Hockey Day Cloquet Rink Received Finishing Touches

CLOQUET, Minn. — Veteran’s Park in Cloquet is getting its final glaze of ice for “Hockey Day Cloquet” this weekend.

It’s an eight day tournament highlighting hockey players from Cloquet all the way up north to the Iron Range, and as far south as Sartell.

More than 50 volunteers and community business owners helped make this rink possible. Construction began back in December, but has been planned since May of last year.

For Shaun Frye, the owner of Asphalt Duluth, volunteering his time towards building the rink is extra personal for him and his family.

“Well I have two girls in the youth program, one of them is playing tonight (Wednesday, Jan. 8) at 4:30 p.m. The other one plays Friday night at 7 p.m. So I really am excited about the fact that I got to be a part of it, just so they have a chance to play on the outdoor ice. Because not many kids get the chance to do that. It’s really a cool thing for my kids, but all the kids in the high school teams as well,” said Frye.

Making the rink itself was a first for many of the volunteers and most material used was donated. As for the unseasonal winter weather, it made things a bit more difficult.

“We were able to get boards, and tables, and we have tents coming in,” said Frye. “It’s been a long fun process but a couple of weeks of warm weather in the end of December didn’t help the process along.”

You find out more about the Hockey Day Cloquet from a coffee conversation with Nate Knutson, the founding organizer, here.