NewsLab

Winter is not just another season in northern Minnesota because, here, the presence of winter invariably means the presence of hockey.

"Duluth, especially, is known for its hockey," St. Scholastica women's hockey coach Jackie MacMillan said. "It's a hockey town and the people have done a really good job embracing that."

Embrace it they have. The Duluth Heritage Sports Center, a $16 million state-of-the-art high school rink, was built in West Duluth last year and now Duluthians are watching construction of the new $80 million DECC, meant to be the new home of the UMD Bulldogs.

"Our rinks are right with everybody else in the state, if not better," MacMillan said.

The Northland certainly has reason to maintain its hockey facilities. Four college programs and six high school teams currently call Duluth home, with many more in the immediate surrounding area.

The Division I UMD Bulldogs have the most popular program in the area because of both their success and their big name opponents, such as the Gophers and Badgers. Right now the 'Dogs play in the 5,333 seat DECC arena, but are scheduled to move to the new rink in December 2010.

"Not only will it be awesome for our women's and men's programs," former UMD forward Tawni Mattila said, "but it'll be awesome for the community and the fans who support us."

Rob Bordson, a UMD sophomore forward, said the Bulldogs have been in need of a new arena for quite some time.

"It is important to have a new rink for recruiting purposes and to stay up with other teams in the league," Bordson said. "I also think that the Bulldogs fan base will grow with the new rink. Fans are going to want to see what the new DECC looks like. It's going to be very exciting."

In saying that, Bordson made sure not to discount the importance of the current DECC to Bulldogs hockey.

"The DECC is a great building to play in and has a lot of history," Bordson said. "It definitely gives us an advantage over our opponents. It's the smallest rink in the league and there are so many weird bounces but you get used to it the more you practice and skate at the DECC."

MacMillan, a former Wisconsin Badgers goaltender, agreed but said the new 6,600 seat DECC shouldn't differ much from the one she experienced as a player.

"Their rink is definitely outdated," MacMillan said. "The building is outdated but the atmosphere there is great. It was my favorite rink to play in as a Division I hockey player, so if the new DECC is going to imitate what they currently have as far as seating goes, I think it's going to be great."

MacMillan is now the coach of the startup St. Scholastica women's hockey program, which will play games at the much smaller Mars Lakeview Arena next winter.

"I think Mars is the perfect place for us," MacMillan said. "Its an exciting atmosphere for players to play in because it feels very packed and very loud in there because there's a perfect amount of seating for D-III college hockey."

St. Scholasticas men's hockey coach Mark Wick agreed and said he's happy his team plays in a smaller arena.

"Week in and week out, that venue and that style suits us best," Wick said. "In a lot of our big games it's the atmosphere that matters and I think that's whats best for the players. These new rinks have great ambiance and they look great but when you're playing and you dont have that atmosphere, it's not as fun for a player."

Bordson, who played his high school hockey at Duluth Marshall and Mars Lakeview, said the rink is one of the best in the area.

"Mars is a great rink for a Division III school," Bordson said. "It has a great atmosphere, one of the best I played at in high school, and I always thought that Mars has the best ice in the Twin Ports area."

Saints senior defenseman Dustin DeGagne agreed that Mars Lakeview is one of the best rinks in St. Scholastica's conference, the NCHA.

"Mars is a great venue for our hockey team," DeGagne said. "It meets the needs of us as a team as well as providing enough room for the average fan attendance we receive."

Even the UMD women, who usually play in the DECC, enjoyed the experience they had at the smaller arena.

"A couple years ago, the UMD women couldn't get the DECC for some reason for a playoff game so they used Mars," Wick said. "Then they came back the next weekend to do the same thing because they really liked playing here because of the atmosphere. Again, it's because when you have 1,000 people in Mars, it's fun. When you have 1,000 people in the DECC, they get lost in the space."

Mars Lakeview Arena doubles as the home for St. Scholastica and the Duluth Marshall high school boy's program while many other Duluth high schools recently moved into their new home, the Duluth Heritage Sports Center.

"They have their own locker rooms there and they keep their stuff there, which is kind of unheard of for high school hockey programs," MacMillan said. "Obviously the [Heritage] rink is incredible and Mars is really nice, so all the high school programs around here play in really nice arenas."

Wick said the new high school facilities are a great asset to Northland hockey, but stressed the importance of utilizing Duluth's outdoor rinks as well.

"I'm an old school guy and I think we have to keep the outdoor rinks going because one of the problems we run into is 'hour' players," Wick said. "If they're inside, the kids will go to practice, skate for an hour, and then they're done. In the wintertime, they go to the outdoor rinks, skate for an hour, and then they stay for three. That's where we see that big shift in development coming."

This season, the Hermantown Hawks will be hosting three outdoor high school games in conjunction with Hockey Day Minnesota on Jan. 23, and Wick said he'd support something similar in the college game.

"Let's do it at Griggs Field, put bleachers in there, and have games all day," Wick said. "You take our men's and women's programs and then UMD's programs. Let's bring the Badgers up here and go Wisconsin-UMD and CSS-UWS. We could make it a border battle type of thing, see how we draw, and play some hockey outside."

Whether it's inside or outside, hockey in northern Minnesota will remain important for quite some time and the city of Duluth seems prepared to progress with the times.

"Hockey is an important part of this town," MacMillan said, "so, naturally, you're going to have really nice facilities for that and the city has done a great job of supporting the heritage of hockey in this area."