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"You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take" - Wayne Gretzky

Back in 1988, an enthusiastic group of individuals took a shot at building an ice arena in the Chisago Lakes area, and the current hockey program in the community is flourishing because of that longest of long shots.

According to What Spirit Can Do, a book about the history of the arena by Julie Lauritzen, an organized rink in Lindstrom goes back to the 1920's on South Lindstrom Lake. The rink was home to the Lindstrom town team, as well as the Lindstrom Skating Club. Over the years, the rink held steady as a local landmark, along with the Panola Rink south of Lindstrom. Attracting other town teams, as well as being the epicenter of a Karl Oskar-eqsue winter celebration. Copies of the book are still available at the arena or by contacting Julie Lauritzen.

From outdoor rinks to a temporary "bubble" arena to eventually the brick and mortar of a real building, the process was a long one. From that first rink in the '20s, to ground breaking on the current arena on July 12, 1990, hundreds of people put in brains, brawn, dollars and hard work to build this arena. The varsity hockey team played its first game at the arena on Jan. 4, 1991

"I already knew what an amazing accomplishment building the Chisago Lakes Arena was.  I also already knew many of the hard-working people who coached the kids, raised the money, and physically built the facility," Lauritzen said in her book. "What I did not know was that this spirit of self-reliance and pride has a long-standing tradition in our hockey community."

The current arena stands adjacent to the high school property, but it stands out in the diversity of its uses. Built and operated completely without tax dollars, the arena and the volunteers there offer so much more than just some mere ice time for the more-than 20 different hockey squads that call the radiant building their home. Home to the Chisago Lakes Area High School boys and girls varsity hockey teams, as well as the youth programs in Chisago Lakes, the arena is managed and maintained by Chisago Lakes Arena Inc., a non-profit organization that puts back into the community as much as the community plays in its rink.

Every year, the arena awards scholarships to Chisago Lakes seniors their pursuit of academics. Last year's recipients, Kristen Dobosenski, Logan Hawley, Ariel Novak, Jeremy Patterson, Neil Taurinskas and Jessica Thomsen all received scholarships towards their post-secondary education careers. To be eligible for the scholarships, the students need to be Chisago Lakes High School seniors that are in good academic standing.

The arena also provides part-time job opportunities for students that don't necessarily have the means to travel far to their work place. Practically in the high school's back yard, the ice arena is an ideal place for kids to learn the ins and outs of working a good job without having to commute a long way.

Although the real crown jewel of the arena is the immaculate sheet of ice in the middle of the building, some other parts of the building are simply amazing. The newly-added girls locker room is spacious and comfortable, something that is critical in a hockey locker room. With so much equipment strewn about, a lack of space can be a real pain for hockey teams. And before the add-on was complete, that was the case when the girls and boys hockey teams shared locker rooms.

Two full squads of heavily armored ice warriors had to store their gear in one normally spacious locker room, but in the case of two teams using it, cramped as a grandmother's cluttered attic. The arena board worked with the Chisago Lakes Center Ice Club and school district officials in recognition of the space need. A new girl's locker room, new officials' room and coach's office were added. The zebras previously met in between periods in a janitorial closet, surrounded by 409, Windex and a mop bucket.

Expansion of the underbelly of the arena allowed more locker room spaces for the numerous junior and mite teams that frequent the rink - in all there are four separate locker rooms for the kids. It also allowed for the varsity teams to pack their locker room comfortably without the headache of another team's gear in their way.

Although most of the public doesn't get to see the downstairs, what they see upstairs more than makes up for anything they may be missing. When fans enter the arena, they are immediately greeted on their right by a large marble wall with a large window to gaze upon the crstyalline rink, or there is seating for 1,000 fans at rink side to enjoy. To the left is a spacious concession stand that includes all the goodies a hockey fan could want. The stand is rigged so that in case the arena ever expands to a second rink, it will be accessible on both sides for both rinks. Even with the concession stand, the designers of the building were thinking long-term.

Also, lining the arena is advertising billboards that are displayed by local businesses to raise money in support of the arena programs.

Another piece of the giant building that most cannot see are the training facilities and the conference rooms. The arena includes a dry land training area where the players can strap their skates on and go to work... only without the ice. The dry land material makes it possible to do skate work year round.

The weight room is also vital to the hockey programs. Strength and explosiveness are keys to a hockey player's success, thus they are the key to any program's success. Without the hard work, there is no player, and without the hard-working player, there is no program. The weight-lifting facility is open for Chisago Lakes high school varsity teams to use and there's a variety of weight lifting machines and free weights. It's where a lot of the hard work and sweat happens. It's the engine room to the steam boat that is Chisago Lakes hockey.

The conference rooms are another area vital to the program. Most people don't see them or get to use them. The varsity squads get together in the spacious rooms to watch video of their opponents and dissect their own game film to see what they did right and wrong. It is well-equipped for the coaches to school the kids on their game and what to expect from the other squads in the stacked North Suburban Conference.

The arena is also suited for tennis, baseball and soccer practices when inclement weather strikes during the fall and spring season.

Going on 18 years of operation, the arena has a lot to boast about. But, since the inception of the building, the board hasn't flaunted its success. They just keep their axes to the grindstone and maintain the same mission statement no matter what successes or obstacles have crept in their way. In fact, in their main conference room, the board has the mission statement painted on to the wall to remind them why there is a hockey rink in Chisago Lakes.

"The Chisago Lakes Arena Board of Directors exists to manage, maintain and operate the arena and direct all excess revenues to be invested in our area youth athletic programs. Therefore, as debt is reduced and eventually eliminated, more funds will be available to benefit these youth programs. The directors pledge to continue to work cooperatively with community athletic and business leaders to achieve this goal."

For more information on the arena go to www.chisagolakesarena.com or contact Rink Manager Chris Slettom at 651-257-8694.

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