National Sports Center Blog

Fundraising at heart of Stick it to Cancer tournament

$100,000. That's the number that organizers of the Stick it to Cancer Hockey Tournament at the Schwan Super Rink want to raise for cancer research in 2012. This unique girls' and women's tournament started in 1999 as a fundraiser for hockey-loving mom Jody Anderson, who was stricken with breast cancer.

From those humble beginnings that included 18 teams and raised around $2,000, Stick it now expects 120 teams April 20-22 and hopes to sail past the $70,000 that was raised the past two years.  All proceeds are donated to the University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Research Fund.

To assist in increasing revenue for donation, a waffle breakfast sponsored by Park and Auto-Mart in Ham Lake, MN, is also held on the Saturday morning of the tournament and is open to the public. Even if you're not playing in Stick it, you can pay it forward and contribute to the cause simply by eating waffles or donating online.

What makes this event unique and special is that it's not just a hockey tournament. It's a gathering of people dedicated to raising money for a good cause and enjoying fellowship through the game of hockey. You can read the stories of some who are involved in the tournament and why they play, on our Facebook page.

 

Fly fishing, golf and hockey - a great spring weekend at the NSC!

By Barclay Kruse, NSC Chief Communications Officer

We're getting set for a big weekend of spring activities and events at the NSC. In fact, as I write this, on Friday afternoon, we're already well underway.

The Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo runs from 3-7pm today, and all day Saturday and Sunday. The event is held at the Schwan Center, with some classes and clinics held outdoors.

Below: Friday morning, vendors were putting the final touches on their booths at the Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo.

Over at the Schwan Super Rink, the Minnesota Elite AAA hockey tournament was already underway with three days of games for both boys and girls teams. If you're reading this from a non-Minnesota location, you might be puzzled that we call hockey a spring activity here. In truth, hockey is a year-around sport for many Minnesota players. In fact some of our biggest tournaments at the Super Rink are summer tournaments. Here's some game action from rink 2:

By the way, participants in the Minnesota Elite Classic will get special admission rates to the Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo. Youth will be admitted free, and adults can enter for just $5.

Then I jetted over the Victory Links golf course, where we were celebrating opening day on the big 18-hole course. We're opening a full three weeks earlier than last year, and the course conditions are close to perfect. In fact, you'll notice in these photos that the course looks close to mid-summer conditions -- and it's only March! And with warm weather in the forecast, the Victory Links staff is excited to have the course full of eager golfers this weekend.  Here are some photos to show you just how nice the course is looking:

Tournament Greens putting course:

A foursome was putting out on the 6th hole, a par 4:

 

Zamboni pulling at the Super Rink!

By Barclay Kruse, NSC Chief Communications Officer

We stopped by the Ironman Adult Hockey Tournament Saturday afternoon to check out our newest event at the Schwan Super Rink -- the Zamboni Pull. This is a special event organized to keep the Ironman players busy during gaps between their games. I'm not sure why they need more activity, considering they'll play five games in three days, earning the "ironman" label. But for the players who showed up, they were game for the challenge and having fun too. Here's a look-in on our first Zamboni Pull:

Below: Tournament director Spencer Arvold helps the team called Off-in-the-Corner get suited up in their pulling harnesses.

Gregg Stutz from Centerville, Ben Adams of Mahtomedi and Andy Rammotz of Rochester give it their all for Off-in-the-Corner. Teams took 18-22 seconds to pull the Zamboni from blue line to blue line.

Below: Team Hat Trick, made up of Adam Knott of Otsego, Luke Molus of Becker and Adam Hayes of Big Lake.

Ellen Berce, left, and Erica Berthold represented the event sponsor, Muscle Milk. 

 

Check out the NSC's new sports photos!

By Barclay Kruse, NSC Chief Communications Officer

The next time you're on the NSC campus, we invite you to stop by the main NSC office area to check out our new wall decorations. Last night we installed 30 new pieces of world-class photography showing the NSC campus, programs and/or athletes.

And we want all our customers to know that you're welcome to view the photos yourself. Just stop in during normal office hours, and Mary Jane Kunza, our receptionist, will be glad to assist you. It's really fun! You'll see some aerial photos of the campus, great views of some of our buildings and of course awesome action shots of USA CUP Opening Ceremony, soccer, hockey, golf, cycling, ultimate, lacrosse, rugby.

We're proud to feature the work of some of the many talented photographers who have captured NSC events over the years, including Alex Carroll, Garry Frankel, Jenny Horn, Barclay Kruse, Taylor Kruse, Lisa Lardy, Jeremy Olson, Larry Race, Greg Savino and Mike Thill.

Below: NSC Graphic Designer Amanda Planting installs a photo of Natalie Darwitz, taken when the U.S. Women's Olympic Team trained at the Schwan Super Rink prior to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

NSC staff members Clinton Labeau, Andrew Lindgren and Dave Brown check out an aerial photo taken during Schwan's USA CUP.

Three members of 2010 Women's Olympic Team nominated for Patty Kazmaier Award

By Barclay Kruse, NSC Chief Communications Officer

Congratulations to three former members of the 2010 Women's Olympic Hockey Team who were nominted today to be among the 10 finalists for the 2012 Patty Kazmaier Award. The award, annually bestowed upon the top player in NCAA Division I women's ice hockey, will be presented at a brunch ceremony on March 17 at the Greysolon Ballroom in Duluth, Minn., in conjunction with the NCAA Women's Frozen Four (March 16 and 18). 

The three former Olympians are senior forward Hilary Knight (Sun Valley, Idaho/University of Wisconsin), junior forward Jocelyne Lamoureux (Grand Forks, N.D./University of North Dakota), junior forward/defenseman Monique Lamoureux-Kolls (Grand Forks, N.D./University of North Dakota).

Hilary Knight

Jocelyne Lamoureux

 

Monique Lamoureux-Kolls

 

 

 

 

 

All three trained at the Schwan Super Rink for the year before the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.

Click here to read the full story on the USA Hockey website.

The U.S. Women's National Team will next return to their training home at the National Sports Center for the annual Women's Festival in August. As three of the brightest young stars on the U.S. National Team, you'll want to come out and watch Hilary, Jocelyn and Monique show their stuff!

 

 

"Eat Sleep Hockey" film premier Feb 29 showcases NSC partners

By Barclay Kruse, NSC Chief Communications Officer

Circle your calendar for February 29. That's the day a new hockey documentary film, "Eat Sleep Hockey" will have its premier showing. The premier will be held at the Andover Cinema, 1836 Bunker Lake Blvd., Andover, MN 55448, starting with a meet and greet with the cast and crew at 5:30 p.m and the national premier of the film at 6:30 p.m.

The film was directed and edited by Damian Kussian and the talented folks at North Metro 15 Television in Blaine. The film follows two hockey families one each from rival schools Blaine and Centennial, over the course of several months of, well, eating and sleeping hockey.

Representing Blaine in the film is the Brodzinski family, who own Hockey Central in Blaine, a Schwan Super Rink sponsor. Dad Mike played at St. Cloud State in the 1980's for the legendary Herb Brooks. Sons Jonny and Mike starred at Blaine High School, with Jonny headed for St. Cloud State next year and Mike verbally committed to the Golden Gophers in two years. Younger brothers Easton is a 9th grader on the Blaine High School JV team and Bryce plays on the BYHA pee wee team.

Facing off on the Centennial side of the rivalry in the film is the Hughes family of Lino Lakes. Dad Terry played at Mankato State, now Minnesota State-Mankato. He is the president of the Skate To Excellence AAA Hockey Program that rents over 500 hours of ice a year at the Super Rink, enters teams in NSC tournaments, and holds their annual golf tournament at the NSC's Victory Links. Kids in the Hughes hockey family are Trey, who currently plays for the El Paso Rhinos of the Junior A Western States Hockey League; Colin, a sophomore on the Centennial team; and Gabby, a talented 12U girls player.

Click here to see the trailer.

Proceeds from the premier will benefit the Blaine and Centennial Youth Hockey Associations.

Take the fight to the ice

By Susan Schmidt, Ice Sports Programming 

Everyone has a story or heard a story about someone that has been affected by breast cancer. Fourteen years ago a local Centennial hockey mom in Blaine, Minn. took on the fight against breast cancer. Her hockey team took her fight to the ice. The Stick It To Cancer hockey tournament was first played in 1999 at the Schwan Super Rink in Blaine, Minn. Eight teams participated in that first event and all the proceeds were donated to the family. Unfortunately she lost her fight just before the Stick It to Cancer tournament in 2000, but her team never gave up the fight on the ice. 

After fourteen years, the tournament continues to offer a place for teams to take their fight. As this tournament continues to grow, every year we hear new stories about survivors who are playing or individuals playing for those that have lost the fight.

These teams have helped raise over $475,000 to support the fight against breast cancer and the tournament has grown to over 100 teams. Proceeds from recent years have been donated to the University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center to support research.

Who are you playing for? Why do you "take the fight to the ice"?

Do not adjust your screen, we actually painted the ice pink in 2008 for the Stick It event!

 

How to become an Ironman!

 By Spencer Arvold, Ice Sports Programming

 In a few short weeks the Ironman Adult Hockey Tournament will kick off. This challanging weekend of hockey is a great place for adults to get back to their hockey roots by competing in a five game, three day hockey tournament.  That's a tough task to play that many games in such a short amount of time, but we're actually making it even tougher this year. We have added a feature called the Zamboni Pull. This is a three man team competition, blue line to blue line, who can pull the zamboni in the shortest amount of time.

This a way to get the participants really into the Ironman spirit. It is quite rewarding once you get that lug of steel past the blue line and you and your teammates are sucking wind. I had the opportunity to test the zamboni pull, and let me tell you, its not easy! It took my team 30 seconds to dig down into our Ironman gut and pump our legs to get that thing moving. Think you can do better?  Lets see some predicitions in the comments below on your team's time! Better bring the Ironman inside you if you want to make it happen! Oh and did we mention that the fastest team will receive individual player fees paid for the 2013 Ironman plus a round of drinks from the Hat Trick Café for their entire roster?

Passion for a game

 By Spencer Arvold, Ice Sports Programming

In the Minnesota Wild Adult Hockey League that runs at the Schwan Super Rink there are over 141 teams in the winter session. That equates to around 2,100 participants. 

At the Super Rink we run three sessions a year which in turn is 35 games for league play. 

We also host four adult tournaments, each boasting a minimum of three games. Most of our MN Wild AHL teams play in two out of four tournaments. 

Basically, what do all these stats boil down to? 

A passion for a game that goes well beyond their youth years.

Adult hockey is a great game, it brings camaraderie with friends and a great workout for anyone willing to lace up the boots. This year as I took over running the adult league, I noticed the passion that the players have for the game. A great example of that passion is in our 60+ division. Here's a group that includes many grandfathers that still go out and give it their all for 35 games a year. On top of that they are traveling to the USA National Tournament in Florida this April. That is a pretty rare thing in sports, to play as much as they do at that age. 

What is it with hockey? That passion that drives you to come back to it. This is an open ended question because I don't have the answer to why we continue to play, but I know that any hockey players reading this knows the feeling I'm talking about. It's something that will never go away, a passion for a game. 

Let us know, why do you still play? What is it about hockey for YOU?

 

Minnesota's new concussion safety law requires training for coaches

By Barclay Kruse, NSC Chief Communications Officer

In September 2011 a law went into effect in the State of Minnesota that requires all coaches and officials involved with all youth sports to be trained in concussion awareness, safety and protection. Minnesota is one of 33 states that have adopted laws relating to concussion safety in youth sports. Most of these laws are brand new -- 28 new states added concussion laws in 2010 or 2011. So even if you're unfamiliar with the specifics of Minnesota's law, you may be familiar with a similar law in your own state or province. And if not, you're likely to be affected soon.

If you're interested, the safekids.org website has great information on what's happening in each state across the U.S. Every law is a little different, but they all have a common goal of 1) education and prevention 2) assessment and 3) minimizing long-term risk. The big difference between the laws is what they require in compliance. Minnesota's law requires coaches to complete an online course developed by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The youth sports programs of the National Sports Center, including our youth hockey and soccer programs, fall under the new Minnesota law. If you'd like to read the text of the law you can click on the link for Minnesota Statue 121A.37.  

All coaches will need to complete an online training course. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention has a free, online course entitled “Concussion Training for Coaches (and referees)”. Click on the link to go to the free course. It takes about 30 minutes, and it contains some great information. Once you complete the course, the certification applies for three years.

If you register for a youth program at the NSC, you'll see a box that you'll need to check verifying that the coaches for your team have completed the training. You'll need to check the box before you'll be allowed to proceed with your registration.

If you have completed a different training course in your state or country that is equivalent to the C.D.C course, you can go ahead and check the box.  

The NSC fully supports this new law as an important step to address a health issue in youth sports. Does this require a little extra effort for coaches to comply with the new law? Yes. Is the extra effort worth it? Yes again!