For four Flyers, Minnesota’s ‘Da Beauty League’ is home for the summer

EDINA, Minn. — When Justin Braun returned to the Flyers ahead of the 2021-22 season, he made sure to let every one of his teammates know that he had won “Da Beauty League” championship.

“They didn’t care,” Braun said with a laugh.

The 35-year-old Braun, who had never won a championship despite more than 20 combined years of high school, college, and professional hockey, didn’t let that get him down. The rest of the Flyers might make fun of the Saint Paul native for being a part of a “beauty” league, but the offseason league with the silly name has become a staple of Minnesota summers, and the players involved take it seriously.

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Based in America’s biggest hockey hotbed, the six-team league draws dozens of NHL, AHL, and college players who are home for the summer, which in turn draws more players to come train in the area. The rosters feature names like Pittsburgh Penguins sniper Jake Guentzel, standout New York Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller and the New York Islanders’ Brock Nelson and Zach Parise. Four Flyers are playing in Da Beauty League this summer, including Braun, James van Riemsdyk, Jackson Cates (currently a restricted free agent), and Noah Cates. Bobby Brink, who is from Minnetonka, Minn., has played in the past, but he is recovering from a hip injury this offseason.

Some players seem to have stacked teams every year, van Riemsdyk joked, saying he’d like to know how the rosters are made. Van Riemsdyk isn’t complaining — his teams have won two championships since the league began in 2015. But no matter their age or level, everyone competes hard to avoid “being embarrassed.”

The league, which is held at Braemar Arena in Edina, Minn., doesn’t just draw elite players. It also draws lots of fans — almost 3,000 per week. For just $15, these fans have a chance to see some of their favorite players up close in an intimate and family-orientated setting.

People have noticed and leagues from other parts of North America are reaching out to see how Da Beauty League went from a “crazy idea” to a production that draws people from far and wide. Last week, San Francisco 49ers star tight end George Kittle, whose chiropractor is based nearby, even stopped by to check it out.

One of Ben Hankinson’s favorite Da Beauty League memories is the very first day, the day it almost all collapsed, back in 2015.

Hankinson, a former NHLer turned player agent with Octagon, and his coworkers reached out to the hockey players they knew to invite them to play in this summer league they had dreamed up in an attempt to get all the “great” hockey players in the area on the ice together. They planned on using it to raise money for charity, and they had brainstormed different names, the weirder the better. Names like the “Minnesota Pro Summer Hockey League” and “Red Light League” were options that were considered before someone threw out “The Beauty League.” They changed “The” to “Da,” and they had their winner.

“And we thought, ‘That’s so stupid, it’s perfect,’” said Hankinson, who currently represents the Cates brothers and Brink.

But when they first reached out to players, the name “beauty,” which in hockey jargon refers to someone who is a character and known for their personality and humor, resulted in some initial confusion. Hankinson claims Parise responded “I don’t want to play in your beautician’s league.” But once they got Parise on board, they were able to convince enough players to give it a try.

Opening day came, and the first game went off without a hitch. But for the later game, they discovered one of the teams hadn’t shown up.

“It was a complete panic,” Hankinson said. “That was a moment I’ll never forget when there was a ton of fans and they’re expecting all of these NHL guys.”

The guys who had stuck around from the earlier games filled in, and Da Beauty League survived. Seven years later, it is still going strong. As stressful as that moment was, Hankinson loves the memory because it reminds him of where they came from and how much the league has grown.

Braun, van Riemsdyk, and the Cates brothers have been around from the start, but the league was light on players for several years. As high school and college students, Jackson and Noah, who are from about 45 minutes away in Stillwater, Minn., benefited because they would get called to fill in.

Eventually, people started figuring out “what it’s all about,” Hankinson said, and the league really took off.

At its base level, Da Beauty League is a chance to skate in a game-like situation in the offseason against elite competition. It’s a four-on-four game with more skill and speed than physicality (the players save the hitting for the season) and the extra time and space provide a great opportunity for players to “tinker,” van Riemsdyk said.

It’s also a chance to play with a new but familiar group of players. Locals like Braun and the Cates brothers get to play with former teammates from every level. Van Riemsdyk is from New Jersey, but his friends from the United States National Team Development Program had him come visit, and he liked it so much he bought a house in Minnetonka where he now spends his summers.

“I guess everyone’s proud of where they’re from, but they’re [his former NTDP teammates] like ‘There’s nothing else better than Minnesota, so wouldn’t you come out here and come visit and check it out?’” van Riemsdyk said. “So that was how they got me out here.”

NHL players innately love to play and train with the best — it’s a big part of what’s led them to success. But Da Beauty League upped the ante by bringing in fans, sponsors, scoreboards, and referees. Once those things are involved, “then they try harder than they want because they’re competitive,” Hankinson said.

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The league also involved the local high school and college players, having them fill in as needed. In an attempt to keep up with the older guys, some of whom are these high schoolers’ role models, the youngsters play hard. The older players, in turn, don’t want to be embarrassed, so they turn up the heat as well. Braun and van Riemsdyk said it’s been a great opportunity to check out young Flyers prospects like the Cates brothers and Brink before they made their NHL debuts.

The competition by itself makes the league meaningful, but the charitable aspect adds another layer. The league supports four charities, including the United Heroes League, which supports military families, Shine A Ligh7 Foundation, which supports youth mental health education and awareness, the Hendrickson Foundation, which supports growing the game among people with disabilities, and the Herb Brooks Foundation, which also helps grow the game in different communities. All of them were founded by locals.

Over the years, Da Beauty League has gained enough popularity that media comes to cover it, clips on social media occasionally go viral, and even general managers call for updates. It’s a “crazy amount of work” that often gets pushed back until the last minute, Hankinson said. It’s taken a small village to run, and that village might need to get bigger.

Van Riemsdyk said, as a participant, he would never know. It seems so smoothly operated, and it’s drawn him back every year, even if it does seem like certain rosters are rigged. His team, Nor-Son, with Braun and Guentzel is off to a 1-1 start, while Tradition, the Cates’ team, is 2-0.

The two teams featuring Flyers players will face off Wednesday, with a chance for locker-room bragging rights on the line ahead of what promises to be an intense season for them under new coach John Tortorella in Philadelphia. From there, both teams will be fighting hard to lift the John Scott Cup, named after the former NHL enforcer, which will be handed out to Da Beauty League champion on Aug. 24.

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