Discovering Jamestown

I had the pleasure of spending a Friday night at the University of Manitoba in a building that didn't contain a rink. Well, sort of, I guess. Wayne Fleming Arena is connected to the Investors Group Athletic Center, so I guess it could be considered the same building, but details. Anyway, I was in IGAC doing a little public address and music for the exhibition match-up between the Manitoba Bisons men's volleyball team and the University of Jamestown Jimmies. I had never heard of the University of Jamestown, so I dove into discovering the University of Jamestown!

The Jimmies have a whole host of athletic teams that include both a Division-1 ACHA hockey team and a Division-2 hockey team. Among the players on the D1 team are a couple of Manitobans in forward Dylan Haney from Brandon who played with the KIJHL's Grand Forks Border Bruins, and defenceman Garret Browning from Winnipeg who played with the MJHL's Winnipeg Blues. In seeing there were a couple of Manitoba ties to the team, I went looking for other ties, but came across something way cooler that I think a lot of people may be interested in if they knew about it.

It's about a five-hour drive to Jamestown from Winnipeg, but it's something that college hockey fans may want to keep in mind as the Jimmies hosted their first outdoor game last year on Allen Field at the University of Jamestown. The field itself isn't a football field or a baseball diamond, but an actual field on the campus grounds where they constructed a hockey rink for the very first Hockey Day in North Dakota in 2019 that was used by a number of teams and organizations throughout December and January!

"Our main goal of this community event is to bring people and the state together in celebration of our great sport," Cole Bell, Head Hockey Coach at the University of Jamestown, said in a release. The idea behind Hockey Day in North Dakota was based on Hockey Day in Minnesota, and the North Dakota version was the dream of Jeff Romsdal, President of Pure Hockey Skills, a hockey skills camp based in Jamestown!

While it seems that the University of Jamestown started this new winter tradition and day for the residents of North Dakota, there was involvement from the communities near Jamestown as well. Bismarck had the Bismarck Blizzard, Century Patriots and the University of Mary join the festivities in Jamestown for the 2019 weekend with the weekend's events culminating in an outdoor game between ACHA rivals in the University of Jamestown and the University of Mary.

"It's a special deal, just a real unique experience for our players and hockey fans in the state," University of Mary head coach Dan Huntley told Dave Selvig of the Bismarck Tribune last year. "The folks in Jamestown have done a really nice job putting this together. Sure, it'll be a little cold, but we're really looking forward to it."

The University of Mary founded their team in 2019 as a Division-2 team, and the Marauders absolutely hammered the rest of the competition as they posted a 31-1-1 record prior to meeting the Jimmies that weekend. The two teams battled hard in the outdoor game last year as the University of Mary took the first-ever outdoor game at Allen Field by a 3-1 score over the Jimmies on the strength of a Ben Kottmeier game-winner 3:06 into the third period. An empty-netter would seal the win, denying the Jimmies a victory on the first Hockey Day in North Dakota!

For the trivia buffs out there, Jamestown's Allan Pruss, who hails from Red Deer, Alberta, was the player who scored the first-ever goal at Hockey Day in North Dakota. Three-straight goals from the Marauders, however, took the shine off that bit of history.

The second annual Hockey Day in North Dakota is scheduled for January 18, 2020 this year, and it seems more communities from the western portion of North Dakota are getting involved as the Jimmies will build their rink again and host the Minot State Beavers from Minot, North Dakota! That game will be played on Friday, January 17, and the organizers are still hoping for another big game to announce for Saturday, January 18. There will be games involving girls this year so it seems the organizers are expanding this nicely, and the announcement has already been made that the organizing committee is examining opportunities to have other communities host future Hockey Day in North Dakota weekends!

It sounds like Hockey Day in North Dakota is an amazing event if all the comments on various sites are true. I'm not sure if I'll have the time to be able to get down there, but it may have to be a "bucket list" item for me at some point. Having been to Hockey Day in Minnesota, that was a blast so I assume the people of North Dakota are putting on one heckuva show as well.

As for the volleyball action, the Jimmies ran into the well-oiled machine known as the Manitoba Bisons, and the Bisons won this exhibition game in three-straight sets. The two teams meet once more tomorrow, and we'll see how the Bisons fare on Saturday against the Jimmies once more.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!