game immediately before the night’s anchor game between the Wild and the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers at 8 p.m. at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. For the first time, Friday will feature a professional game on the Hockey Day outdoor rink between the American Hockey League’s Iowa Wild and Milwaukee Admirals.
The other listed prep matchups both involve the host school, with the Hastings girls facing Park of Cottage Grove and the Hastings boys meeting East Ridge.
Hibbing/Chisholm featured in the 2025 Hockey Day, which took place at the Valleyfair amusement park in Shakopee, going on to lose 4-3 to Eden Prairie. Teams from Eveleth (2008) and Eveleth-Gilbert (2016) have previously held the spotlight on Hockey Day, the latter playing Duluth Denfeld at Bayfront Festival Park in Duluth. Eveleth-Gilbert merged with Virginia/Mountain Iron-Buhl to form the Rock Ridge program before the 2021-22 season.
Though a Northland community has not hosted Hockey Day since 2016, several local prep teams have since taken part as visitors, including the Greenway boys (2019 in Bemidji), the Grand Rapids/Greenway girls (2020 in Minneapolis) and the Hermantown boys (2023 at White Bear Lake).
The 2027 Hockey Day is already scheduled, for Brainerd.
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