Photos: In Duluth, youth league hockey is an outdoor-only sport

Waiting out a break in the action
Wyatt Zappa, a mite two for the Portman Hockey Club, waits around during a break in action last Friday during the Glen Avon jamboree. Mites are 8-and-under players.
Derek Montgomery for MPR News

Duluth is home to one of North America's last all-outdoor youth hockey leagues.

The city has seven independent youth hockey organizations that play at their own volunteer-run neighborhood rinks. One big advantage is that outdoor hockey — when parents maintain the rinks and the city pays for water and lights — is largely free.

The disadvantage is that when it gets too cold, too warm or too snowy, the rinks shut down.

Otherwise, it's hockey time.

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