Hornet Home Makeover

EDINA, Minn—Braemar Arena began its west rink renovations as the rink staff assisted the contractors in removal of the green and yellow boards that had been there for nearly 20 years. The arena is going through its first real renovation and will see its first new floor in over 45 years.

“A lot of this happened because of our old manager Larry Thayer,” said Doug Bauman. “It needed to be done. This floor is the oldest floor in Minnesota, it was put in in 1965. We thought we needed to be a little pro-active.”

In addition to hosting the Edina high school hockey teams, Braemar houses youth teams from Edina as well as figure skating and other events throughout the year. Hockey is the big draw however, as the west rink has one of the best vibes in high school hockey. The boards came from the old Met Center and have been at Braemar since 1992.

“Someone told me, they were put into the Met in 1986, and they came here in 1992,” said Bauman. “Curt Giles was just in the other day before we were taking them out and he kind of had a sentimental moment. He probably spent more time in between those boards than anybody else.”

In addition to his coaching at Edina, Giles was drafted by the Minnesota North Stars in 1978 and had two tours with the team (1979-1986 and 1987-1991).

In addition to a new surface and boards, the rink will see one of the unique features come down as well.

“That was one thing we struggled with a bit, taking that old organ room down. Some people don’t know, but during open skating and high school games along time ago, there used to be an organ up in that room,” said Bauman. “We’ve had a lot of people a little disappointed that that’s coming down, but we feel its time.”

The rink re-opening is planned for November 2. Just in time for the beginning of the new hockey season.