Augsburg and Saint John’s will be featured as part of the 2023 Hockey Day Minnesota celebration.
The two men’s hockey programs will meet outdoors on Friday, Jan. 27 at 5:45 p.m. local time at Polar Lakes Park in White Bear Township.
The game will be the first MIAC conference contest to be held as part of Hockey Day Minnesota since the event was established by the Minnesota Wild and Bally Sports North in 2007. It’s the second NCAA Division III game to be contested in the event’s history after St. Thomas tied Wisconsin-Stout 1-1 at Xcel Energy Center as part of the 2017 event.
“The games between Augsburg and Saint John’s are always fast, skilled, and physical,” said Augsburg coach Greg May in a statement. “The rivalry has been magnified the last handful of years, as we have played in a couple epic overtime games in the finals of the MIAC playoffs. It is a weekend we look forward to every year. Having the opportunity to showcase not only our rivalry, but Division III hockey and specifically the MIAC, as part of Hockey Day Minnesota is an honor.”
“I have been trying to get involved with the Hockey Day Minnesota festivities for years and I am very excited that we will be part of the event this year,” added SJU coach Doug Schueller. “This will be a great event for not only SJU and Augsburg, but also to promote and bring awareness to MIAC hockey. We want to show the state of hockey that the MIAC and NCAA Division III hockey is entertaining and a great option for hockey fans around the state. I expect we will have a great atmosphere and it should be a very good hockey game.”
The two teams will complete their MIAC series on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn. Both games will be webcast on their respective school athletic websites, with Augsburg hosting the Friday game (athletics.augsburg.edu) and Saint John’s hosting the Saturday game (gojohnnies.com).
Friday’s Auggie-Johnnie game be part of a full weekend of hockey action at an outdoor rink in White Bear Township’s Polar Lakes Park. On Saturday, Jan. 28, there will be three high school games — Stillwater vs. White Bear Lake girls at 9:30 a.m., Hermantown vs. Mahtomedi boys at 1 p.m., and Hill-Murray vs. White Bear Lake boys at 4:30 p.m. — leading up to an 8 p.m. Minnesota Wild game against Buffalo at Xcel Energy Center.
Other events are also being planned for the weekend in White Bear Lake.
