Notre Dame-West Haven to play in Minnesota tournament
Notre Dame-West Haven hockey played more regular-season games out of state than in this season on the way to the CIAC championship. Next winter, it’s going even further. Or, rather, farther.
The Green Knights are planning to play in the Hockeytown Holiday Classic, Dec. 26-28, in Warroad, Minn., coach Larry Vieira said.
“I’m always trying to attract student-athletes to Notre Dame,” Vieira said, “and in order to do that, we want to have a product that stimulates the kids, No. 1, and No. 2 gets them ready for us and the next level.”
Brainstorming led him to Minnesota, where the state hockey championships routinely draw big crowds to Xcel Energy Center, home of the NHL’s Wild. Vieira said he made a few calls and wound up lucking into a spot in this tournament.
“I think (Vieira) had reached out to some other places in Minnesota,” Warroad coach Jay Hardwick said. “The problem is, it seems earlier and earlier schedules are being set for the following season. Some coaches had given him my name, thought Warroad would be a good fit.”
Notre Dame will play three games, Vieira said, including games against both of North Dakota’s state finalists, Grand Forks Red River and Grand Forks Central. It will also play Warroad.
“We’ll fly out; we’re leaving Christmas Day night,” Vieira said. “It’s a once-ina-lifetime experience for the program and the kids. Hopefully we’re competitive enough that they ask us back.
“I always like to raise the bar. That’s why we play the teams that we do.”
Warroad sits on the Lake of the Woods, just southwest of the “Northwest Angle,” the notch at the top of Minnesota’s border with Canada. Gardens Arena is about five miles from the border with Manitoba.
The city of under 2,000 people punches well above its weight as a hockey community, billing itself as Hockeytown USA. The Christian family made its name with members playing at top pro and amateur levels; Christian Brothers was a renowned hockey stick company. The New York Islanders’ Brock Nelson is a Warroad native from the Christian family. Olympian and PWHL player Gigi Marvin is from another prominent Warroad hockey family. T.J. Oshie of the Washington Capitals has a hockey apparel company named for the city.
“It’s not an easy place to get to,” Hardwick said, “but once you get here, you realize why we call it Hockeytown.”
Hardwick said they’ve had teams come over from Wisconsin to play in the tournament and then picked up the two from North Dakota after a long run with the same three teams.
Notre Dame has played for the CIAC Division I championship all four times there has been a final since 2019, winning in 2022 and 2024.
Perfect in 14 games in Connecticut this season, Notre Dame was 5-4-2 against teams from Massachusetts and Rhode Island.