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2014 Hockey Day Minnesota - Elk River January 18

On January 18th, 2014, HDM would make it’s way to the great town of Elk River with the outdoor games being played at the what may go down as one of the most perfect locations to date.  Handke Pit in Elk River was like a natural amphitheater.  We would also get a look at one very creative families way to watch hockey on Hockey Day Minnesota.  They had built up a snow wall in their backyard and used a projector to cast the days games to the snow screen.  Complete with a bonfire and warm drinks, this is one family that found a way to do it right.

The games would start with the boys Cloquet/Esko/Carlton beating Rochester Lourdes 4-1 and followed up with Elk River beating Stillwater by the same score.  The girls would once again have their game broadcast later in the day, where Anoka was victorious over Elk River 3-0.

The outdoor festivities would keep on rolling for the college game this year, as the Gophers welcomed Ohio State to TCF Bank Stadium where the Gophers won 4-2.  The Wild would cap off the days actions with a 3-2 victory over the Stars, who made their 3rd appearance on HDM.  As we’re getting closer to present day, the names are not so miraculous. However, we did witness some rather miraculous events in this game.

Scoring his first ever NHL goal would be former Gophers hockey forward - Erik Haula.  Ryan Suter would also score a goal in the game, which is nearly uncommon enough to be called miraculous.  The hero of the day though, would be Elk River native Nate Prosser, he would score the game winning goal against the Stars.

Vintage Minnesota Hockey Take:

For the 8th annual edition HDM moved back to Twin Cities, and historic Handke stadium/pit located behind Elk River's original High School in Elk River, MN - which is considered the birthplace of Elk River hockey, and is also on the National Register of Historic Places.  Previously called Elkhi (Elk-High) Stadium, the pit formation is a glacier formed bowl stadium and in 1920's, the natural slough was formed into a amphitheather, including adding a playing field in the warmer months for football, baseball, track, and ice in the winter.

The pit has hosted thousands of hours to former players, and NHL Alumni including Paul Martin, Dan Hinote, Nate Proser and Joel Otto.  Former Elk, BSU Beaver Alum, and Stanley Cup Champion Joel Otto was on-hand for the opening games to drop the ceremonial puck to kick off the most amazing HDM to date.  The light snow that blanketed the hill-side and tree branches along the rink, coupled with a beautiful sunny day made for a Norman Rockwell like appearance both in person, and on TV.

Several months prior to Elk River HDM, we met with Elk boys coaches Gordie Roberts, and Bruce Johnson and we FULLY offered to pay for, create and donated both the Boys and Girls Elk River jerseys with one stipulation:  Let the players keep their jerseys as a momento from HDM.  Both coaches were in agreement, as was the Girls Head Coach - Joe Heasley (who later wrote the History of Elk River Hockey book, and he used an image I captured at HDM for the cover photo).  A new tradition seems to have been born at this HDM, the 4 inch by 4 inch embroidered Hockey Day patches were sewn onto each team uniforms - that was never done in the past.  We at Vintage MN Hockey created them all.  Initially we were just going to have them sewn onto the Elks jerseys we designed, then after getting them all back from our embroidery company, and a phone conversation we had with Elks Athletic Director Mike Cunningham, after gaining approval, and joy from Wild John Maher, he reached out to each participating school and they were shipped to each Coach to have them applied as well - since 2014 at this HDM, most if not all schools have a HDM patch now applied yearly.  The Elk organizers, including Mark Bezek, Terry Bizal and Mike Cunningham, including the entire coaching staff and players were very appreciative of the quite costly donation we made, and as a thank you, offered to place a VintageMNHockey board ad for the day, and also a VMH proud supporters of HDM ad within the game program.  My son and Father also donned VIP passes for the event and each took in their first HDM, which was also a treat to have them in Elk River for the event beside me rink-side shooting images.  The day was billed as Powered By Hockey, with a website created by Elk organizers for the day at poweredbyhockey.com to sell tickets, merchandise, and for social media purposes.

We cannot say enough about how much we absolutely loved everything about 2014 HDM, and most if not all of the others who are now called yearly travelers to each host city all seem to be in agreement: Elk River HDM was the best setting to date.


Hockey Day Minnesota Results & Rosters:

Game Results

Home Away Winner Score Time Location
Rochester Lourdes Cloquet/Esko/Carlton Cloquet/Esko/Carlton 4-1 10:15 a.m. Handke Stadium/Pit
Elk River Stillwater Elk River 4-1 1:00 Handke Stadium/Pit
Elk River Girls Anoka Girls Anoka 3-0 4:00 (Tape Delay) Handke Stadium/Pit
University of Minnesota Ohio State University of Minnesota 4-2 5:00 Mariucci Arena
Minnesota Wild Dallas Stars Minnesota Wild 3-2 (OT) 8:00 Xcel Energy Center

Rochester Lourdes - Boys

Roster Position Number
Jack Burkel G 1
Montana Streit F 2
Dakota Streit D 3
Peter Alexander F 4
Cody Cossette F 5
Connor Fitzpatrick F 6
Mitch Brandhagen F 7
Ryan Olney F 8
Tucker Chapman F 9
Jimmy Jakub F 10
Nick Roth D 11
Ben Walston D 12
Lars Anderson D 14
Mason Carstens D 15
Carter Jones F 16
Jake Olney D 17
Will Adamson F 18
Tyler Vehrenkamp D 19
Will Aksamit F 20
Griff Slightam D 21
Colin Ryan F 23
Ryan Saltness F 24
Aaron Van Galder G 30
Josh Chapman Coach
Josh Spaniol Coach
Jeff True Coach
Tom DeVinny Coach

Cloquet/Esko/Carlton - Boys (Some players may not have participated - all listed in HDM program)

Roster Position Number
Derek Bloom F 2
Dylan Johnson F 3
Halen Danielson D 4
Kaden Matteen F 5
Hunter Roberts F 6
Kyle Klatt F 7
Tyler Chicos F 8
Cole Litsey F 9
Christian Pritchett F 10
Koby Bender F 11
Logan Crowser F 12
Darin Davidson F 13
Michael Sullivan D 14
James Newgren F 15
Trent Hanson F 16
Austin Carlson D 17
Nick Niemi D 18
Dalton Johnson D 19
Kobe Kadelbach F 20
Reid Davidson D 21
Ryan Lind D 22
Matt Kotiranta F 23
Ryan Bourgeault F 25
Nick Ketola F 26
Josh Keith D 27
Jack Kuhlman D 28
Adam Kangas F 29
Ethan Linder F 30
Dylan Czech D 31
Zach Strom G 33
Eric Newman G 34
Casey Holshouser G 35
Dave Esse Head Coach
Andy Fondrick Assistant Coach
Erik Hanson Assistant Coach
Kyle Young Assistant Coach
Bryan Kershaw Assistant Coach

Elk River - Boys

Roster Position Number
Chase Gauthier G 1
Noah Hallbeck D 2
Jake Geissler D 3
Jake Jaremko F 5
Nick Perbix D 6
Kyle Badger F 7
Dylan Bouten D 8
Andrew Zerben F 9
Austin Heuer D 10
Brennan Beese F 11
Briggs Leadens F 12
Colton Budreau D 13
Nolan Dwyer F 14
Peter Jones F 15
Isaac Schwab F 16
Chase Springman F 18
Matt Kiersted D 19
Ben Johnson F 20
Reggie Lutz F 21
Evan Langston F 22
Joe Gonrowski D 24
Alex Schwab F 25
Grant Bunker F 29
Mac Berglove G 31
Joey Grillo G 35
Dakota Collins Manager
Jenna Hagglund Manager
Morgan Dieterichs Manager
Gordie Roberts Head Coach
Bruce Johnson Assistant Coach
Ben Gustafson Assistant Coach

Stillwater - Boys (Some players may not have participated - all listed in HDM program)

Roster Position Number
Scott Finberg G 1
Max Evensen F 2
Andrew Lammers D 3
Joe Sorenson D 4
Zack Eder-Zdelchlik D 5
Cole Johnson F 6
Wyatt Stotts F 7
John Heddle F 8
Brandon Jungmann F 9
Jackson Cates F 10
Jon Peterson F 11
Tyler Benson D 12
Bryce Tanski F 13
Devin Cates F 14
Aaron Kasinak F 15
Zach Knox F 16
Gordy Harvieux F 17
Mathias Hoefferle F 18
Peyton Gosso F 19
Mitch Reinke D 20
Sam Sagissor F 21
Luke Hoffman D 22
Aiden Lee F 23
Charlie Sagissor D 24
Alex Lagoon F 26
Ian Wiesbrod F 27
Jack Manning F 28
Matt Jorgenson F 29
Josh Benson G 30
Dan Ahrendt G 31
Simon Sagissor F 32
Nick Novak F 33
Justin Devins G 35
Brett Kohanek F 37
Garrett Siegfried D 38
Harrison Yates D 39
Andrew Hoy D 40
Matt Doman Head Coach
Jay Cates Assistant Coach
Paul Benson Assistant Coach
Pete Hamilton Assistant Coach

Elk River - Girls

Roster Position Number
Shae McLean F 2
Sophia Schutt F 3
Jessica Dexheimer D 4
Haley Williams F 5
Jenna Gerber F 6
Emily Thedens F 8
McKenna Wesloh D 9
Abby Canton F 10
Alison Boser F 11
Hailey Poliszuk F 12
Courtney Peters F 13
Breanna Simon F 14
Andrea Westgaard F 15
Mikayla Knudson F 16
Kaylee Forster D 18
Jocelynne Hohlen D 19
Samantha Westgaard F 20
Alexandra Gallus D 21
Brooke Burns F 22
Raelyn Korinek F 23
Hannah Whiting F 24
Emily Heid F 25
Mandy Sailor D 27
Julia Miller F 29
Jessica Edwards G 30
Kennedy Mitchell D 33
Tiffany LaFontaine G 35
Michaela Gould G 37
Michaela Bock D 38
Annie Dalton F 40
Shelby Anderson Manager
Paule Niemi Manager
Jena Murray Manager
Karly Walker Manager
Joe Heasley Head Coach

Anoka - Girls

Roster Position Number
Gabby Horsch F 3
Blair Parent F 4
Emma Colin F 5
Abby Sanford F 6
Kassie Burkey F 7
Emily Johnson F 8
Monica Sjodin D 9
Kari Manthey F 11
Taylor Kinn D 14
Brenah Sarell F 16
Kailey Cameron D 17
Ashton Bell F 18
Hailey Miller F 20
Amanda Kimmerle D 21
Cassidy Motter F 24
Sierra Maki D 27
Megan Beckman F 29
Hailey Huspek G 33
Molly Scarborough G 34
Bob Hewitt Coach
Brenda Mitshulis Coach
Pete Hayes Coach
Rod Sandstrom Coach
Brian Larson Coach