Marina II's dinner menu is gone until spring. Full dinner service at the Pelican Lake restaurant is closed from October 10 to May 1. On Friday nights, though, the dining room serves an Italian buffet, and on Saturday nights it serves Tex-Mex. Both are listed on the resort's Marina II page as "Hockey Dinner Buffets," and they started November 6.
That name tells you how winter works around Ossawinnamakee Lake. Breezy Point's winter weekends follow a youth tournament schedule set a few minutes away at the Breezy Point Hockey Center, 7370 County Road 11. If you live near the lake, that schedule is the most useful winter calendar you have.
Twelve weekends left on County Road 11
Breezy Point Sports posts its full 2026-2027 tournament list. Two weekends are already over: Girls 12U B on November 6 to 8 and Girls 10U B on November 13 to 15. Starting this weekend, the rink has a tournament on almost every weekend through mid-February.
| Weekend | Division at Breezy Point Hockey Center |
|---|---|
| November 20 to 22 | PeeWee C |
| November 27 to 29 | PeeWee B |
| December 4 to 6 | Bantam A |
| December 11 to 13 | Bantam B |
| December 18 to 20 | PeeWee A |
| January 1 to 3 | Squirt A |
| January 8 to 10 | Squirt C |
| January 15 to 17 | Squirt B |
| January 22 to 24 | Squirt C |
| January 29 to 31 | PeeWee A |
| February 5 to 7 | PeeWee B |
| February 12 to 14 | PeeWee C |
The tournament page tells teams to be ready to play at 8 a.m. Friday, so each tournament weekend starts Friday morning. Most of the season's brackets are listed as full with waitlists, and the rest show one spot or a few spots still open.
The only open weekend on that stretch is December 25 to 27. Every other weekend from now until Valentine's Day has teams on the ice.
The resort sells those weekends as a package
The rink and the resort have been run as one operation from the beginning. A 1999 Brainerd Dispatch report described Whitebirch, Inc., the resort's parent company, forming Breezy Point Sports, Inc. to build and manage the arena. The North American Tier III Hockey League later gave 2000 as the year it opened.
The way the two businesses fit together shows in what is sold to visiting teams. Breezy Point Sports' page for tournament families offers nonstop shuttles between the resort and the rink, so coaches and players can leave early while parents take a later ride before puck drop. It also offers private rooms for team parties.
The resort's Hat Trick Winter Package for 2026-27 is aimed at "tournament goers." It includes lodging, a daily breakfast and a $50 resort credit, and families who book Friday and Saturday can add Thursday night.
Marina II's winter hours line up with that package. The breakfast buffet runs Friday 7 to 10 a.m. and Saturday and Sunday 7 to 11 a.m., the same days a tournament family is at the resort. The dinner buffets run Friday and Saturday, the two nights a bracket is in town. The Marina II page has its own booking link for team buffets.
This setup goes back several years. In a 2021 Brainerd Dispatch story on the resort's 100th year, owner Bob Spizzo said hockey helped carry the winter business. He said weddings and hockey filled rooms on weekends and brought Twin Cities visitors who spent money at local businesses.
Which kitchens stay open until spring
The hockey schedule also explains why some resort restaurants stay open in winter and others close until spring. The ones that close are the golf-season rooms. Antlers Kitchen + Wine Bar, at 7891 County Road 11 about a half-mile west of the resort gates, is closed for winter. Palmer's Grille at Deacon's Lodge, 9301 Arnold Palmer Drive, is closed until April.
Here is what remains on the winter list:
- The North Star Roadhouse, 30898 Ranchette Drive. Open Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to midnight. The kitchen closes at 9 p.m. It has the longest weekly hours of any resort kitchen on this list.
- Dockside Lounge, 9252 Breezy Point Drive. Its own page lists Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m., with the kitchen open until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and until 9 p.m. other nights. The menu is pizza, burgers and baskets. The page says guests can arrive by boat, golf cart, snowmobile or car. Days can change, so call 218-562-7170 before a weeknight trip.
- The Coffee House, in the Front Desk Lobby. Serves Caribou Coffee daily, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Pine and Lakes Echo Journal reported in March that it had moved into the resort's new lobby beside a new gift shop.
- The Chocolate Ox, the Pelican Lake location of the candy and ice cream shop owned by Kelsey Bean. The resort's dining page lists it Thursday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Its days match tournament weekends, from the Thursday add-on night through Sunday checkout.
According to the Nisswa Chamber listing, the Chocolate Ox is across the street from the front desk, in the building with Dockside and the indoor pool. On a cold Saturday, the coffee, candy, pizza and pool are all within a short walk of one another.
Marina II also has one big meal outside the hockey schedule. Its Thanksgiving buffet runs Thursday, November 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Prices are $40.95 for adults and $18.95 for ages 5 to 12, and children under 4 eat free. The PeeWee B teams play at 8 the next morning.
The rink on non-tournament days
Local families use the same ice. Northern Lakes Lightning Youth Hockey covers Breezy Point, Pequot Lakes, Crosslake, Pine River and other area towns. It lists the Breezy Point Hockey Center as one of its two home rinks and the John Spalj Arena at the Hallett Center in Crosby as the other. Its practices and home games happen at one or the other.
For people who don't play on a team, the easiest way in is through the Breezy Point Figure Skating Club. The club holds a one-hour Family Skate Night once a month that is open to everyone. It costs $5 per skater, with a $20 cap per family, and rental skates are included while supplies last.
The club's fall Learn to Skate USA session meets Sundays and ends December 13. Snowplow Sam, for ages 3 to 5, skates from 5:30 to 6 p.m., and Basic Skills, for ages 6 and up, follows from 6 to 6:30 p.m. Those Sunday evening slots come after the weekend's tournament games. The club also holds a Holiday Exhibition each December and a spring show, which is usually in April.
Groups that want their own time on the ice, like a family reunion pickup game or an office outing, can rent the rink for $230 an hour. Call Breezy Point Sports at 218-562-5678.
Weekends when the calendars overlap
A few dates this winter have a tournament at the same time as another big local event.
- December 11 to 13. The Bantam B bracket is at the Hockey Center during the same weekend as Pequot Lakes' 15th annual Santa's Bobbin' Into Town on Saturday, December 12, from 4 to 8 p.m. The downtown schedule includes family activities at Trailside Park, a Legion dinner with Santa, the tree lighting at 5:45 p.m., the parade at 6 p.m. and fireworks at 6:20 p.m.
- December 31. Tami + The Bachelor play New Year's Eve at Dockside Lounge, 9 to 11:30 p.m. The Squirt A tournament starts the next day.
- January 8 to 10. The resort's ICE FEST is at Dockside on January 8 and 9 during the Squirt C weekend. That same weekend, the Brainerd Amateur Hockey Association hosts its own Squirt A and Squirt B1 tournaments. Explore Minnesota's listing describes ICE FEST as skiing, fishing, skating, snowmobile speed runs, a bocce tournament, candlelight cross-country skiing and food and drink specials at local bars and restaurants.
For a quieter weekend near the resort, December 25 to 27 is the only one between now and mid-February without a tournament on the Breezy Point schedule.
If you're thinking about what a winter weekend near Breezy Point could look like for your family, or how the seasons affect owning a place on the lake, the Pederson Team would be glad to talk it over. Schedule a Lakeside Consultation whenever it suits you.
