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WHY PUBLIC IS THE PARADIGM Many, including Snee, believe it's critical to the long-term health of the game in Minnesota to maintain the municipally owned model. "If a rink is publicly owned, more than like- ly the main users of the rink are going to be non-profit youth hockey associations, high school programs and other entities that are con- sidered community assets and not for profit," he said. "If the rinks were privately owned, the primary users would be academies, clubs and private hockey organizations; in other words, hockey programs that are better for the bottom line. The community programs and high school teams might be fourth or fifth in line." This example has played out in other well- known hockey hubs in the U.S., where a shift from a public to a private ownership model has negatively impacted the local associations. As fewer non-profit community-based programs have access to ice and families turn to sponsored teams or look to play elsewhere, the connection to the community declines, the hockey culture suffers, and participation numbers fall. It provides a cautionary tale for hockey fans in Minnesota. A NON-MINNESOTAN'S PERSPECTIVE Ryan Ossenmacher has coached at the high school level in Michigan for 17 years, is president of the state's high school coaches associa- tion, and led the Team Michigan Seniors to victory at the CCM NIT held at Plymouth Ice Arena in Minnesota in the spring of 2023. He has seen the aforementioned scenario firsthand in his home state. "The reality is that here in Michigan, if you went back 30 years, we had a fair number of community rinks," he said. "That number has done nothing but decline as cities choose to no longer fund them. They become empty spaces, eye sores or they're torn down. I can't even tell you the last time we built a new rink. I live in Northville. We don't have a rink, so our kids travel to a community outside of our community to play." According to Ossenmacher, that lack of local ice has had a big impact on team continuity and overall community connection. "I'm fortunate to be able to come to Minnesota every year and am familiar with how things are run," he said. "Your families come together, stay together and build that sense of community at the rink. Here, I have 16 ninth graders that have come from eight different organizations… On my 20-man roster, there might only be a hand- ful of players that have ever played together more than one or two years before they joined our team." "When you walk into an ice rink in Minnesota, they're show pieces; they are prideful aspects of the community," Ossenmacher continued. "If you lose the community rink, you lose the community model, because a for-profit model doesn't cater to the community; it caters to profit. If you don't continue to support it, and community rinks do close, you'll end up chasing rinks. And when you chase rinks, you chase teams. And when you chase teams, you don't have community anymore." HOW CAN CITIZENS OF THE STATE OF HOCKEY HELP? So, what can people in Minnesota do to ensure that hockey in our state remains a fixture of the community? "Be active and make sure your voice is heard," says Snee. "Make sure referendums for ice rinks pass on election day. Get the word out and tell people why it's important. The community ice arena is no different than the playground or community pool or the baseball and football fields. These are assets that are such an important part of living in a vibrant place. Community- owned ice arenas in Minnesota make hock- ey much more affordable and accessible to a much larger group of people than it would be otherwise." Recently completed or approved ice arena projects in Virginia, Proctor, Cloquet, WHEN YOU WALK INTO AN ICE RINK IN MINNESOTA, THEY'RE SHOW PIECES; THEY ARE PRIDEFUL ASPECTS OF THE COMMUNITY." – Ryan Ossenmacher, Michigan High School Hockey OUR OUR HOUSE HOUSE M H J ON L I N E . C O M | O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 22 "" Work has begun on a third sheet of ice at Maple Grove Community Center, thanks to local support at the polls. Lake of the Woods International Arena. Photos / Courtesy of the Rinks