Branding + Websites + Communications + Advertising

St. Paul, MN

Community History Project

Our local hockey community

I brought Terry the idea of creating a wall of honor for local college hockey players to inspire our youth hockey players. He took it to a much higher level, and his vision will make our arena the envy of other cities.

—Brandon Ferraro

Head Coach, Two Rivers Boys High School Hockey

My friends and I were kids during the golden age of youth hockey in West St. Paul. The high school team went to the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament four years in a row from 1973 through 1976, and again in 1982 and 1983. They finished third in the state 1973 and 1983. Throughout those years we had an exchange with the Richmond Kings youth hockey association in Winnipeg. Every other year, we West St. Paul kids loaded our gear onto buses and spent the weekend billeted with a kid on the rival Richmond Kings team. From Friday to Sunday we’d tear through the shopping centers, movie theaters, and bowling alleys of the Winnipeg area. We often became brothers for three days at a time, especially when we were lucky enough to host the same kid the next year.

: Early youth hockey team

: 1973 Henry Sibley team

: Paul Johnson, 1960 Olympic gold medalist

Coach John Hoene, my first coach

Along the way, the 1980 Miracle on Ice and movies like Slap Shot and Youngblood made us hockey junkies. Those star-studded State Tourney teams produced a lot of college hockey players. Now a group of us is raising money and researching the history of hockey in our area. The goal is an interactive wall of honor that tells that history and recognizes the kids who grew up playing in the West St. Paul (now John V. Hoene) ice arena and went on to play college hockey. The installation will impress with its content (more than 90 college players so far, including 35 at the Division I level), technology (web-connected video screens), and design.

We intend to raise the money to do this right—built to last—to inspire young players for years to come, and to put excess funds and ad revenue into equipment and scholarships so kids can keep playing without worrying about cost.