WJON’s Hockey Day 2019 Primer

BEMIDJI -- If you're heading up to Bemidji this weekend to enjoy the 13th annual Hockey Day Minnesota, there are some things you'll want to know.

First off, it's going to be cold around Lake Bemidji. Saturday's high will be minus three degrees with lows in the negative 20s through the weekend.

The first pucks dropped Thursday when Bemidji High School girls team took on Woodbury. If you're there Friday night, you'll see Bemidji State taking on Michigan Tech. That game is going to be the first-ever outdoor college hockey game in Hockey Day's history. It starts at 7:00 p.m.

Saturday features a game between the top two teams in high school class AA. Last year's state champs Minnetonka play Andover at 9:30 a.m. Saturday's schedule looks like this:

• 9:30 a.m. - Andover vs Minnetonka (boys) at Lake Bemidji.
• 1:00 p.m. - Minnesota State vs Bemidji State (women) at Lake Bemidji.
• 4:00 p.m. Ohio State vs Minnesota-Duluth (women) in Duluth.
• 4:30 p.m. - Greenway vs Bemidji (boys) at Lake Bemidji.
• 6:15 p.m. - Western Michigan vs St. Cloud State (men), in St. Cloud.
• 8:00 p.m. - Columbus Blue Jackets vs Minnesota Wild, at the Xcel Energy Center.

St. Cloud started and Bemidji is continuing the new tradition of live music at Hockey Day. Orlando and Rhonda are at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Midbros at 9:00 p.m., tribute group Acoust Hicks at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, blues playing Corey Medina and Brothers at 6:30 p.m. Saturday and Redline at 8:30 p.m.

To survive the cold, they've set up a pair of large heated tents and will have customized fire pits (copying the Granite City), C.K. Dudley's Warming House will feature drinks and host the live music each night.