Thief River Falls, sometimes abbreviated as TRF, is a city in, and the county seat of, Pennington County in the northwest portion of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 8,749 at the 2020 census.
Ralph Louis Engelstad was an American businessman who owned the Imperial Palace casino-hotels in Las Vegas and in Biloxi, Mississippi. He also owned the Kona Kai motel in Las Vegas, which later became the Klondike Hotel and Casino. He was also the donor for the construction of the $104 million Ralph Engelstad Arena for his alma mater, the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and another arena bearing his name in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. Engelstad was also a co-developer of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Engelstad was one of the very few independent casino-hotel owners in Las Vegas.
The University of North Dakota (UND) is a public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of North Dakota.
Frost Bank Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena on the east side of San Antonio, Texas, United States. It is the home of the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
The North Dakota Fighting Hawks are the athletic teams that represent the University of North Dakota (UND), located in the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I level as a member of the Summit League. With 17 varsity teams, North Dakota is best known for its Ice Hockey team and American Football team. North Dakota's main rivalries are with the North Dakota State Bison and the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
The 2005 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was held between December 25, 2004, and January 4, 2005, at the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and at the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, United States. Canada won the gold medal. Jim Johannson oversaw administration of the event on behalf of USA Hockey.
Ralph Engelstad Arena (REA), commonly called the Ralph, is an indoor arena located on the campus of the University of North Dakota (UND) in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and serves as the home of UND men's ice hockey. The arena was built by controversial UND alumnus Ralph Engelstad. The North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's hockey team is the tenant. The arena formerly hosted the defunct North Dakota women's hockey team.
Wells Fargo Arena is a multi-purpose arena in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, United States. Part of the Iowa Events Center, the arena opened on July 12, 2005, at a cost of $117 million. Named for title sponsor Wells Fargo, the arena replaced the aging Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center as the Des Moines area's primary venue for sporting events and concerts. Beginning July 1, 2025, Wells Fargo Arena will be renamed Casey's Center for the new title sponsor Casey's General Stores.
The Carver–Hawkeye Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Iowa City, Iowa. Opened in 1983, it is the home court for The University of Iowa Hawkeyes men's and women's basketball teams, as well as the university's wrestling, and gymnastics teams. It was named for the late industrialist Roy J. Carver of Muscatine, Iowa, a prominent statewide booster, who donated $9.2 million to The University of Iowa before his death in 1981. Prior to the arena's opening, Iowa's athletic teams played at the Iowa Field House.
The CHI Health Center Omaha is an arena and convention center in the central United States, located in the North Downtown neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska. Operated by the Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority (MECA), the 1.1-million-square-foot (100,000 m2) facility has an 18,975-seat arena, a 194,000 sq ft (18,000 m2) exhibition hall, and 62,000 sq ft (5,800 m2) of meeting space.
Ralph Engelstad Arena was a 6,067-seat multi-purpose arena located on the University of North Dakota (UND) campus in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was home to the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux hockey team, and was the host of the 1983 Frozen Four tournament. It was originally named the Winter Sports Center, but was renamed in 1988 to honor alumnus Ralph Engelstad. The arena closed in 2001 and was replaced with the new $104 million Ralph Engelstad Arena on the north end of campus.
The Superior International Junior Hockey League (SIJHL) is a junior A ice hockey league and a member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) and Hockey Canada. The league operates in the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Michigan. Winners of the SIJHL playoffs compete for the Centennial Cup, the Canadian Junior A championship. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the winner of each tier 2 junior A league across Canada shows up to the national championship.
The Four Seasons Arena is a multi-purpose indoor sports and exhibition arena located in the city of Great Falls, Montana, in the United States. Constructed in 1979, it served primarily as an ice rink until 2005. The failure of the practice rink's refrigeration system in 2003 and the management's decision to close the main rink in 2006 led to the facility's reconfiguration as an indoor sports and exhibition space. In November 2018, the Cascade County Commission, in conjunction with the Great Falls TIBD, and the Great Falls Lodging Association began to develop a plan to replace the arena. At a cost of 86 million dollars, the proposed arena will seat between 10,000 and 12,000 people. The bond is expected to go before voters in November 2019. As of May 2011 it is the largest exhibition, music, and sports venue in the city.
Timothy Daniel Bergland is an American former professional ice hockey player.
University Village is a neighborhood in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It is a part of the University of North Dakota (UND) campus and is located directly north of UND's central campus area. The property comprises 160 acres (0.65 km2) located on the banks of the meandering English Coulee directly off U.S. Highway 2. University Village has been developed as a commercial and residential neighborhood with the Ralph Engelstad Arena as the major anchor and has been called "the most valuable piece of real estate in North Dakota."
The Western Collegiate Hockey Association is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates as a women's ice hockey conference in the NCAA's National Collegiate division, the de facto equivalent of Division I in that sport. Founded in 1951 as a men's ice hockey conference, it added a women's division in 1999, and continued to operate men's and women's divisions through the 2020–21 hockey season. After that season, the WCHA disbanded its men's division after seven of its 10 men's members left the conference to reestablish the Central Collegiate Hockey Association; the WCHA remained in operation as a women-only league. Each team plays 28 league games, each team playing four games against every other, two home games and two road games.
Engelstad is a Norwegian surname. Notable people with the surname include:
The Meridian Centre is a 5,300 seat arena in downtown St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, located at 1 David S. Howes Way. The arena is the home of the Niagara IceDogs of the Ontario Hockey League and the Niagara River Lions of the Canadian Elite Basketball League.
The Thief River Falls Norskies were an American Junior A ice hockey team based in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. They participate in the Superior International Junior Hockey League, a Canadian Junior Hockey League member.
The Engelstad Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, was established in June 2002 to continue the philanthropic efforts of Ralph Engelstad. It was originally developed with the purpose of promoting medical research, improving the lives of people living with disabilities and creating new possibilities for high-risk individuals. The Engelstad Foundation focuses its efforts on education, healthcare, disabled individuals and childhood issues, among other areas. The foundation controls about $800 million in assets and has given over $500 million in grants, scholarships and donations to a number of nonprofits and partners throughout the United States since its establishment.
