Hockey day Minnesota 2025: Event recap
Hockey Day Minnesota (HDM) 2025 brought together fans, players, and families to celebrate one of the state’s most beloved traditions: hockey. With a full week of outdoor games, live entertainment, and an estimated 5,000+ attendees on Saturday, and nearly 15,000 throughout the week. This year’s event delivered excitement on and off the ice, with talented games from Shakopee, Prior Lake, Eden Prairie, and more, all at the Hockey Day rink within Valleyfair. Ensuring that players and spectators had a safe and memorable experience required detailed safety logistics, seamless coordination, and a team of dedicated event medics. Smith EMS was proud to play a key role in the success of HDM 2025, providing premium event EMS services to the local Minnesota hockey community.
Planning & Preparation
Tailoring medical coverage for large events
Planning for HDM 2025 began well before the first puck drop. Our team collaborated closely with HDM organizers, including key stakeholders like Erik Radtke, a vice-chair on the HDM Board, to develop a customized safety plan that met the unique challenges of the large outdoor event. After a major success like this, we wanted to showcase the amount of effort that went in behind the scenes. From strategic planning meetings to identifying potential risks and deploying resources, every detail was carefully considered to ensure a safe, smooth, and memorable experience for players, fans, and organizers alike.
Identifying Key Risks
During pre-event planning, we assessed potential safety concerns, including:
Weather risks: With HDM held primarily outdoors in freezing conditions, frostbite and hypothermia were top concerns.
Crowd density: With thousands of spectators expected, we ensured adequate medic coverage to respond quickly across the many game and entertainment locations.
Ice-related injuries: We prepared for potentials of spectator and staff injuries off the ice. A key risk was the potential for ice on the sand-structure within the Valleyfair lot.
Additionally, there was the typical youth, high school, and collegiate hockey-related injuries at play:
Concussions: With all contact sports, concussions can pose a serious risk for athletes, especially at the youth-collegiate level of play.
Lacerations: Hockey tends to be fairly safe overall, however there’s always the possibility of cuts from sticks, blades, helmets, and more.
Resource Allocation
To cover the event effectively, Smith EMS allocated:
A team of 2 medics for Wednesday thru Friday of the games, as crowds were expected to be lighter. These medics rotated between monitoring the games from the penalty box, and remaining warm and rescue-ready in our medical trailer. Saturday, as crowds expected to peak, we staffed 3 medics, adding a supervisor to roam between medical stations and monitor other areas of the park.
Specialized equipment, including “go-bags” of various sizes, to ensure rapid and effective care in any situation.
As this was our first year covering a Hockey Day Minnesota event, our planning efforts emphasized flexibility, allowing us to adapt to changing conditions without disrupting event operations.
Safety Logistics and Teamwork
Safety at an event of this scale required collaboration with multiple parties. Smith EMS worked closely with HDM organizers, local law enforcement, and security teams to ensure smooth coordination and communication. The HDM board had carefully considered medical planning and drafted a bird’s eye view map of EMS access points should we have had to contact additional local EMS/FD services. Additionally, our team worked closely with law enforcement on site, as they managed crowds and aided in notifying us of injuries. Lastly, Valleyfair staffed both limited EMT’s and security for the event. The park’s EMT’s focused on covering patients within the Valleyfair grounds while the Smith EMS team handled care in the parking lot, where the rink, vendors, and entertainment was located.
Key Safety Strategies
Designated medic stations: Strategically placed medic stations ensured rapid access to care for players and attendees.
Roving medics: Medics patrolled high-traffic areas to maintain visibility and provide proactive support.
Direct communication channels: Our team maintained radio contact with event organizers and security personnel to streamline response times and ensure incident updates were communicated quickly. Additionally, the medical team had signs posted around the venue with our on-call phone number, which would ring all medics working if called.
Partnership Success
The collaboration between Smith EMS and HDM organizers resulted in efficient coverage with minimal disruption. By planning ahead and maintaining constant communication, we were able to provide seamless event EMS services that kept both players and attendees safe.
Game Day Operations: Visible and Prepared Onsite Medics
Smith EMS’s medics were highly visible and proactive throughout HDM 2025, demonstrating their commitment to providing professional event first aid and maintaining a safe environment.
Deployment Strategy
Our team was stationed at key locations, including the medical tent, player benches, and spectator zones, to ensure comprehensive coverage. In addition, roving medics patrolled the event grounds, ready to respond at a moment’s notice.
Thanks to our proactive approach, we successfully managed under 10 patient contacts throughout the week, and none of the cases required major patient care referrals. This outcome highlights the effectiveness of our safety planning, strategic resource allocation, and on-the-ground execution.
Setup & the heated medical HQ
The setup process for HDM 2025 was a key component of our success. Our team arrived early to establish a heated medical tent, strategically placed near the main spectator areas for easy access. See a tour on our Instagram here!
Features of the Medical Camper
Warmth and comfort: The heated environment allowed for thorough assessments without the risk of cold exposure affecting patient outcomes.
Fully equipped: The tent was stocked with first-aid supplies, portable diagnostic tools, and go-bags.
Accessibility: Clear signage directed attendees to the tent, ensuring they knew where to find medical assistance when needed.
Reflecting on Key successes
Our collaboration with HDM organizers and local authorities was a key factor in the event’s success. By working together and executing a comprehensive safety plan, we ensured that HDM 2025 concluded without major incidents.
Key Lessons Learned and Future Improvements
At Smith EMS, we continuously evaluate our performance to ensure that each event we cover is safer and more efficient than the last. Here are some of the key takeaways from HDM 2025:
1. Enhancing cold-weather readiness: While our heated medical tent was effective, we identified opportunities to deploy additional portable heating stations for better coverage in larger outdoor venues.
2. Proactive crowd engagement: Engaging directly with spectators through brief safety announcements or on-the-spot wellness checks can further enhance safety outcomes.
3. Expanding resource flexibility: For future events, we plan to allocate additional roving medics during peak hours to enhance visibility and response times. An additional consideration would be incorporating roaming medical response vehicles throughout the venue.
These lessons will be applied to future events, allowing us to continuously improve our services and uphold our reputation as a trusted provider of professional event medical services.
Conclusion: Setting the Standard for Event EMS
Hockey Day Minnesota 2025 was a testament to the power of preparation, collaboration, and professional execution. With under 10 patient contacts and no major patient care referrals, our sporting event medical team demonstrated why we are a leader in sporting event medical coverage.
As we look forward to future events, we remain committed to providing premium, reliable event EMS services that ensure the safety and success of every event we cover. If you’re planning a large event and need experienced event medics, contact Smith EMS today to learn how we can tailor our services to meet your needs.
Contact us today to book Smith EMS for your next event and experience the difference our team can make. Visit our service page to learn more.
Signed, Sports Medic Sam
Reach out at: sam@smithems.com!
