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A shrine to American Hockey

11/02/2017, 8:00am CDT
By Dave Schwartz

The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum is located in one of the birthplaces of hockey – Eveleth, Minn.

For some, the fact that the mecca of American hockey is based in Eveleth, Minn., is a bit of a surprise. But to those that run the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame (USHHF), its the equivalent of an empty-netter.

“This area was one of the birthplaces of hockey,” USHHF Executive Director Doug Palazzari told me by phone. “It’s been played here since the 1800s, and so many great players have come out of this area.”

A lot of those players and others from around the country are now enshrined in hockey’s holy hall which fittingly sits at 801 Hat Trick Avenue in the town of just over 3,600 people in northeastern Minnesota. The museum’s mission statement is to “provide the United States with a shrine to American hockey that reflects the honor, dignity and pride of the legends that it represents,” but that hasn’t always been easy.

“It has presented its problems over the years being in such an isolated area,” Palazzari said. “But there have been other museums that have flourished with the very same dilemma. I think we’ve done a really good job in our re-organization of the USHHF with an incredible board.”

That re-organization took place in 2007. The museum was having financial problems, Palazzari remembers, and they were not getting the visitors it needed to be financially stable. So they reinvented themselves and started over. USA Hockey took over the induction ceremony, which had previously become a point of financial strain for the museum, and a new board of directors was hired to help move the USHHF forward. 

“I came here in 2010 and each year it has gotten better and better,” Palazzari said. “Back then, people were contemplating whether it should stay here or be moved, and now that’s not part of the conversation anymore.”

A lot of that is due to the forward-thinking of those that run the museum. They’re continually making updates to the physical structure of the museum, all while making sure that what is available in Eveleth is also available around the world for those who want to know more about the history of American hockey. 

It’s a history that is richer than some might know. The game has grown exponentially around the country in the last few decades, but the USHHF sets out to show people America has always been a major player.

“The depth of players that you have now, the game has really changed,” Palazzari said. “Every country has changed and gotten better, but back then, Americans were just as good as anyone else. They just didn’t have the opportunities as everyone else. Back then, the game was very regionalized. You had the ‘3M’s’ – Michigan, Massachusetts and Minnesota. Now the game is played everywhere.”

Nowhere is that growth shown more than in the women’s game which has expanded immensely in the past decade. That is one of the reasons why the USHHF began holding the “U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Women’s Face-Off Classic” back in 2008. This year’s game will be played on Monday, Nov. 6, in Isanti, Minn., between Minnesota Duluth and Bemidji State. Instead of the USHHF getting the proceeds, they will be donated to Matt Olson, who suffered a spinal cord injury while playing junior hockey in 2016. The USHHF board is passionate about supporting the hockey community and growing the game because of a leadership that is invested in both.

“For me, it’s been really nice to see the diverse board that we have,” Palazzari said. “They all have their own specialties and that is what’s made us so successful.”

So where does the Hall go from here? Palazzari says that depends on money and how things change. He believes the museum will adapt and change with the times but cautions they will also stick with what works. 

“We’ve been operating on the ‘slow go, do well’ theory and I think that will continue,” Palazzari said. “I know we get a lot of good thoughts and a lot of good ideas. I just think it’s going to be a steady process. I don’t think that it’s going be something that all of a sudden things will change overnight.”

Like picking up and moving to a more populated city that is easier to get to? Nope, the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum will continue to be in hockey’s heartland, tantalizing and drawing puckheads from all over the world to tiny little Eveleth.

“We hope as many people as possible come up and visit us, and we’ll try to reach as many people as we can,” Palazzari said. “We’re just going to keep making [the museum] better and better.”

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Tag(s): State Of Hockey