Nothing Is Fine-A Than Being In Edina: A Visit To Summer Hockey Heaven, Da Beauty League

A few months ago, my girlfriend asked if I wanted to go with her to Minneapolis. She was headed up here for a conference and her company was nice enough to let me crash in the hotel room for the week.

I'm lucky enough to have a job that I can do from anywhere, so I was all excited about my week in downtown Minneapolis drinking so much lobby coffee that they second-guess that whole "free coffee policy" and taking so many long hotel showers that when the manager gets the water bill, they'll wonder if they filled the pool the month before.

Once we got to our hotel, I was looking out the window at our view of a gay bar sitting next to a topless bar (which if you think about it is brilliant; something for everyone). I decided I had had enough of the scenery and opened Instagram where I saw a post from Da Beauty League.

I had always heard of Da Beauty League, a summer hockey league featuring some NHLers that takes place each summer in Minnesota. 

Wait… I was in Minnesota; the Land of 10,000 Lakes (even though I hadn't seen any).

But where exactly does Da Beauty League take place? Why, in Edina, a short ride from my hotel and the 2024 season opened the next night.

That was all I needed to hear. I threw on some jeans and a quarter-zip (what a fortuitous bounce that I packed those for a week of temps in the 80s) and called an Uber to take me to hockey heaven, Braemar Arena, home of Da Beauty League.

The State Of Hockey Lived Up To It's Name

I hopped out of the Nissan Pathfinder with a very loose backseat, and said goodbye to the Uber driver with whom my only verbal exchange was the following:

Me: "Is traffic (in Downtown Minneapolis)always like this?"

Driver: *Clicks earbud* "Between three and six" *Clicks earbud*

Good talk.

But the ride didn't matter because the second I hopped out of the car, I knew I was in for the full Minnesota hockey experience.

Inside it was even better…

Braemar Arena is home to the Edina High School Hornets, who have won the Minnesota High School Hockey championship a bunch of times.

Speaking of which, the hockey hair in Minnesota is the real deal. I wasn't more than a few steps into the arena before I was in awe of the hockey hair I was seeing across the age spectrum.

Those high school hockey hair videos are no joke and I definitely saw some of the flows of tomorrow sitting in the stands.

It was impressive. I haven't been around that much high-end salad since I dipped into a Crisp & Green to use the bathroom.

Now, for the teams, they're comprised of both professionals and college players with some names that you will absolutely know if you're a hockey fan like Erik Haula of the New Jersey Devils and Nate Schmidt who recently signed with the Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers.

Here are the rosters, but note that not everyone listed played on the first night.

As A Flyers fan, I was pumped to see players like Bobby Brink, the Cates brothers, Ryan Poehling (who didn't play) and former Flyer Justin Braun who plays for the Straubing Tigers of Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga but threw on his Flyers gear for the occasion.

This was one of the many cool things about Da Beauty League, players are wearing their team's gear. So, you'll see NHLers wearing their usual gloves and helmets with some sweet Minnesota Golden Gophers brain buckets thrown into the mix too. It gives the game a very beer league vibe.

Speaking of the games, in Da Beauty League, the rules are a little different. Teams play 4-on-4 games comprised of two 23-minute halves. Additionally, each team has one "double puck" per game, which is a 2-minute period during which goals count for two. 

Offense is the name of the game in this format, and the open ice allows for some plays like this beauty of a feed from Haula to Schmidt.

Awesome stuff, and it led to some seriously high-scoring affairs.

Between Hockey And Grub, What An Atmosphere

Of course, at an event like this, you'll want to grab some grub and there was no shortage of options. There was a stand selling smoothies, another selling bags of mini donuts, and Chick-fil-A of Eden Prairie was even here slangin' some sammiches.

But I wanted to go the traditional route and hit up the rink's standard concessions stand. Between the first two games I ordered a Super Pretzel-brand soft pretzel (and added the cheese for $0.50, even though I think it should be included, but whatever) and a Pepsi for a grand total of $6.

I live in Orlando, Florida. I felt like I was getting away with robbery at those prices.

I housed my pretzel and then it was back to my seat (you could sit or stand anywhere which was awesome) for the second game of the night.

In this game we got to see how the double puck isn't just a fun gimmick, it plays into the strategy if a team is down late.

Pull the goalie and activate that double puck — which involves turning on a siren light on the bench — and pray.

The only thing I felt like I missed out on was seeing a game go to overtime because check out how Da Beauty League handles that.

After Game No. 2, it was back to the concession stand for a hot dog.

And not just any hot dog: a $4 hot dog that I was told was the last one in the arena… even though I could see the rollers in the back and there had to have been at least a dozen dogs cooking away.

Then lastly — but certainly not lastly — the women hit the ice. Da Beauty League did some women's showcases in the past, but this year, women's games will be a regular feature.

Lots of pros and college players in this game too, including Olympians Kelly Pannek and Lee Stecklein.

This was a close game through the first half, but Pannek's team (the team in Maroon) scored a couple of goals with their double puck and ran away with a 9-0 win.

While the hockey is fantastic, it's worth noting that Da Beauty League is set up to benefit a bunch of great charities like the United Heroes League and the Herb Brooks Foundation.

That's fantastic, and one of the ways they raise money is with merch. Very cool merch, some of which I had to pick up. Grabbed a hat for myself and a shirt for my brother.

So, what's in it for the players? Well, they stay in shape and help out a bunch of great causes, but they're trying to win one of the best trophies in sports: the John Scott Cup.

That's a beer keg named in honor of ex-NHL enforcer and 2016 NHL All-Star MVP John Scott.

Everything about Da Beauty League made it well worth the quick trip from Minneapolis. It's a true taste of why Minnesota truly is the State of Hockey, and if you're a hockey fan, put this on your bucket list.

What a night. Da Beauty League reminded me why I love hockey and it was cool to see so many people out for what felt like a community event.

It put me in a great mood as I stood outside, watching the sunset sink behind the arena. 

My ride arrived, and I tipped my cap to Summer Hockey Heaven — Braemar Arena — before hopping in the back of a Nissan Rogue (a lot of Nissans in the Twin Cities) to head back to Minneapolis.

Thankfully, this seat was fully bolted down.