Growing up in St. Paul's North End neighborhood, Tim Sager and fellow hockey players shredded the ice at outdoor parks such as Rice Lawson, then took part shoveling and flooding to do it all over again.
Sager, now White Bear Lake's varsity hockey coach, said he misses the days when "players who were 6, 16 and 26 played shinny hockey on the same ice until the sun went down."
No coaches. No rehearsed positions or plays. Just a shared love of the game.
Beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, 10 high school hockey teams take a step back in time, chasing pucks under the open winter sky at TCF Bank Stadium as part of the High School Hockey Faceoff.
The first game on the stadium rink will feature the Minnetonka and Eden Prairie girls' teams.
"This game could be the most unforgettable game all season," Minnetonka coach Eric Johnson said. "Our girls probably don't understand yet how cool this is going to be."
It will be followed by four boys' games: Benilde-St. Margaret's vs. Minnetonka (12:30 p.m.), Lakeville South vs. Bloomington Jefferson (3 p.m.), White Bear Lake vs. Cretin-Derham Hall (5:30 p.m.), and Eagan vs. Eastview (8 p.m.).
Next Friday it's the college teams' turn in the Hockey City Classic. Defending NCAA women's hockey champion Minnesota plays Minnesota State and the Gophers men's team takes on Ohio State.
