News

By Kalli Funk

Another great season of Rink Rats came to an end after a heat wave came through the Twin Cities in late January/early February. This winter, the Herb Brooks Foundation provided learn-to-skate opportunities to 10 Minneapolis and surrounding suburb elementary schools and two rinks on the east side of St. Paul. The Rink Rats showed great progress throughout the season, thanks to the help of the quality coaches that work with the HBF Rink Rats’ program. 

To celebrate another successful season, Rink Rats from various Minneapolis sites were invited to participate in the action of the Women’s WCHA Final Face-Off. The tournament took place at Ridder Arena the weekend of March 4-5. They were honored to be a part of the pregame ceremony and show off their own skills in a game during intermission. They finished off the day with autographs from former Olympians that played in the WCHA. 

From the east side, St. Paul Rink Rats will celebrate their season with a trip to the Let’s Play Hockey Expo this weekend. Alongside the 40,000-plus hockey enthusiasts that attend the event, they will visit the many hockey booths, participate in games and get their pictures taken with the card board cutouts of the hockey greats. When they visit the Herb Brooks Foundation booth they actually might get to meet a hockey great. Throughout the Expo, players from the 1980 “Miracle On Ice” team will be sitting at the HBF booth to sign autographs. For a lot of the Rink Rats, it will be their first time at the event and it will open their eyes to what hockey can do for them beyond Rink Rats.

Herb Brooks Foundation is very appreciative of all the support it receives from various sponsors. The St. Paul and Minneapolis Police Activities League (PAL) have been invaluable to the Rink Rats’ program, helping where needed and assisting the Rink Rats on and off the ice. Morrie’s Automotive Group provides transportation for the Rink Rats’ program and supplies the Rink Rats jerseys. HBF is very fortunate to have support from these groups. 

Looking ahead, Herb Brooks Foundation hopes to get spring and summer clinics going, thanks to the support from the Minnesota Wild Foundation. No dates have been set yet, but herbbrooksfoundation.com will have more information in the coming weeks.

Kalli Funk is the Rink Rats’ Program Director for the Herb Brooks Foundation. Herb Brooks Foundation’s mission is to grow the game of hockey. We strive to do this by following the words of Herb Brooks: “Give the game back to the kids.” The goal of Rink Rats is to expose kids to the game of hockey who otherwise would not be exposed or cannot afford to participate. For most of the participants, Rink Rats is their first opportunity to be involved in hockey.