The Homegrown Hockey Project • West St. Paul | Mend-Eagan

Many kids from West St. Paul, Mendota Heights, and the north end of Eagan have gone on to play college hockey—over 100 of them that we have verified so far, including 39 at Division I and 22 women. The display at the John V. Hoene West St. Paul Ice Arena will put those names, the associations, and the history of this building where the next generation can see them. It is time to make that history better known. From the early days on local ponds to State Tournament teams in 1973 (3rd place), 1974, 1975, 1976, 1982, 1983 (3rd place), 1993 (Tier II 3rd place), 1995 (Girls 3rd place), and 1997 (Boys Class AA) to youth championships and Team USA rosters.

Designed to match existing trophy case footprint

: Preferred space

: Full-width installation

The overall aesthetic is professional, bold, and deeply local—unmistakably Minnesota community hockey.Money raised beyond the cost of this project goes to scholarships and equipment for players in our youth programs. The project aim is to bring that rich history to life; to show what is possible; then help the next kid get or stay on the ice.

How the displays will work

The locker-room pilot is one screen. The lobby installation is three. Each screen there starts from a list of names and lets the content pick what comes next—a name will expand into a feature on that player. That may be followed by a different list featuring that player, or a feature on a team that player was on before returning to that screen’s main list. The lobby screens split the list of players in thirds so they do not play the same content at the same time.

The five phases

1. Research—underway

Identify and verify every player from West St. Paul, Mend-Eagan, Sibley Area, and the successor programs who went on to college hockey. Collect photos, awards, other teams, draft notes, and the local history that belongs on the walls: associations, the West St. Paul–Richmond Kings exchange, Sibley and Two Rivers state-tournament teams, arena history since 1973.

105 college players verified across the programs; 66 from Sibley/Two Rivers (Warriors and Riveters)
39 Division I and 21 women identified so far
Unverified list still open: Help is wanted on those names, photos, programs, and jerseys

2. Pilot project—Warriors and Riveters locker hallway coming this fall

This will be a single 55-inch display, VESA-mounted on the cinder-block wall in the Warriors and Riveters locker-room common hallway, unlike the full lobby build-out that will include a display case and history installation on the surrounding walls. This will feature rotating lists of Sibley/Two Rivers college players.

Content: Warriors/Riveters alumni only
Budget target for this box: about $1,000–1,250 plus volunteer/city electrician and roughly $100 in wiring
Purpose: proof of concept/hardware/software/networking inside the building before undertaking the lobby build

Locker Room Pilot

3. Fundraising and support for the main project

The lobby display needs money, a structure to hold it, and people who will stay with it. Starting goal for the full installation is $20,000. If the work comes in under that, the rest goes to players—scholarships and equipment for kids. Video-board sponsorships keep that support coming after opening day.

Help with fundraising. This project needs people who know how to raise money, not a committee that talks about raising money.
Nonprofit registration and an attorney/accountant to set it up so proceeds are handled cleanly.
A formal committee for stewardship: installation, research, artifacts, and later decisions on scholarships and equipment.
Volunteers for research, photos, programs, jerseys, trophies, and the history of the associations and this arena.
Sponsors on the video boards after the display is running.

4. The build and install

The full installation is designed to the existing trophy-case footprint in the lobby: three 55-inch displays plus a community panel, static wall graphics, and one trophy and memorabilia case with a small screen for rotating artifacts. The hockey boards treatment on the lower walls will feature leadership and founding sponsors. Upper walls for the association story from West St. Paul and Mend-Eagan through Sibley Area and Two Rivers.

Three lobby screens, each a hub based on one-third of the last-name list.
Case for jerseys, trophies, tournament programs, on rotation.
Colors from the programs that used this building: WSP red and black; Mend-Eagan blue and yellow; Sibley Area/current WSP red, black, and gold.

5. The unveiling—a reunion weekend

We launch the display with a West St. Paul/Mend-Eagan hockey reunion weekend. Get as many of the featured college players into the building as will come. An old-timers game against South St. Paul is on the table. The goal of the event is the same as that of the display—to show that these programs produced great players, lifelong friends, and community leaders with a common bond. Today’s kids will be able to see them in person, just as future players will see and learn about them in the display.