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Ford Field was for the most part a failure.

I sure hope so at a 65,000 fan capacity. Alerus is a 1/3 of that. They used to have ice in the Civic Center in Bismarck. Hell the lowly Bismarck Bobcats played there and still found a way to turn a profit.

Granted both the Ralph and Alerus (almost double) are bigger than the Civic Center, I think if they can fill the Ralph they could find a way to utilize the Alerus for a regional and keep it around 12,000 - 15,000 capacity wise.

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I sure hope so at a 65,000 fan capacity. Alerus is a 1/3 of that. They used to have ice in the Civic Center in Bismarck. Hell the lowly Bismarck Bobcats played there and still found a way to turn a profit.

Granted both the Ralph and Alerus (almost double) are bigger than the Civic Center, I think if they can fill the Ralph they could find a way to utilize the Alerus for a regional and keep it around 12,000 - 15,000 capacity wise.

 

They were going to put the ice in the middle of Ford Field but decided to change it to one of the end zones.

 

Bismarck Bobcats didn't seem to want to be in the Civic Center and wanted to move to the VFW. The Bobcats move to the VFW rushed the second rink addition. If I remember right the seating along the boards at the Civic Center were above the glass.

 

It sounds like Bismarck was going to build a 14,000 seat arena north along US 83 (not sure if they intended to have hockey there), but is now not happening because of the Civic Center Exhibition Hall expansion.   

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They were going to put the ice in the middle of Ford Field but decided to change it to one of the end zones.

 

Bismarck Bobcats didn't seem to want to be in the Civic Center and wanted to move to the VFW. The Bobcats move to the VFW rushed the second rink addition. If I remember right the seating along the boards at the Civic Center were above the glass.

 

It sounds like Bismarck was going to build a 14,000 seat arena north along US 83 (not sure if they intended to have hockey there), but is now not happening because of the Civic Center Exhibition Hall expansion.   

Bismarck needs another sheet of ice badly. Hard to believe they only have 3 sheets and Mandan only has one. Talks are to add one onto the Schaumberg Arena but that's all it is, talk.

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Bismarck needs another sheet of ice badly. Hard to believe they only have 3 sheets and Mandan only has one. Talks are to add one onto the Schaumberg Arena but that's all it is, talk.

 

The second rink at All Seasons Sports Center could have been done better then it was, I don't think the Bobcats put any money to that but they sure acted like they owned the arena when I was at Century.

 

They could have built a new arena at Century where the baseball/softball fields are. I'm surprised they'd add on to Schaumberg.

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Adding the second sheet to Schaumburg is further along than most realize, I personally think it's a mistake. Bismarck seems to be all about putting lipstick on a pig, the "Bismarck Event Center" is proof of this. They need to build a facility in the same capacity as Scheel's arena in Fargo. Before long they will have 3 high school varsity teams playing within the dump that is VFW. Mandan is in talks and quite a bit further along than Bismarck to add two new sheets of ice. Would be a cold day in hell when Mandan has as many sheets of ice as Bismarck.

Just reading the article in the Fargo Forum today about Scheel's Arena and the High School Hockey tournament, the main point being build it and they will come. Maybe a new facility in Bismarck could host a NCAA regional one day. With the expansion of college hockey it's only going to push further west.

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In Bismarck beggers can't be choosers...

The second sheet at Schaumburg is going to happen....it's not the best option but ANY new sheets of ice are needed...BADLY.

VFW rinks are just awful and hanging on by a thread....basically at any moment it could all go to crap...like a light switch h in the words of one of the guys in charge of keeping it running.

RUMORS and talk of a new 4500 seat arena next to the civic center for a USHL team...but that's WAY out in Dream land in my opinion.

Civic center CAN have ice but is not big enough.....ice is too short and it's not feasible.

It be many moons (lifetimes) before NCAA hockey can be something that Bismarck can be mentioned in the same breath with.

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In Bismarck beggers can't be choosers...

The second sheet at Schaumburg is going to happen....it's not the best option but ANY new sheets of ice are needed...BADLY.

VFW rinks are just awful and hanging on by a thread....basically at any moment it could all go to crap...like a light switch h in the words of one of the guys in charge of keeping it running.

RUMORS and talk of a new 4500 seat arena next to the civic center for a USHL team...but that's WAY out in Dream land in my opinion.

Civic center CAN have ice but is not big enough.....ice is too short and it's not feasible.

It be many moons (lifetimes) before NCAA hockey can be something that Bismarck can be mentioned in the same breath with.

 

Civic Center sucks for hockey, I've skated there once.

 

They need to build the arena Ron Knutson was giving them land for and it's easily accessible. 

 

I wonder where they plan on building a arena near the Civic Center.

 

I hated when the Bobcats moved into the VFW, it never felt like it was the cities arena after they moved there.

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Civic Center sucks for hockey, I've skated there once.

 

They need to build the arena Ron Knutson was giving them land for and it's easily accessible. 

 

I wonder where they plan on building a arena near the Civic Center.

 

I hated when the Bobcats moved into the VFW, it never felt like it was the cities arena after they moved there.

Back in the day, I saw the Northstars play the Canadian Olympic team at the Bismarck civic center. Then they made it into a basketball only arena with those second level seats on the end. This towns hockey facilities suck.
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Back in the day, I saw the Northstars play the Canadian Olympic team at the Bismarck civic center. Then they made it into a basketball only arena with those second level seats on the end. This towns hockey facilities suck.

I was there too. Bobby Smith beat the crap out of some shrimp on the national team. Played a game there as a pee wee before the semi pro team they had played there. I'm guessing around 73' or so.

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Back in the day, I saw the Northstars play the Canadian Olympic team at the Bismarck civic center. Then they made it into a basketball only arena with those second level seats on the end. This towns hockey facilities suck.

 

I remember when the Bismarck Bulls played there and the Bismarck Express played at the VFW.

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Why doesn't REA just bid on the West regional every year?  They gave Notre Dame's arena the Midwest regional because nobody else bid for it.  What's the worst that could happen; you don't get it?

They might in the future.  They bid on it for 2015.  The NCAA policy says no regionals at home rinks.  But they have limited options of suitable rinks.  For the West regional I believe there were 3 bids for 2015.  UND and REA bid both REA and Scheels, and I thought that Duluth also bid for their place.  For the Midwest regional there was only 1 bid, Notre Dame bidding at home.  Scheels won the bid because it wasn't a home rink.  Notre Dame won the bid because it was the only bid.

 

The risk in bidding REA is that the NCAA will probably give bids to non-home rinks whenever they can, unless they change that policy.  So Minnesota bidding the Xcel, Wisconsin bidding Milwaukee or Green Bay, and several other options would more than likely be taken over REA.  I think that there are more schools interested in bidding for the West than the Midwest.  At least you get to host once in a while if you bid Scheels.

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They might in the future. They bid on it for 2015. The NCAA policy says no regionals at home rinks. But they have limited options of suitable rinks. For the West regional I believe there were 3 bids for 2015. UND and REA bid both REA and Scheels, and I thought that Duluth also bid for their place. For the Midwest regional there was only 1 bid, Notre Dame bidding at home. Scheels won the bid because it wasn't a home rink. Notre Dame won the bid because it was the only bid.

The risk in bidding REA is that the NCAA will probably give bids to non-home rinks whenever they can, unless they change that policy. So Minnesota bidding the Xcel, Wisconsin bidding Milwaukee or Green Bay, and several other options would more than likely be taken over REA. I think that there are more schools interested in bidding for the West than the Midwest. At least you get to host once in a while if you bid Scheels.

I get it, but that's just stupid...especially for the greedy pigs at the NC$$.
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They might in the future.  They bid on it for 2015.  The NCAA policy says no regionals at home rinks.  But they have limited options of suitable rinks.  For the West regional I believe there were 3 bids for 2015.  UND and REA bid both REA and Scheels, and I thought that Duluth also bid for their place.  For the Midwest regional there was only 1 bid, Notre Dame bidding at home.  Scheels won the bid because it wasn't a home rink.  Notre Dame won the bid because it was the only bid.

 

The risk in bidding REA is that the NCAA will probably give bids to non-home rinks whenever they can, unless they change that policy.  So Minnesota bidding the Xcel, Wisconsin bidding Milwaukee or Green Bay, and several other options would more than likely be taken over REA.  I think that there are more schools interested in bidding for the West than the Midwest.  At least you get to host once in a while if you bid Scheels.

 

They might in the future.  They bid on it for 2015.  The NCAA policy says no regionals at home rinks.  But they have limited options of suitable rinks.  For the West regional I believe there were 3 bids for 2015.  UND and REA bid both REA and Scheels, and I thought that Duluth also bid for their place.  For the Midwest regional there was only 1 bid, Notre Dame bidding at home.  Scheels won the bid because it wasn't a home rink.  Notre Dame won the bid because it was the only bid.

 

The risk in bidding REA is that the NCAA will probably give bids to non-home rinks whenever they can, unless they change that policy.  So Minnesota bidding the Xcel, Wisconsin bidding Milwaukee or Green Bay, and several other options would more than likely be taken over REA.  I think that there are more schools interested in bidding for the West than the Midwest.  At least you get to host once in a while if you bid Scheels.

I think after the bid was put in they discovered that they could have bid REA, from what I understand.  I expect in the future that they will.  

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If anyone is Fargo, they might want to checkout the ND high school hockey tournament this weekend. I am curious to see how the ice is at the Scheels arena. This is a big test to make sure the ice is up to standards for the West Regional. I'm sure a few UND people are a watching.

I will be there. At least bouncy ball will be done by the time regionals roll around.

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Instead of everyone complaining about the west regional being at Scheels Arena,how about we be happy it's 75 miles from Grand Forks, 4000+ Sioux fans will be able to attend vs.the usual 3-400 at some remote berg, huge home ice advantage for our team. Also the boys will be able to sleep in their own beds.

Pretty sure they will be in a hotel in Fargo. I know for the Regional in St. Paul a couple years ago the Gophers were staying at a hotel in St. Paul.

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This week the bracketology is a mess...

 

3 NCHC teams as #1 seeds, two 2 seeds, and a four seed.

 

The only place you can send SCSU to avoid an intraconference first round matchup is to Mankato.

 

Before thinking about attendance, you'd have:

 

Mankato vs SCSU (why?  Only place to send a 4 seed and not get an intraconference matchup)

UNO vs BC

 

UMD vs Yale

DU vs MN

 

UND vs Robert Morris (why?  Because UND as the #2 overall seed gets the #16 when moved)

BU vs Quinnipiac

 

MIami vs BGU

MTU vs Providence

 

I think you float a whole 1/2 bracket to make it more attractive for attendance swap BU vs Quinnipiac with DU vs MN

 

Southbend

Mankato vs SCSU 

UNO vs BC

 

Manchester

UMD vs Yale

BU vs Quinnipiac

 

Fargo

UND vs Robert Morris 

DU vs MN

 

Providence

MIami vs BGU

MTU vs Providence

This is what I had as well....one other consideration. Since Mankato is already bent over and in the prone position(drawing SCSU instead of RMU) why not just flop the South Bend and Providence Regionals.....better attendance in South Bend with Miami, Bowling Green, and Tech and BC doesn't have to get on a plane. :whistling:

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This is what I had as well....one other consideration. Since Mankato is already bent over and in the prone position(drawing SCSU instead of RMU) why not just flop the South Bend and Providence Regionals.....better attendance in South Bend with Miami, Bowling Green, and Tech and BC doesn't have to get on a plane. :whistling:

 

Mankato wouldn't have to play St. Cloud in this scenario.  With 6 NCHC teams, the NCAA won't worry about first-round NCHC match-ups.  They did it a few years ago in Wisconsin, and they'd do it again.

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