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Target Center Upgrades


MafiaMan

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6 hours ago, UNDBIZ said:

Not during tourney time, at least in my experience. During the real Final Five days, it seemed you couldn't get a downtown St Paul hotel for under $300 per night. Hotels in downtown Minneapolis are plentiful enough the tourney doesn't make a huge difference in rates. 

100% agree. Minneapolis has more hotel options therefore you can usually find decent rates. I paid under $100 a night the past two years in Minneapolis. In St. Paul, you were almost certainly paying $200/night but I would make that trade any day for the tourney to be back at the X. Huge difference between Minneapolis and St. Paul. St. Paul is a hockey town and Minneapolis simply is not.

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7 hours ago, UNDBIZ said:

Not during tourney time, at least in my experience. During the real Final Five days, it seemed you couldn't get a downtown St Paul hotel for under $300 per night. Hotels in downtown Minneapolis are plentiful enough the tourney doesn't make a huge difference in rates. 

That's crazy, we always stayed in the 3m district, $150 a night. Bar connected, newer motel, very clean and the rooms were very quiet.

 

I miss that yearly trip, bringing it back to the X would be awesome! 

Oh, it was a $20 cab ride to the X including the tip, or a free shuttle ride from the Holiday inn, but only on their schedule. Hard to beat that...

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15 hours ago, siouxforeverbaby said:

I am intrigued at the reasoning behind your thoughts.  TC doesn't really have that much easier access anymore.  Driving in downtown MPLS is always a zoo, the light rail has two stops within a half mile of the X now, parking is by far easier in St. Paul.  The X has more sports bars (IMHO), the science museum and capital are right there as is the History Center and the Children's Museum. The Ordway is right there and all of that is without crossing the river.

Not to mention, hotels in St. Paul tend to be cheaper than in Mpls.

 

The light rail stops right at Target Center, not a 1/2 mile away like St Paul.   It's more convenient.  Also, where would you ride the light rail to St Paul from?   Minneapolis?   It's a 50 minute ride from Downtown Minneapolis and like 70-80 minutes from MOA.   Minneapolis wins there.

Parking is not easier in St Paul.   There are far more ramps in Minneapolis, including a much larger one hooked onto the arena than Xcel has.  This is a wash.  

The X may have a couple more sports bars near by, but Minneapolis has far more bars overall around the arena with more food options and variety.

St Paul does have the museums right there I'll give you that.   But bringing up theater's when comparing Minneapolis to St Paul is a bad idea.   Minneapolis is renowned for their historic theaters.   Minneapolis has far more to do overall than St Paul.   That's just a fact.

 

There are some great reasons to move it back to St Paul, and I want them to, but the reason you listed just aren't true or all that important.

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43 minutes ago, focker said:

 

The light rail stops right at Target Center, not a 1/2 mile away like St Paul.   It's more convenient.  Also, where would you ride the light rail to St Paul from?   Minneapolis?   It's a 50 minute ride from Downtown Minneapolis and like 70-80 minutes from MOA.   Minneapolis wins there.

Parking is not easier in St Paul.   There are far more ramps in Minneapolis, including a much larger one hooked onto the arena than Xcel has.  This is a wash.  

The X may have a couple more sports bars near by, but Minneapolis has far more bars overall around the arena with more food options and variety.

St Paul does have the museums right there I'll give you that.   But bringing up theater's when comparing Minneapolis to St Paul is a bad idea.   Minneapolis is renowned for their historic theaters.   Minneapolis has far more to do overall than St Paul.   That's just a fact.

 

There are some great reasons to move it back to St Paul, and I want them to, but the reason you listed just aren't true or all that important.

I realize that people make a weekend out of these tournaments and want options of things to do when they are not at the games.  But remember the reason you are coming down to the Cities.  It's to watch a conference hockey championship tournament.  While the other things you do are fun and exciting and add to the overall experience of your trip, the hockey is why you are down there in the first place.  Everything associated with the hockey tournament (atomoshphere, ice conditions, concessions, etc) is what I want to be top notch.  

I think the majority of people who have been to the Frozen Faceoff the past couple years would say that they would trade in all the perks of being in downtown Minneapolis (hotel availability, more restaurants/bars, light rail, etc) to be able to play back at the X. 

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Anybody remember the atmosphere at the final five when there were only 8,000 people at a game? I honestly don't know outside of a Thursday night game. 

 

Does the fact UND has never won on Friday have any impact on people's perceptions of the target center? 

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4 hours ago, I Ranger said:

100% agree. Minneapolis has more hotel options therefore you can usually find decent rates. I paid under $100 a night the past two years in Minneapolis. In St. Paul, you were almost certainly paying $200/night but I would make that trade any day for the tourney to be back at the X. Huge difference between Minneapolis and St. Paul. St. Paul is a hockey town and Minneapolis simply is not.

Agreed. St Paul is worth the extra $$ to me. Just pointing out hotel cost isn't a valid critique of Minny. 

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17 hours ago, UNDBIZ said:

Not during tourney time, at least in my experience. During the real Final Five days, it seemed you couldn't get a downtown St Paul hotel for under $300 per night. Hotels in downtown Minneapolis are plentiful enough the tourney doesn't make a huge difference in rates. 

 

11 hours ago, I Ranger said:

100% agree. Minneapolis has more hotel options therefore you can usually find decent rates. I paid under $100 a night the past two years in Minneapolis. In St. Paul, you were almost certainly paying $200/night but I would make that trade any day for the tourney to be back at the X. Huge difference between Minneapolis and St. Paul. St. Paul is a hockey town and Minneapolis simply is not.

I guess I have always had to pay more in Mpls than in St. Paul.  So, I have never had that problem.

8 hours ago, focker said:

 

The light rail stops right at Target Center, not a 1/2 mile away like St Paul.   It's more convenient.  Also, where would you ride the light rail to St Paul from?   Minneapolis?   It's a 50 minute ride from Downtown Minneapolis and like 70-80 minutes from MOA.   Minneapolis wins there.

Parking is not easier in St Paul.   There are far more ramps in Minneapolis, including a much larger one hooked onto the arena than Xcel has.  This is a wash.  

The X may have a couple more sports bars near by, but Minneapolis has far more bars overall around the arena with more food options and variety.

St Paul does have the museums right there I'll give you that.   But bringing up theater's when comparing Minneapolis to St Paul is a bad idea.   Minneapolis is renowned for their historic theaters.   Minneapolis has far more to do overall than St Paul.   That's just a fact.

 

There are some great reasons to move it back to St Paul, and I want them to, but the reason you listed just aren't true or all that important.

I was pointing out that the light rail is an option now, unlike before.  Yes, 50 minutes is a long time.  However, would you rather sit for 50 minutes in traffic not going anywhere or on the light rail getting somewhere?  My point was that there were options to get into St. Paul, now.

I have by far always had an easier time parking in St. Paul than in Minneapolis. Traffic seems to make it harder to get into the ramps in Minneapolis at least for me.

I said with the bars that it was my opinion.

I absolutely was not comparing theaters in Minneapolis vs St, Paul.  I stated that there is a theater in St. Paul (thereby is an option of something to do) and THAT is a fact.  The point was that you can't say that there is nothing to do in St. Paul...there is stuff to do.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions and I stand by my reasons/opinions.

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4 hours ago, MafiaMan said:

 

LOL!  And we finally get some REAL insight as to the reason gfhooker likes Minneapolis better.  

Bet he can't wait for Las Vegas.  Pealers to prostitutes (p to p protocol). Funny how many places he goes for hockey games that he fails to attend. 

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On Friday, July 29, 2016 at 11:59 AM, gfhockey said:

The clubs in dt minny are better

 

14 hours ago, MafiaMan said:

 

LOL!  And we finally get some REAL insight as to the reason gfhooker likes Minneapolis better.  

For once.......He's not wrong, so to say.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Target Center:  "Uhhh...NCHC, we have made some improvements to our facility!"

NCHC:  "REALLY?  This should help our fan experience."

Target Center:  "Yes indeed!  We gave the rims a fresh coat of orange paint and installed new shot clocks."  

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1 hour ago, SiouxHawkGuy said:

What they need to do is schedule an outdoor game between UND and the Gophers at the new CHS Feild in downtown St. Paul! :) 

A slick marketing campaign for that would be to announce the game-time as 6:37 pm...but actually start it at 7:07 pm.  That way, we can make sure Minnesota fans get there on time for the opening face-off.  :D

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I understand the NCHC wanted to differentiate itself from the WCHA and Big Ten by having the conference tourney at the Target Center and it sounds like Fenton is negotiating a new contract with the TC to continue to have the tourney there. I'm sorry but it worked for the time it needed to but if the X is available (which it is) the NCHC would be crazy not to jump all over it. As I've said before, St. Paul is a hockey town and Minneapolis is not. The Target Center can do all the renovations it wants but it will never be half the arena the X is. Not to mention the quality of the playing surface makes the games difficult to watch. The costs for tickets and hotels would most certainly go up but sign me up for that. I have to think that moving to the X would generate larger crowds as well. NCHC make it happen!

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I have attended every WCHA and now NCHC Final 5 since 2000 I believe. This year it is going to be a coin flip as to whether I attend or not. Most of the group I usually go with have all expressed a less than overwhelming desire to attend another hockey game at the Target Center.

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