In some cities, hockey isn’t what it use to be.  Richfield and Columbia Heights, both state tournament teams in the ’70′s and ’80s, barely have youth participation or the need for a rink. Columbia Arena was condemned years ago and is due for demolition this Summer. A sad day when great names like Reggie Miracle and DJ Haller from Heights and The Jutting Brothers and Darby Hendrickson from Richfield are faint memories in the communities they grew up in. Seeing Columbia Arena demolished was a reminder of how important rinks are to our communities.  Getting a new rink built is a challenge. Communities that  have an older or changing demographic (e.g. Apple Valley, Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, and Burnsville to name a few) will have to fight the next 10 years to keep their rinks. Ultimately, Bowie was speaking to these people, “Pretty soon you’re gonna get a little older, time may change me…but you can’t trace time, I said that time may change me, but I can’t trace time.”

North Branch is approximately 50 miles from Downtown Minneapolis.  A little north of Forest Lake and East of Cambridge.  North Branch has a lot of diversity – but mostly a working class town with some agriculture, light manufacturing, and several people who commute to the metro area for work.  There are generations of people who have lived in North Branch and there are people brand new.  North Branch is a small town, a suburb, and a farm town…all in one. With a population of 10,000 residents, North Branch families face challenges that most people in the Twin Cites rarely come across.

Education - Over the years, the North Branch School District (138) has had  bonding efforts voted down that would expand their schools, add more teachers, etc.  For budgetary reasons, North Branch kids go to school four days a week.  A regular party if you have a single parent family and a complete nightmare if you don’t.

Ice Rink - Just imagine a city without a commitment to schools, now just imagine that same city’s commitment to ice hockey. You guessed it.  North Branch has no rink.  Yes, North Branch has no rink.  Now imagine how hard it would be to recruit kids to play a sport that requires hundreds of miles of driving. But with no rink, you’d suspect no youth program.

Cue the Phil Collins music.

North Branch boasts some great hockey, despite no home rink, no community meeting spot for meetings, no spot to watch the High School team play…all of the things every hockey community takes for granted. How is that possible?  North Branch has an incredibly dedicated base of hockey people. People with more zeros on their odometers than their bank accounts.  They practice and play in destinations like Cambridge (14 miles), Chisago Lakes (21 miles), and Princeton (31 miles). If you use your imagination, just picture the ice times that they get from these associations each months.

Over the past 12 years, mostly through charitable gambling and other fundraising efforts, North Branch has been able to lease land from their neighboring community, Stacy.  On this piece of land they have the shell of a lobby, locker rooms, and a second floor mezzanine complete.  Sadly, as the construction process was taking place, the association lost it’s funding sources and the project stalled.  ”Stalled” because this delay is likely only temporary. Today, the association is still inching closer to getting the right zoning from the city of Stacy, financing from a local lender and a refrigerated outdoor rink that will likely be ready for use in the Fall of 2014.

Yes, an outdoor sheet with indoor locker rooms and an indoor viewing area.  Not exactly Ralph Englestad Arena in Thief River Falls, but it is a start. The North Branch mascot is a Viking.  These boys and girls will need to be pretty tough to take some of the cold they will face.  Cold weather is a potential downside.  The upside is the ability to host outdoor tournaments at a first class facility. This story is bound for a happy ending, someday.

I had a chance to meet several people from North Branch in the process of writing this story. It just blew me away that an association that was this strong and had this many great players, did so without a home sheet of ice. Having a sheet of ice to practice and play on is almost a God given right in Minnesota.  Any good Governor or Legislator could re-write the Herbert Hoover speech about Minnesota, “there should be a rink in every town and plenty of pucks for every kid…” In North Branch, without any support from local governance and huge odds, I hope they will prevail.  YHH will continue to cover the progress of North Branch hockey.  Hopefully our next story is announcing their final plans for the outdoor rink in 2014. Until then good luck North Branch, just like your hockey players, keep battling.