Bonnie's Night at the Rink, a banner-raising celebration recognizing Duluth's 79-year-old hockey icon Bonnie Shea and honoring her amazing accomplishments in the sport of hockey, will be held Tuesday, Dec. 12 at 6:45 p.m. before the Duluth Northern Stars vs. Cloquet-Esko-Carlton high school girls hockey game at Essentia Duluth Heritage Center.
Shea was the first girl to play organized hockey in Duluth in 1951 and still plays competitively today. She was inducted into the Minnesota Women’s Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007.
"Obviously, Bonnie has had a lot of unique accomplishments," said Jerry DeMeo, a Essentia Duluth Heritage Center board member and the primary organizer of the event. "Just being the first girl hockey player in Duluth, from the ages of 7 to 15, and being invited to play on the Duluth East boys team are major personal accomplishments. She's been playing for the popular UMD women's club program since she was about 40, now in her 39th season, and she plans on playing until she can't do it anymore."
Support for the event is provided by the Duluth Heritage Sports Center Foundation and Stewart's Bikes Sports & Trophies.
FYI: YouTube.com video, produced by the University of Minnesota Duluth, featuring Bonnie.
Hockey Notebook – The 46th Annual Spirit of Duluth Hockey Tournament is underway starting today through Sunday. Games are being played at Sill Arena and Seitz Arena at Essentia Duluth Heritage Center, DECC Arena, Mars Lakeview Arena, Superior Ice Arena, Fryberger and Carlton.
Competing teams, by division:
Junior Gold – Stillwater, Thunder Bay (Ontario), Rosemont, Blaine, Prior Lake, Duluth, White Bear, Minnetonka*
Bantam – Duluth East, Centennial, Chaska Chanhassen, Edina, Elk River, Grand Forks (ND), Hermantown, Minnetonka, Moorhead, Osseo Maple Grove*, Rogers, Stillwater, Wayzata, West Fargo (ND), White Bear Lake, Woodbury
PeeWee – Moorhead*, Edina, White Bear Lake, Duluth East, Osseo/Maple Grove, East Grand Forks, Chaska/Chanhassen, Minnetonka, West Fargo (ND), Grand Forks (ND), Hermantown, Blaine, Centennial, Prior Lake, Elk River, Woodbury
Squirt – Duluth, Elk River, White Bear Lake, Prior Lake, Hermantown, Woodbury Royal, Woodbury Black, Grand Rapids
- Denotes defending champion
