Hockey Day Cloquet coming in January

Preparations are heating up for Hockey Day Cloquet, an outdoor hockey extravaganza that will take place in Veterans Park on and around Jan. 11, 2025. Expect a state-of-the-art outdoor rink, shipping containers for locker rooms and Zamboni storage, plus fan-friendly seating and food trucks.

Organizer Nate Knutson told the Cloquet City Council Tuesday that the idea was a “blind shot” in the beginning but the event is now in a good spot financially.

“We’ve had unbelievable backing from our local sponsors, which is super cool. It’s Carlton, it’s Cloquet, it’s Esko, it’s Duluth-Superior,” Knutson said. They’re still working on getting a new scoreboard, which would be repurposed and remain in Cloquet after the weeklong event. Knutson said he’s been working closely with the city of Cloquet and other organizations to plan and problem solve.

“We’ve had to figure out some pretty technical things: 250 gallons of hot water for Zamboni running for probably eight days,” he said. “The city has stepped up and allowed us to use their steamer.” Other shared resources include Zambonis from Esko and Cloquet.

While the headliner for Hockey Day Cloquet are the Lumberjacks varsity boys and girls hockey games vs Sartell and the Northern Tier Starts, respectively, on Saturday, Jan. 11, Knutson said play will begin the Wednesday before with a game between the Lake Superior and Iron Range Warriors, then youth games Thursday and Friday, plus more youth games after Saturday and time public skating too.

The boards for the rink should arrive next week and a base layer laid after that. Then “we start praying for some cold weather,” Knutson said.

Search for Hockey Day Cloquet on Facebook for updates, some fun videos and apparel orders. Want to get involved? Contact Knutson at 218-591-3135.