With the NHL's Winter Classic done, and easily forgotten, it is time now for the real winter classic. By that, I mean the newest tradition here in Minnesota as Defending the Blue Line hosts Skate for the Troops 2 on January 21st as part of Hockey Day Minnesota.

For those of you who did not participate last year, you are missing out, and this year will be even better, so don't miss out again. The event features fundraising activities, free skate, and a outdoor hockey game between the DTBL Military All Stars and the Minnesota NHL Alumni Association. The Alumni will also be signing autographs prior to the game, so there is that for all you autograph hounds.

Do yourself a favor, make the jump for all the details, then get involved. You'll have fun, I promise.

Fundraising

The main objective of the event is to raise some funds in order to help DTBL continue with their mission of helping military kids play hockey. For those new to DTBL, they accomplish this mission by issuing gear to the kids of military service members, along with grants to pay association fees, ice time fees, etc, and also give away NHL tickets to get the family's mind off of the stresses of life in a military family for a night.

To get your fundraising juices flowing, there are prizes (really good ones) available for the top fundraisers. Here they are:

Team Prizes:

1st place: A suite a Minnesota Wild game
2nd place: $1000 grant to their youth hockey association
3rd place: $500 grant to their youth hockey association

In addition to these prizes, any team raising more than $1500 gets a free dinner for 25, yes twenty-five at Chipotle.

Individual Prizes:

1st place: 4 lower level Wild tickets, 4 player signed sticks, and dinner for 4 at Tom Reid's
2nd place: 4 Wild game tickets, 4 player signed jerseys
3rd place: 4 Wild game tickets, $500 gift card to Hockey Giant

Anyone ready to start their fundraising? Go HERE. You do NOT have to be present at the event to win the prizes. If you, or your team, want to be involved and cannot attend, just make sure your donations are post marked by January 21st.

Schedule of Events

1:00PM - 2:30PM: Individuals and teams skate laps
1:15PM - 2:15PM: ADM clinic hosted by Minnesota Hockey and USA Hockey
2:30PM - 3:30PM: Minnesota NHL Alumni autograph session
3:30PM - 4:00PM: Product demonstration expo
4:00PM - 5:00PM: MN NHL Alumni vs. DTBL All-stars game

Where to Be

The event is being held, outside, at the Guidant John Rose MN OVAL. The rink is located at 2661 Civic Center Drive in Roseville.

Final Thought

Here is where you get the disclaimer. I work Community Relations and social media for DTBL. Don't let that distract you from the task at hand. This was an amazing event last year, and should be even better this year with the day's happenings taking place outside. I beg you, my fine Hockey Wilderness community members, to get involved, or at the very least, tell your local hockey players and hockey families about the event.

If anyone has any questions about the event, or DTBL, please let me know.