The story of one of northern Minnesota's oldest high school hockey rivalries is headed to the big screen in September.
Hockeyland, produced by Midwest-based film team Northland Films, follows Hermantown and Eveleth-Gilbert during the 2019-2020 season. The season for Eveleth-Gilbert came at a time where the school learned it would consolidate with nearby Virginia High School to form Rock Ridge Public Schools.
"Once we heard that the Eveleth-Gilbert Golden Bears was going to merge with their neighboring rival school, Virginia, and that was going to happen the next year after we got done filming, we knew we had to film it now," said Hockeyland director and producer, Tommy Haines, who grew up playing hockey in the Iron Range. "This is a very storied program that goes back to the 1940s with John Mayasich and John Mariucci."
The story follows four high school seniors playing their way through the 2019-2020 season.
Some of the inspiration for Hockeyland came from Northland Films' 2008 film, Pond Hockey.
"We met a man by the name of Neal Brotten who played with the North Stars, won a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils, and won a gold medal with the Miracle on Ice team," he said. "When we interviewed him, he would talk about his time in Roseau and playing for the Roseau Rams and losing the state tournament to Edina. He talked about how much that impacted him. That experience, chapter in his life, losing that last game, and then driving that long path back to Roseau with those kids he'd played with since he was four or five."
Capturing that season-long experience was Haines' goal.
"What is the season like? What are some of the successes and some of the challenges these boys are going to go through? All the way up until that last game," added Haines. "Every documentary changes, it's organic as you go, and there are unforeseen things that happen along the way. This was the same thing. We always just tried to stick with our four boys that we were following, but we were very careful with how we portrayed them. They're teenage boys and are going to make mistakes."
The documentary was subject to some extremely fortunate timing. The last day of filming was March 8, 2020 just days before shutdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic rocked Minnesota.
"We were very lucky to get the whole shoot in. We had to get a few B-roll and secondary shoots the following year, but could just basically hunker down and edit the film in my house the following year."
Greenwitch Entertainment acquired North American distribution rights for Hockeyland, which will debut in more than 50 theaters across Minnesota and more than 100 theaters nationwide starting September 9.
"Just like the Friday Night Lights culture in Texas where you have towns come out and support their local football team, that's something that's super special in Minnesota. This is one of the few states left where you have this old-school, community based model where tax dollars go into build these arenas for these kids," Haines said. "Locals and family members volunteer at the concessions stands and flood the rinks for these kids. That is something we wanted to show with the film, too. Just how much community involvement goes on with Minnesota hockey."