ST. CROIX FALLS, Wis—Never doubt the determination of a group of hockey moms and dads.

Amid the threat of mild weather throughout the week prior, the inaugural Hockey Day Wisconsin went off without a hitch on the River Valley Hockey Association’s outdoor rink last weekend.

Temperatures may have inched above the melting point during the week, but by Friday night’s first puck drop, the natural ice rink was in great shape.

“It’s been a lot of hours and lot of night shifts, but we made it,” said RVHA president Haley Schweninger.

Association volunteers flooded the rink the weekend prior at every opportunity. Then they piled snow on the rink lines to protect them from the sun during the week and shaved down the ridges afterward—all tricks of the trade that perhaps are endangered in the current era of mostly indoor ice.

Those efforts were on top of dozens of meetings and hundreds of volunteer hours for the past few months in planning and executing the overall event.

“They’re all willing to lend a hand,” Schweninger said of the association volunteers. “Whatever it takes. We’re very grateful.”

Hockey Day Wisconsin featured 13 games at different levels of hockey—squirts (10 and under), peewees (12 and under) bantams (14 and under), girls (14 and under), junior varsity and varsity high school, and ACHA collegiate men’s.

Two years in the making, the event is the brainchild of Brian Seubert of the Valley Sports Academy/Sigh Group and is designed to raise awareness and funds for youth hockey in Wisconsin. 

Phillip Swiler, one of the lead organizers of the event, said attendance was close to 1,200 throughout the weekend, with almost 400 attending on Friday night alone. The Friday night game featured the Amery Warriors boy’s varsity notching a 6-2 win over the West Salem Panthers. Amery junior Logan Doten notched the event’s first-ever goal, with a puck that will be kept as an artifact in the Hockey Day Wisconsin archives.

“I think it kind of hit the kids, after the levity of it all, that hey, this is kind of historic,” Swiler said.

Other game results included the Western Wisconsin Stars girl’s varsity cooperative taking a 3-2 win over the Anoka Tornadoes; the Rice Lake Warriors boys varsity winning a 5-4 overtime thriller over the Northwest Icemen co-op; and the UW—Eau Claire Blugolds men’s ACHA club team defeating the University of Minnesota—Duluth Bulldogs, 9-3.

Full disclosure: the author of this piece officiated several of the youth contests throughout the weekend.

For many of the players, including Evan Schultz with the Amery Warriors, UW—Eau Claire goalie Kaleb Bents, and several of the Western Wisconsin girls, playing on the River Valley Hockey Association rink represented a return to their youth hockey roots. “We look forward to this every year,” said Western Wisconsin Stars assistant coach Tim Duggan. “The (players) have all been talking about this since last summer.”

Hockey Day Wisconsin will return to the River Valley Hockey Association in 2027, with future locations yet to be determined.

Cover Photos by Branden Nall Photography