It's shaping up to be a busy week for restaurants, bars, and other businesses in St. Paul as they prepare for the Minnesota State Boys High School Hockey Tournament
The tournament, creating an economic boom for businesses around Grand Casino Arena.
It's also considered one of the most prestigious tournaments in the country.
Pat Boemer is the owner of Patrick McGoverns Pub.
“ You talk to some of the vendors that come here, because they travel round the country at all these state tournaments and you ask them how does this Minnesota tournament compare to those others ,” says Boemer, “ and they say there isn’t even a comparison.”
Boemer didn't put a number on how much his business will benefit, but he did say they usually draw around 250 people on a typical Thursday. Tomorrow, they'll welcome between 15-hundred to two-thousand patrons.
Tim Mahoney owner of Zamboni's on 7th also weighed in on the impact.
“The whole month of March, the economic impact for the whole area is tremendous,” says Mahoney, “ It’s probably you know, out of twelve months, this is the one event that carries us for four or five months.”
As for he busiest day of the week? Business owners say Thursday, by far.
The tournament is expected to draw more than 120,000 fans to downtown Saint Paul this week, providing a critical mid-winter boost to local businesses.
Visit Saint Paul and the Downtown Alliance anticipate the surge in visitors will contribute to a monthly economic impact in the tens of millions of dollars, with local hospitality revenue often doubling that of slower months.
Area hotels are reporting a “near-capacity occupancy” through Saturday as families and fans from across the state descend on the area for the four-day event.
