Thursday Notebook

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Duluth sophomores Adam Kleber and Max Plante have been named to the U.S. roster for the 2025 World Junior Summer Showcase, which runs July 25 through Aug. 2 at Ridder Arena on the University of Minnesota campus.

The showcase will feature 42 American players along with teams from Canada, Finland and Sweden. It serves as a critical evaluation event ahead of the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, scheduled for Dec. 26 through Jan. 5 in Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Over the course of the week, Ridder Arena will host 11 international matchups.

Kleber, a 6-foot-5 defenseman from Chaska, and Plante, a forward from Hermantown, are among nine players invited who helped the United States capture gold at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship last winter.

Plante recently attended the Detroit Red Wings’ development camp and was named to the NCHC All-Rookie Team last season after leading all conference freshmen with 28 points (nine goals, 19 assists) in 23 games — a 1.21 points-per-game average.

Kleber skated at the Buffalo Sabres’ development camp this summer. He appeared in 33 games for UMD in 2024-25, tallying two goals and three assists.

Each summer, USA Hockey uses the World Junior Summer Showcase to help shape its roster for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The event also offers players a final opportunity to impress before final selections.

Game Schedule at Ridder Arena, Minneapolis

• Sunday, July 27
  USA White vs. Finland, 1 p.m.
  USA Blue vs. Sweden, 4:30 p.m.
• Monday, July 28
  Finland vs. USA Blue, 1 p.m.
  Sweden vs. USA White, 4:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, July 29
  Canada White vs. Canada Red, 4:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, July 30
  Sweden vs. USA, 1 p.m.
  Canada vs. Finland, 4:30 p.m.
• Friday, August 1
  Canada vs. Sweden, 1 p.m.
  Finland vs. USA, 4:30 p.m.
• Saturday, August 2
  Sweden vs. Finland, 1 p.m.
  USA vs. Canada, 4:30 p.m.

Tickets for all games are available through USA Hockey and the University of Minnesota.

North Shore anglers finding mixed success as water temps cool, DNR reports

DULUTH – Fishing action along Minnesota’s North Shore has been a mixed bag in recent days, with cooling water temperatures and unsettled weather keeping many anglers off the water, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ latest North Shore Fishing Report published Wednesday.

On the Lower Shore, stretching from Duluth to Two Harbors, surface temperatures ranged from 55 to 65 degrees near Duluth, dropping to about 50 degrees farther up the shoreline. The DNR noted that anglers trolling spoons, flasher flies and stick baits between 15 and 80 feet deep found steady success, with nearly every color — including orange, green, yellow, white and purple — producing fish.

North of McQuade, anglers reported Lake Trout taken 20 to 65 feet down and Coho Salmon closer to the surface, around 10 to 20 feet. Chinook Salmon were scarcer, though a few quality fish were landed. The DNR said color choice did not seem to make much difference in these outings. Meanwhile, no anglers were observed fishing the St. Louis River Estuary during this survey period.

Farther up the shore, from Twin Points to Hovland, surface water temperatures cooled to between 48 and 58 degrees. While some anglers tried jigging deep water for Lake Trout with only modest results, others switched to trolling spoons and flasher-fly rigs in the top 100 feet and saw more success, the agency reported.

Most of the Lake Trout measured between 17 and 24 inches, with a handful up to 30 inches, typically suspended high in the water column over deep water. The DNR also highlighted the first notable reports of 17- to 20-inch Coho Salmon this season, along with some larger Chinook Salmon, often taken near the surface on pink or purple spoons and flasher setups. A few small Steelhead, around 20 inches long, were reported near Grand Marais and Silver Bay.

Overall, the DNR said fishing pressure was relatively light during the latest reporting period, likely due to less favorable weather along the shore.

Duluth, Brainerd and beyond fill the air with world-class music

DULUTH – From chamber orchestras to international symphonies, Northern Minnesota’s summer arts season is bursting with live music that promises to dazzle audiences and showcase local talent. The coming weeks feature standout performances by the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra, the Lakes Area Music Festival, and the FinnFest Symphony Orchestra, each offering rich opportunities to experience world-class artistry close to home.

The Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra will launch its 39th season with a trio of Thursday evening concerts on July 10, 17 and 24 at Weber Music Hall on the University of Minnesota Duluth campus. Lobby doors open at 6 p.m. with seating at 6:30 and performances beginning at 7. The season celebrates a sweeping musical journey across genres, generations and continents, spotlighting guest artists of national stature with Minnesota roots.

Highlights include pipa virtuoso Gao Hong, touring pianist Andrew Staupe, and the acclaimed handbell choir Strikepoint. The repertoire spans more than 200 years, featuring works by Beethoven, Suk, Pärt, Payn, Tan Dun and Bao Yuankai. The LSCO will also premiere a new version of “Lumos,” composed by Greg Kehl Moore, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.

True to its mission of nurturing young talent, the orchestra’s season will culminate in a special concert that includes pre-show performances by students in The Quartet Project and a side-by-side finale with LSCO musicians, conducted by founder and conductor emeritus Warren Friesen. The Young Artist Piano Camp returns as a partner this year, with its concerto competition winner taking the stage to perform Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto.

Support for the LSCO’s season comes from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, through funding provided by the state legislature.

Meanwhile in Brainerd, the Lakes Area Music Festival will open its 2025 season on Sunday, July 27 at 3 p.m. at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts. Its dramatic first program, “Symphonie Fantastique,” features Paul Dukas’ “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” Mel Bonis’ “Salomé,” the world premiere of Jonathan Cziner’s “North Long Lake, MN,” and Berlioz’s epic “Symphonie fantastique,” a swirling, hallucinatory masterpiece. This concert kicks off three weeks of orchestral performances, opera and chamber music across central Minnesota.

Closer to home, the FinnFest Symphony Orchestra will take the stage Friday, August 1 at 8 p.m. in the historic Denfeld High School auditorium in Duluth for an evening of all-Finnish classical music. The concert, organized by FinnFest USA, brings together professional musicians from around the country and members of the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Craig Randal Johnson. The program will spotlight Jean Sibelius alongside two late-20th-century Finnish composers. The evening’s crescendo will come as the 70-voice Finnish International Choir, recently honored as Suomi Seura’s Expatriate of the Year, joins the orchestra for “Finlandia.”

Finland’s Ambassador to the United States, Leena-Kaisa Mikkola, and other dignitaries are expected to attend, adding further distinction to the $25 ticket event.

For more details on these concerts — including full programs, ticket information and additional summer performances — visit lakesareamusic.org and finnfest.us.

From Duluth’s skyline to Brainerd’s lakeshores, this season’s concerts underscore the region’s deep cultural heartbeat and commitment to bringing unforgettable musical experiences to local stages.