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I know it's a long shot, but anyone else going to Grand Forks? I will be there this weekend with 3 other WMU students. Anyone else going to the games?

That's awesome. Have a great time. Sports road trips are the best.

Take some time to walk around Englestad Arena. Quite an impressive place. Will be interested to hear your impressions.


Man, Friday evening is going to be tough. Have to watch the hoops team, but I'll have the CHN scoreboard up to keep track of the hockey game.

Not this time, but it'll happen eventually. Especially now that we're in the NCHC.

I've gotta see Englestad in person...

Well, that is one impressive arena physically. One thing I was really shocked about was the (lack of) atmosphere during games. It really felt like you were at some run-of-the-mill NHL game. The student section maybe did 2 cheers and the majority of the people around us were talking about things unrelated to the game. To be honest I was disappointed in the environment of the arena. That being said, it is an absolutely gorgeous building and their production is second to none. There are fireworks inside the building when UND scores, lights and lasers when the team comes out on the ice, ice cheerleaders, the whole works. The building is covered in granite and marble. Even the visiting locker room was impressive for a visitor's room.

One of the most interesting things was that everyone in Grand Forks knew exactly who we were and why we were in Grand Forks. UND hockey is life out there.

I'd like to give a special thanks to Kory Lee and the hockey team for everything. Kory was able to get us a tour of the arena. Andy Murray went out of his way to gather the hockey team to take a picture with us and personally thank us for coming all the way from Kalamazoo. Kory even interviewed me on air about us making the trip (If any of you were listening, it was between the 2nd and 3rd period).

Anyway, on to some pictures:

Target center, where the NCHC Frozen Faceoff will be in 2 weeks


Friday night well before puck drop. First impression




Saturday morning skate:






Us with the team:


Ice level:






NCHC banners:


Gold Suix logo at the entrance to every row:


Souix Country it was




North Dakota takes the ice






Souix logo in the marble floor


They even have a band that plays


Absolutely beautiful concourse:


One of two ornate bars that sit on each end of the arena


Professional production cameras sit all over the arena


Outside is just as impressive:






Game 2:


BRONCOS WIN!


Album: http://imgur.com/a/9IzKq

After we won, a girl in front of us started crying (because they lost the Penrose), turned to us and said "I hope you all drop dead"..... Yeah.... It's apparently that serious there.

Pictures can't really do it justice, let alone the fact that I wasn't able to capture everything. Definitely worth the trip to see a Bronco win in this great facility, just wish it had the atmosphere to match. I wouldn't trade Lawson and it's atmosphere for this magnificent building, but it was fun to visit.

Bonus trivia: On our drive home we found out that Ralph Engelstad (the man who built the arena) was a Nazi supporter... Kinda creepy:

Quote:Engelstad was a controversial figure. He raised accusations of being sympathetic to Nazism owing to his collection of Nazi memorabilia stored in a private room within the casino-hotel, including a painting of himself dressed in a Nazi uniform (captioned "To Adolf from Ralphie"), a painting of Hitler with the reverse caption, and a collection of antique cars alleged to have once belonged to German Nazi leaders.

Hitler birthday party

On April 20 in 1986 and 1988, he hosted parties to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday[1] at his casino in Las Vegas that featured bartenders in T-shirts reading "Adolf Hitler — European tour 1939-45". Because of this, in 1989, the Nevada Gaming Commission fined Engelstad $1.5 million "for actions that damaged the reputation and image of Nevada's gaming industry." Engelstad apologized publicly for the parties, but the row was not to be his last controversial move.[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Engelstad

(03-12-2014 12:46 AM)WMU_Flyboy Wrote:  Well, that is one impressive arena physically. One thing I was really shocked about was the (lack of) atmosphere during games. It really felt like you were at some run-of-the-mill NHL game. The student section maybe did 2 cheers and the majority of the people around us were talking about things unrelated to the game. To be honest I was disappointed in the environment of the arena. That being said, it is an absolutely gorgeous building and their production is second to none. There are fireworks inside the building when UND scores, lights and lasers when the team comes out on the ice, ice cheerleaders, the whole works. The building is covered in granite and marble. Even the visiting locker room was impressive for a visitor's room.

One of the most interesting things was that everyone in Grand Forks knew exactly who we were and why we were in Grand Forks. UND hockey is life out there.

I'd like to give a special thanks to Kory Lee and the hockey team for everything. Kory was able to get us a tour of the arena. Andy Murray went out of his way to gather the hockey team to take a picture with us and personally thank us for coming all the way from Kalamazoo. Kory even interviewed me on air about us making the trip (If any of you were listening, it was between the 2nd and 3rd period).

Top-notch trip report. Seriously, well done!

...and I've said it before and I'll say it again - Andy F'ing Murray.

huh, i thought they had to remove the sioux logo from everything?

(03-12-2014 10:15 AM)SilentStryk09 Wrote:  huh, i thought they had to remove the sioux logo from everything?

They only had to drop the name. The logo is the school's intellectual property, not the tribe's.

(03-12-2014 11:09 AM)moe24 Wrote:  

(03-12-2014 10:15 AM)SilentStryk09 Wrote:  huh, i thought they had to remove the sioux logo from everything?

They only had to drop the name. The logo is the school's intellectual property, not the tribe's.

I think the University only had to take the Sioux name off the jerseys and stop using the name in university events and promotions

The rink is private owned and University only rents ice time there