If you're a hockey fan, there could be worse places to be this weekend than Bemidji.
The 13th annual Hockey Day Minnesota, a celebration of our state's hockey madness that is as much a promotional tool for Fox Sports North as it is a puck party, will be centered in this northwest Minnesota city of nearly 16,000.
While Saturday is the official "Hockey Day," festivities begin Thursday near the Sanford Center on the south shore of Lake Bemidji, where teams will play on an outdoor rink and a hockey village has been set up to accommodate fans.
Thursday, the Bemidji High School girls will kick off play against Woodbury at 7 p.m. There's college hockey on tap for Friday between Bemidji State and Michigan Tech. The big day is Saturday. Minnetonka and Andover, the top two boys' teams in the most recent Class 2A state rankings, play at 9:30 a.m. The Bemidji State women take on Minnesota State Mankato at 1 p.m., and the Bemidji and Greenway boys' teams play the final game on Lake Bemidji at 4:30 p.m.
Tickets are available on site or through Ticketmaster. All of Saturday's action will be televised on FSN.
The week ahead in preps
Boys' hockey
Thursday: Minnetonka at Eden Prairie, 7 p.m.
