Wakota Arena in South St. Paul could soon be renamed to “Doug Woog Arena,” the Pioneer Press reports.
Woog, who played for the Gophers for four years and led them to six Frozen Fours in 14 years as their coach, starred on the ice as a player for the South St. Paul Packers. He still lives within a mile of the arena, which was built the year after he graduated high school.
According to FOX 9, a man named Harry Rund started a Facebook petition to change the arena’s name in Woog’s honor. Nearly 1,200 people supported the idea and it picked up steam when local businessman, Dale Schenian, offered to pay approximately $31,000 to change the arena’s signage, the Pioneer Press says.
“Who know what’s going to happen, but it’s certainly a neat thing for me and my family that they’re considering us,” Woog told FOX 9.
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South St. Paul Mayor Beth Baumann told the Pioneer Press that naming the arena after Woog is a “no brainer.”
Woog has said in the past that some of his fondest memories are of coaching junior players at Wakota Arena.
“There have been so many good things that have happened to me,” Woog said, via the Gophers website. “We developed some pretty good players at South St. Paul. I look back at the days in junior hockey and it’s neat to see how many of those kids are running corporations. I think some of the best accomplishments I made were during those junior years. We had kids out of high school who came and played for a year or two and then earned a college scholarship.”
Wakota Arena was built in 1962 for $550,000, the arena’s official website says. It was one of the first fully enclosed hockey venues in state history.
