HASTINGS - Ivan Schmitz had a goal and an assist as East Ridge scored three unanswered goals in the first period en route to a 3-1 Hockey Day Minnesota triumph over Hastings played outdoors in temperatures hovering around zero Saturday at the Scheels Rink at United Heroes League.

“It was cold out there, but it didn’t really affect us,” Schmitz said. “As a team, we just embraced it.”

With ample heat pumping through both benches, there was no danger of frozen water bottles - or fingers and toes.

“The bench was super warm,” Schmitz said. “We had to take off a couple of layers after warmups.”

“I shed a layer, and didn’t even wear gloves,” added East Ridge coach Dustin Vogelgesang. “Everything was done first class.”

Carter Hanson opened the scoring 2:35 into the regionally televised afternoon matchup, putting Hastings (9-8-1) ahead 1-0.

Luke Moris tied it at 1-1 just more than 3 minutes later, and East Ridge (9-9-0) took control with two goals late in the the opening period. Wrex Walz scored to put the Raptors up 2-1 and Schmitz’s goal made it 3-1 with 41 seconds left in the first.

Over the years, Schmitz had played out a scenario many, many times in his mind where he scored a Hockey Day goal.

“Sure, every kid playing in Hockey Day has dreamed of scoring a goal in it,” he said.

Both teams’ offenses went cold in the final two periods, when no goals were scored. Both coaches executed pre-planned switching of their goaltenders at about the midway mark of the second period. Drake Limpert and Elias Tomaska combined to stop 11 of 12 shots for East Ridge. Charlie Stoffel and Nicholas Smelser made a combined 40 stops for Hastings.

Saturday’s matchups (St. Thomas Academy played Rock Ridge later in the day) were the culmination of a week of games played at the sprawling outdoor venue. 

“It’s a driveway builder for us,” Hastings coach Matt Klein said about the Hockey Day event. “The more hockey sticks you have in the driveways in Hastings, the better the program you’ll have.

“And to be part of an outdoor game like that, honestly, there is nothing like it,” Klein said, adding with a laugh he might have dialed up the temperature a notch or two. Still, he was impressed with the magnitude of the event.

“Something like that might not ever happen here in Hastings again. It was pretty dang cool.”