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So, there’s an opportunity with the challenges with COVID right now for school teams to be able to bring their groups out and skate outdoors in a safe environment and make sure that the kids still get the time that they need on the ice,” Hudella explained.

Add this to the list of wonderful things UHL does for military families. In 2020, UHL set a record for distribution of hockey equipment to military families around the United States. Nearly 1.5 million dollars’ worth of equipment was given to kids in military families to help either get them started in, or further their love of sports. “It was one of the big shining lights for us in 2020,” Hudella beamed.

The rink and ice resurfacing machine were donated by Log House Foods. Extreme Sandbox and Enebek construction were key players in flooding the rink and levelling the area for it to be placed. The Minnesota Wild brought rink crew and a bus load of volunteers down to help setup the rink walls and provide guidance to UHL on how to maintain the outdoor rink. Information that has been invaluable. United Rentals is providing the lights for night use. Hunt Electric and IBEW provided the wiring and installs for the warming house. Wes Walz and other folks volunteered countless hours working on the project, and of course, the awesome folks at United Heroes League.

It was a wonderful day to be outdoors watching kids enjoy the rink and parent enjoying their kids having fun. And to think, this all started with a phone call in November. In two months, many hands contributed to the monumental task of moving and building an NHL sized

Several Military Families were invited to the ribbon cutting ceremony, to meet several former NHL stars and to let their kids skate on the newly installed NHL sized rink on the property of United Heroes League in Hastings. Photo by Bruce Karnick