Mittens will replace baseball gloves at CHS Field this winter. The St. Paul Saints’ Lowertown St. Paul ballpark is going to become the hub for “Destination Winter St. Paul,” three months of festivities with ice skating and a giant slide from Dec. 6 through Feb. 22.
And it culminates with “The Greatest Day Parade,” which honors the gold-medal-winning 1980 U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team 40 years to the day of their unforgettable victory over the Soviet Union in Lake Placid, N.Y. Herb Brooks, the late coach of the “Miracle on Ice” team, grew up in St. Paul. More than half of the team was from Minnesota.
The parade will have an Olympics theme and feature kids from hockey programs around the Twin Cities and Minnesota, said John Regal, senior director for public affairs at Securian Financial, who announced the parade at a news conference Wednesday at CHS Field.
Players from the 1980 Olympic hockey team will be in the parade, said David Brooks, Herb Brooks’ brother.
Former North Stars players, Gophers hockey players, the championship Minnesota Whitecaps women’s team and even the “Slap Shot” movie guys, the Hanson brothers, are expected for the parade, which will end up at CHS Field and circle the field like an Olympic stadium ceremony. Afterward, hockey kids will be able to meet players and get autographs, Regal said.
“Herb was all about the kids,” Brooks said of his brother. “He always cared about the kids.”
Wells Fargo WinterSkate, a chilled outdoor rink, has been set up on Landmark Plaza every winter since 2005. WinterSkate will move to the CHS infield, along with skate rentals and all the programs of previous years. The Securian Financial SuperSlide, which was set up for St. Paul festivities during the Super Bowl two years ago, will return to CHS, stretching from the second-story patio to the infield. Riders plunge 40 feet down in an inner tube over the ballpark seats and slide 130 feet into the infield.
WinterSkate skating will be free, as it has been in the past, and open seven days a week, except for Christmas and New Year’s days. Skate rental, which will be located in the visitors’ clubhouse down on the service level of the ballpark, is $5 or free for Wells Fargo credit card holders. There will be free 30-minute skating lessons with professional skating instructors from noon to 1 p.m. on six Saturdays throughout the season and broomball.
Tickets for the SuperSlide can be purchased in one-hour blocks for $10 for adults and $7 for children ages 12 and younger.
Destination Winter St. Paul is a collaboration between the Saints, Visit Saint Paul and the city of St. Paul.
The St. Paul Winter Carnival announced last week that it would expand events from Rice Park to Landmark Plaza this winter. The plaza will have family events and a huge heated tent on nearby Market Street.
