Bismarck is not a big hockey town. If it was they would of had another sheet of ice or 2 years ago because they have needed it. Sounds like they are finally getting one added to the Shaumberg Arena. Still baffles me how a town with 5 high schools only has 1 girls team and 2 boys teams.
My team loved to play on the big ice. Now the last 2 years I coached Jamestown we had 11 skaters on the team. You would think the bigger ice would be a negative for our team because of our short bench. For some reason it was the opposite. Team got stronger as the games went on and managed a 5th and 4th place finish my last 2 years. The atmosphere in there is pretty amazing when it's full as it gets loud and the team fed off that.
I didn't care about girls HS hockey either until I coached it for 6 years. Now that I'm done I have an appreciation for the work they put into it. With that said I'd much rather watch the boys.
Minot is in the process of building a new arena attached to their MAYSA rinks that will seat 2500 fans. I'm sure they will be looking to get it down the road.
And that is why the state tourney needs to go to Fargo and stay there. With the extra rink attached to Scheels it will be the perfect venue without having to cater to someone else.