Thief River Falls, sometimes referred to as Thief River or abbreviated as TRF, is a city in Pennington County in the northwest portion of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 8,749 at the 2020 census. Thief River Falls is the county seat for Pennington County.
Grand Forks is the 3rd most populous city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city of East Grand Forks, Minnesota, forms the center of the Grand Forks, ND-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is often called Greater Grand Forks or the Grand Cities.
Xcel Energy Center is a multipurpose arena in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Completed in 2000, it is named for its locally based corporate sponsor Xcel Energy. With an official capacity of 17,954, the arena has four spectator levels: one suite level and three for general seating. The building is home to the NHL's Minnesota Wild and Minnesota of the PWHL.
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 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.
3M Arena at Mariucci is the home arena for the Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey team of the University of Minnesota. The arena is located on the Minneapolis campus and seats approximately 10,000 fans. The arena opened in 1993 and is named after John Mariucci, the longtime Gopher coach who is considered the "godfather of Minnesota hockey." Under the gate is a quote from Mariucci: "Through these gates walk the greatest fans in college hockey." The ice sheet was Olympic sized from 1993 to 2023, when construction began on reducing the rink floor size. The women's ice hockey team played at Mariucci from 1997 until 2002 when they moved to Ridder Arena, which is connected to Mariucci via a tunnel.
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.
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.
Ridder Arena is an indoor ice rink at the University of Minnesota, and home to the Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey team. The arena is adjacent to the men's 3M Arena at Mariucci. It was completed in 2002, and includes the connected Baseline Tennis Center for the men's and women's tennis teams. It was the first facility in the United States built specifically for college women's ice hockey, and has hosted the NCAA Women's Frozen Four on four occasions. The arena is named for benefactors Robert Ridder and Kathleen Ridder.
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. states of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Winners of the SIJHL playoffs compete for the Dudley Hewitt Cup against the winners of the Ontario Junior Hockey League and the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League. The winner of the Dudley Hewitt Cup then moves on to compete for the Centennial Cup, the Canadian Junior A championship.
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 North Dakota Fighting Sioux controversy refers to the controversy surrounding the now retired nickname and logo of the North Dakota Fighting Hawks a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the athletic teams that represented the University of North Dakota (UND) based in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
The Thief River Falls Norskies are 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.
