The annual celebration of hockey in Minnesota takes place tomorrow as the Minnesota Wild and Fox Sports North present a COVID-19 modified 'Hockey Day Minnesota.'

The 2021 edition of the annual celebration was originally scheduled to take place in Mankato, but that has changed thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. in 2021 Minneapolis hosted Hockey Day Minnesota. It was Saint Cloud's turn in 2018. The first Hockey Day Minnesota was held up in Baudette in 2007. Mankato is scheduled to get its turn back in 2022.

Tomorrow's 2021 edition of Hockey Day Minnesota will be a television-only event on Fox Sports North, with more than ten hours of hockey programming -- highlighted by the Minnesota Wild's game against the Los Angeles Kings at 7 PM live from an empty Xcel Energy Center.

2021 Hockey Day MN Schedule

TIME	PROGRAM
1 p.m.	Hockey Day Minnesota – Live
1:15 p.m.	HDM Classic: St. Paul Johnson at Lake of the Woods (2007; boys hockey)
2:45 p.m.	Hockey Day Minnesota – Live
3 p.m.	HDM Classic: UMD at St. Cloud State (2018; NCAA women’s hockey)
4:30 p.m.	Hockey Day Minnesota – Live
6:30 p.m.	Wild Live
7 p.m.	L.A. Kings at Minnesota Wild
9:30 p.m.	Wild Live
10 p.m.	Debut: Wild 20th anniversary documentary

In non-pandemic years, Hockey Day Minnesota has grown into a multi-day event -- featuring outdoor high school and college games. In 2018, my nephew and I took in all of the Saint Cloud festivities, which took place at Lake George -- just a couple of blocks from my house. We had a blast!

The Minnesota Wild have chalked up four victories in a row, scoring a whopping seventeen goals in their last three games. Tomorrow night they'll be looking to make it five in a row.

Unless you're a regular cable subscriber in Minnesota you won't be able to watch any of it, as Fox Sports North's parent company has been in pricing disputes with satellite providers like DirecTV and Dish Network, as well as streaming platforms like Hulu and Sling for some time now.