It’s only fitting that the city of South St. Paul chose February 6, 2016 – Hockey Day Minnesota – to officially dedicate Doug Woog Arena, and honor a man who has dedicated much of his life to the sport in his home state.

The dedication event, which includes a special unveiling, an on-ice tribute, refreshments and more, starts at 2 p.m. at 141 6th Street S., in South St. Paul. The event is open to the public.

Woog’s list of accomplishments in hockey is long, and as both a player and a coach, his place in Minnesota hockey history ranks among the all-time greats.

Woog played high school hockey for the South St. Paul Packers, becoming a first team All-State player and leading the Packers to four State Tournaments. He went on to play for the University of Minnesota, earning team captain, MVP and first team All-American honors his junior year. Woog later became the head coach of the Packers from 1977-1985, and progressed to an assistant coaching position with the U.S. Olympic hockey team in 1984. In 1985, Woog was named head coach of the U.S. World Junior Team, competing in Helsinki, Finland. He went on to coach the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers Men’s Hockey Team from 1985-99 and was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002.

Having his name adorn the rink in the community in which he grew up and still lives is the latest much-deserved accolade.

"Hopefully, it was because I had the right character and attitude and treated people with respect," Woog told the Pioneer Press back in September. "To me, respect is huge. If you have respect for people and treat them right, something good will come out of it for you, too."

According to South St. Paul's website, the arena was built in 1962 as a one-ice sheet facility and was privately owned by Wakota Arena Incorporated, which consisted of 650 shareholders and was named The Cow Palace. It was built on ten acres of land for the cost of $550,000. A year later, the name was changed to “Wakota” Arena, a combination of Washington and Dakota counties. In 1977, the City of South St. Paul purchased the arena for $375,000. In 2015, the arena was renamed Doug Woog Arena to honor Minnesota hockey legend Doug Woog. 

The arena is over 50 years old now and has undergone three substantial renovations. The first in 1989, with the addition of a large concession stand and lobby area added to the south end of the building as well as an upstairs viewing room. In 1997, Rink #2 was built in addition to two large office spaces and the Community Learning Center (CLC). The third renovation occurred in 2014 with the conversion of the refrigeration system from Freon to ammonia and the remodel of the original rink creating six new locker rooms, an off-ice training facility, community meeting space, and elevated warm viewing areas. 

Through the years, Doug Woog Arena was the center of the hockey community as the home of the Suburban Conference. As the years passed, the cities in the conference grew and teams moved to other conferences. Up to the early 1990’s Wakota Civic Arena was home to South St. Paul, St. Thomas Academy, Simley and Henry Sibley High Schools. Currently, Doug Woog Arena is home to South St. Paul High School Hockey, South St. Paul Youth Hockey Association as well as the Great 8 Festival. The Ted Brill Great 8 Festival is a tournament which showcases the best seniors from around the state distributed into eight section based teams. 

Check southstpaul.org for more information.