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January, 23 2010 Hopkins Royals vs. Duluth Marshall Hilltoppers/ Eden Prairie Eagles vs. Hermantown Hawks
Hockey Day Minnesota Event
Fox Sports North, in conjunction with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, televised the
fourth annual Hockey Day Minnesota on Saturday, January 23, 2010. The
broadcast event was a grand achievement, receiving praise throughout the
State of Hockey and across the world. The day-long event included 21 hours
of hockey-related programming and five games from three different Minnesota
locations: the Hermantown Hockey Complex, Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul
and Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis. Three of the five games were played
outdoors.
The regional sports network’s production and operations team took the 2010
event to a new level: using four television control rooms, three Mobile TV
Group production trucks and over 150 FOX Sports North employees, including
12 on-air talent and over 100 freelance crew from the Minneapolis market.
Portable heaters were used to keep the production crew and announcers
warm during the three outdoor games and electric blankets were used to keep the camera lenses warm.
For the first time, FOX Sports North included various web components as part of Hockey Day Minnesota. The network streamed three outdoor high school hockey games live on foxsportsnorth.com and conducted a day-long live chat with numerous special guests. Website traffic tripled (600% increase over the January average) on Hockey Day and more than 1,000 viewers participated in the live chat.
For the second year in a row, the Minnesota National Guard helped turn Hockey Day Minnesota into a worldwide television event. Military members deployed in Basra, Iraq watched the Minnesota Wild game live on the American Forces Network and participated in live interviews throughout the broadcast. Members of the 148th Fighter Wing (Duluth, Minn.) stationed at the Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan were also featured in taped greetings throughout the day. Over two thousand text messages were received as part of a “Text the Troops” campaign, allowing fans and soldiers to communicate with text messages displayed on the on-screen ticker.
A record-breaking 3,500 fans attended the outdoor high school
hockey games and activities in Hermantown. Event Director David
Kolquist organized the weekend long hockey celebration with the
help of over 200 volunteers. Fifty-one local companies sponsored
the event and Hermantown Mayor Wayne Boucher proclaimed
Jan. 23, 2010 as “Hockey Day Minnesota in Hermantown.” Vintage
Minnesota Hockey, and our photographers were once again in
attendance to cover the days annual outdoor event via our camera
lens. The hospitality of the fine folks from Hermantown and FSN
at allowing us the cover the event was just as warm this year, as the weather was the day of the event. Game time temperatures hovered between 31-35 degrees with periods of freezing rain, snow, and rain. Mother Nature's obstacles obviously created some pretty terrible ice conditions and was equally as challenging taking photos with a plastic bag around our lens and camera body. Despite the weather for Hockey Day not cooperating, the event itself was top-notch. Thanks again to Becky Ross from FSN and the entire Hermantown contingency for allowing VMH.com to be part of the days annual event!
Hockey Day Minnesota debuted in Baudette on Saturday, January 20, 2007. FOX Sports North has been awarded four regional Emmys for the annual event including the Board of Governors Emmy in 2009 for a partnership with the Minnesota Wild and Minnesota National Guard.
Source in part: FSN Press Release 2-11-10
