Editor’s note: With the Minnesota high school girls hockey state tournament entering year No. 25 next Wednesday, the Pioneer Press decided to commemorate the anniversary with a list of the 25 greatest players to play Minnesota girls high school hockey. Each of the top five players will be featured in daily stories over five days leading up to Wednesday’s state tournament openers, starting Friday, Feb. 15.
In northern Minnesota, mere minutes from the Canadian border, sits a tiny town with a rich hockey tradition.
Despite a population of fewer than 1,800 residents, Warroad has produced seven Olympians and several NHL players, earning the nickname “Hockeytown, USA.” This is the environment in which Gigi Marvin, one of the best to ever play Minnesota high school hockey in the state, grew up.
“When you’re young, we make a joke that the best babysitter in Warroad is the arena,” Marvin said.
Marvin was born into a hockey family in a hockey town. That, combined with exceptional skill, has produced the three-time Olympian and former Gophers star who now plays in the National Women’s Hockey League as a member of the Boston Pride.
“It was such a unique area, where you could skate as much as you want,” Marvin said. “On Saturdays, we would skate for seven hours — literally be at the arena skating for seven hours, and it was so fun. We loved it. I loved when I was a kid.”
Marvin finished with 425 points in five seasons of high school hockey at Warroad High School. In 2005, she was named Ms. Hockey, capping her prolific prep career.
“You could put her anywhere and you could leave her on the ice and just have her change when she absolutely needed it,” Warroad assistant coach Derrick Comstock said. “When we were short numbers or anything like that, we just counted on her, and you knew if she was on your lineup that you were going to be in every game. She was just that dominant.”
Marvin was a leader for the Warriors, and not just because she was the best player in the locker room. Early on, it was more by example, but as her high school career wore on, she became more vocal, Comstock said.
“Her hockey accolades and her skill and her skating and her mind for the game I think a lot of people are aware of,” he said. “But her being a great teammate and good in the dressing room and a smile on (her) face and positive attitude, I mean, there’s players that are close to her caliber but I don’t know that they bring all of that, too.”
The buzz about Marvin radiated all the way down the state. Gophers coach Brad Frost remembers hearing the chatter about a kid in Warroad who was pretty special. Eventually, he went up to check it out for himself.
“I remember going up there and watching her play: just a ton of skill, a taller player who was able to use her size to her advantage,” Frost said. “Really passionate about the game of hockey and somebody that has made the town of Warroad extremely proud.”
Marvin was twice a Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award finalist while at Minnesota, and co-captained the Gophers during her senior season. After college, she won silver medals in the 2010 and 2014 Olympics before finally capturing gold with Team USA last year.
“I would never have understood or thought that the game of hockey could bring me to Switzerland or Korea, Vancouver, Russia,” Marvin said. “To be able to compete at the highest level and to travel around the world and just meet remarkable people, that’s pretty special and incredibly unique to see where the game of hockey has taken me.”
Now, it frequently takes her back to Warroad, where Marvin has run a camp every July for the past 12 years.
Marvin spoke to the girls’ hockey team at her high school this year and has become “a role model for every girl in town,” Comstock said, including his own sixth-grade daughter, providing more than just hockey advice for the next generation of Warriors.
“I really enjoy … being able to, obviously, do as much as I can to help someone in the game of hockey,” Marvin said. “But I want them to realize how great of a human they are and just how much value and worth they have and I hope that anything I can share with them can help them become just a greater version of themselves.”
