Northern Exposures

Three games, six high school teams and 2500 spectators gathered together on a frozen lake in Northern Minnesota. This a day of great passion and of Minnesota's incredible love affair with the sport. After all, Minnesota's official motto is "The State of Hockey".

One day each year, there is this tournament held completely outdoors, the weather be blessed or be damned. This year we were damned. The high temperature was 9F degrees and the wind was gusting up to 45 mph. The wind-chill by the end of the day was -45F and there were times that the snow was blowing so badly that I could barely see 60 feet down the rink. Ouch!

Hockey Day in the State of Hockey: Many people do not understand it. Or appreciate it. But for those of us that love hockey and the fact that our players and citizens refuse to surrender to the cold, cruel climates of Minnesota, this is actually a delightful day of celebration, good cheer and wonderful citizenship.

For the last seven years, this day has been celebrated on a different Minnesota lake. This year, we were fortunate in that "our" lake was chosen to host the event. We volunteered and supplied lunch to the 70 other volunteers. And I watched our hometown team win with 11 seconds left in overtime. Yahoo!

I grew up playing hockey and broomball in temperatures such as this MANY years ago so I decided to give this image a bit of an old world Ektachrome feel. Please feel the chill and let the blizzard hit you in large.