Aaah, it's good to be back on HOCKEY-L.  I'm surprised nobody's posted
this yet...
 
Ralph Engelstad announced yesterday at a press conference at Engelstad
Arena in Grand Forks, ND that he will be donating $100 million to the
University of North Dakota.  $40-50 million of that sum is to be used to
build a new state-of-the-art 12,000 seat arena.  This is very welcome
because (these days) there are more than 6,067 Sioux fans that would like
to see the games.  So far, it sounds like the new arena will only be used
for hockey.
 
Engelstad, a Sioux goalie in 1948-50, is an entrepeneur who owns the
Imperial Palace Casinos in Las Vegas and Biloxi, Miss.  His contribution
of $5 million caused UND to rename its winter sports arena after him in
the '80s.
 
For comparison, the University of Minnesota's Mariucci, built earlier this
decade(?), was $39 million, and the Wisconsin's brand-spanking-new Kohl
Center was $76 million.  A name for the new arena has not been mentioned,
personally, I think a few obvious choices are Engelstad Arena (again) or
the Imperial Ice Palace.  Groundbreaking may happen in January, and the
Sioux may be able to play in the new arena in 2001.
 
You have no idea how hard it was for me to refrain from posting about this
until it was official.  :)
 
One can find much more information at the Grand Forks Herald site:
http://www.gfherald.com
 
Al-ways,
Kirk-a-cola
 
PS: I think need to run to the clinic now.  Hopefully, they can fix my jaw
that shattered on the floor.
 
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