 The first puck has dropped in Bemidji's hockey day weekend is officially underway. Now here's a live look at the scene from our Lakeland PBS tower cam. It's a cold night out there but as you can see there are several fires going and the CK deadly warming house tent has been a popular place to warm up as well. And with bitter cold temperatures in the forecast organizers for the event are doing their part to keep the event outside. Our Josh Peterson is standing by live in the hockey village and shows us how everyone is keeping warm. Josh. Thank you very much Dennis. Whether you bundle up or gather around a warm fire, we as Minnesotans embrace the elements and that's exactly what hockey day organizers are hoping spectators will do come this weekend. The stage is set and the finishing touches are now complete. As hockey day Minnesota begins its three-day celebration in the state of hockey. But while the coldest days of winter are expected to coincide with hockey day, event organizers were prepared to not let mother nature put this event on ice. You know we're ready to go. We've got heated benches for the players. You know we're making some special accommodations so that we can continue to have this outside the way the event was intended. Throughout the week hockey players of all ages have been hitting the ice and testing out the elements. For the coaches preparing their teams, they say the elements add to the excitement in the way hockey used to be played. Well we're going to have heat blown into the boxes which is nice. We're going to have heat blown into the boxes. We're going to spend a couple more minutes intermission. We got the okay from the WCHA so we can get a little warmer in between and then the rest of it is just kind of old-time hockey. Once they get playing the adrenaline, they're going to be warm now. We're a little bit about their feet but you know hopefully the periods don't go too long or get into those warming houses. While the players keep warm, fans will have to be proactive and make sure they are prepared for the elements to prevent frostbite. Prevention of frostbite number one is to keep your body warm. The warmer your core is, the more your body can afford to send blood to your fingertips and your toes. Hockey fans at the site will need to be creative when keeping warm and take advantage of the warming tents, food vendors and the fire pits to fend off the cold. Don't come to the event without being prepared for the cold. You can buy stuff here but come prepared for the cold before you get here so you don't have to worry. But as Minnesotans, we embrace this time of year and honor the traditions of our great outdoors whether it's 72 and sunny or negative 20. Yeah it's going to be a badge of honor for all of us and it's really going to add to the storyline for Hockey Day Minnesota Bemidji. I mean nationally this is going to get a lot more attention because we played in five or ten below weather versus if we played in 35 degrees. Once Bemidji's hockey day is complete it will be one for the history books noting not only the weather but how we all braved the cold outdoors. All right so we're sitting currently standing right outside the entrance to the Hockey Day Village and we're currently sitting at about nine below zero so cold that my thermometer here is beginning to frost over but they do recommend to come out here prepared bundle up where ear muffs, gloves, scarves and just bundle up with many layers and be prepared for a fun hockey filled weekend. Dennis back to you. All right thanks Josh for that live report makes a lot of sense. Hockey Day activities will run until midnight tonight coming up in sports or AJ Feldman will be live back at Hockey Day's site with highlights of today's or tonight's game I should say Bemidji Girls Hockey Game. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.