Discover the Minnesota Small Town That Looks Like a Hallmark Movie Setting

First, I must admit that I haven't seen many Hallmark movies. Still, from what I understand, these films tend to follow a similar story arc: one disillusioned character travels to a new town—or, in some cases, to the place where they grew up—meets someone, and finally realizes that they've found the place where they truly belong. Sometimes, it's Christmas. After considering towns in the Land of 10,000 Lakes that I think would make an excellent setting for a Hallmark movie, I've decided that the Iron Range town of Eveleth, Minnesota, fills the bill. Eveleth?, you may wonder. That's right: Eveleth. Hear me out.

Here's the plot: A woman who grew up in the hardscrabble mining town left to seek her fortune in the Cities. Years have passed, and now she's a professional—marketing, a lawyer, a consultant, whatever (but nothing too specific like a medical doctor)—with all the trappings of success. Of course, however, something is missing from her life.

Just before Thanksgiving, she breaks up with her latest, nameless, faceless, suit-of-a-boyfriend, and her father, a stoic-but-kind foreman, is injured on the job. So, our heroine decides to take some time off and spend the whole holiday season helping out around her parents' home in the charming, old-fashioned town of Eveleth, Minnesota.

Our hero, on the other hand, only ever wanted to play hockey. Still, he never left—even though his dream since childhood was to see his name and picture someday displayed in the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, located, of course, right here in Eveleth. Despite a stellar high school career and looks from colleges and even some pro scouts, he stayed in town.

He stayed to help out his mother, who had raised him and his three brothers all on her own since their father had died in a tragic ice fishing accident. So, every day, he takes online classes from the college in nearby Virginia and punches a clock at the Thunderbird Mine (I know it's United Taconite these days, but "Thunderbird" is sexier), where he's still working when our heroine returns to town. He's also picked up the stick again and still has the skillset and dazzling flow to make it as a grizzled veteran starter on the Tier III Minnesota Wilderness, whose home ice is the Eveleth Hippodrome. (He's way too old for junior hockey, but the coach bent the rules for his old pal—and hey, it's a movie; we need to suspend our disbelief).

Our hero and heroine finally meet one day when, needing a break from caring for her father and making small talk with her mother, she wanders into Margie's Roosevelt Bar, a longtime Eveleth institution. He's there with some work buddies and immediately recognizes her from high school; she doesn't notice him at all and just wants to be left alone. He buys her a drink and tries to start a conversation. She doesn't recognize him, and after several awkward minutes, leaves. It's not until she's sitting at a Wilderness game with her dad, and our hero catches her eye from the ice and flashes her a smile, that she really notices him. After the game, they take a walk through downtown Eveleth.

Meanwhile, our heroine has reluctantly agreed to help some locals with a little marketing for their shops (or legal troubles, business plans, whatever), and our hero is offered a job as a paraprofessional and assistant hockey coach at the local high school, which he accepts. Then, of course, comes the montage of our hero and heroine spending time together: ice skating, skiing at Giant's Ridge, having a snowball fight in Biwabik, Christmas shopping and visiting Bentleyville in Duluth... and so on. Our heroine realizes she's falling for the guy, but she doesn't want to be trapped in the small town—and he doesn't want to leave. Eventually, though, she realizes Eveleth—yes, Eveleth—is exactly where she needs to be.

The two get married, her business (whatever it is) thrives, and he eventually becomes the head coach of both the high school and the Tier III Wildnerness teams. Our hero leads them both to multiple championships and becomes the winningest coach in the history of each of the respective programs, as our heroine and their perfect, hockey-playing children cheer them on.

Flash forward, as the end credits roll, to a ceremony at the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, where our hero is being inducted. He chokes back tears as he thanks his wife and family, who are in the audience, crying tears of joy, themselves. Fade to black, and the Minnesota Wild anthem, "State of Hockey," plays over the remaining credits. The end.

Only in Eveleth, Minnesota, could our hero grow up in the shadows of both an iron ore mine and the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, and could our heroine grow up so bright and tough. So this Hallmark movie could only be set here, in this charming town on the Iron Range. What do you think? Would you watch it?

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