History of Wadena Hockey

The Story of Triumph over Tragedy

Wadena Hockey saw its home vanish in the blink of an eye on June 17th, 2010. A tornado that destroyed much of town, including the High School and Fairgrounds erased the arena. All of the exterior walls, roof and ceiling were gone. Manglde balls of steel carried on top of the High Schools and homes blocks and blocks away. But don’t fret; this is not a sad story. It is the story of how human nature can defeat anything mother nature can throw our way. It was a tough journey riddled with hard work. We skated outside for a year. We practiced "inside" a building with no lights or roof. We had a season in the shell of a building with plywood locker rooms. But now, we have the greatest little arena we ever could have dreamed of.

Take a journey with pictures. See all the stages of the process. See the destruction of our old friend. Then witness the birth of hope and the will to skate outside. The story really gets good when you see steel in the air and lights overhead. The next stage is all about hard work and getting it done. Locker rooms, lobby, new boards and a new Zamboni, not to mention absolutely everything else. The next step has been using this wonderful place. The final step, well...that page has yet to be written.