Remembering previous places the Minnesota Wild hosted practices at, sophomore Ethan Favour said he is excited they chose the St. Louis Park community for this year’s location.

“It’s interesting because they did it last year at Braemar, so it’s cool that they did it this year at St. Louis Park because they just built (the rink) so it’ll be fun,” Favour said.

According to Rec Center manager Jason Eisold, the St. Louis Park Rec Center will host a Minnesota Wild hockey practice Feb. 11 at the Recreation Outdoor Center (ROC).

Eisold said the Minnesota Wild reached out to the Rec Center in search of an outdoor, community venue.

“They just reached out to us, they were looking for a venue to do this. They’ve done it a couple times already previous years at outdoor rinks,” Eishold said.

Junior Greta Long said she believes the practice will be a great way to showcase the recently built ROC.

“I think it’s cool that they’re using the new facility that they built and that people have the chance to go and watch it,” Long said.

According to Eishold, a few sponsors will attend the event to serve drinks and sell Minnesota Wild merchandise.

“Caribou is one of the sponsors for the event, so I believe there is free hot chocolate and coffee while that lasts,” Eishold said. “The Wild will have their warming house for selling apparel and some season tickets and so forth.”

Favour said the practice will increase community awareness of the ROC and hopefully make the outdoor rink more popular.

“More people will hear about it in St. Louis Park that didn’t really know it was there, so more people will use it,” Favour said.

Eishold said the practice will be an exciting event that brings the Park community together while utilizing the ROC.

“It’s just a unique event, hopefully the weather cooperates so we can have it outside, showcasing the ROC’s capability of being that community asset,” Eishold said. “It’s something that all people can enjoy from participating in it as well as coming to events like this to watch professionals.”

According to Eishold, the Minnesota Wild will practice 11 a.m. Feb. 11 at the ROC at the Rec Center.