The NCAA men's ice hockey regional at Scheels Arena in Fargo "went so well that, as long as the NCAA continues to steer regionals away from home venues, it very well may end up there again," according to Brad Schlossman of the BISMARCK TRIBUNE. The stands "were packed for the games -- which isn’t always the case at these regionals -- creating a memorable event." The operations behind the scenes also "were a major success." The partnership between Scheels Arena, the Univ. of North Dakota and Ralph Engelstad Arena -- UND's home venue -- "was so smooth that all entities walked away from the weekend willing to do it again" (BISMARCK TRIBUNE, 3/31). The AP's Dave Kolpack wrote the NCAA's effort to secure neutral sites for hockey regionals "reveals an imbalance between an electrifying atmosphere and hundreds of empty seats." The UND-Quinnipiac first round matchup on Friday "was a mini-home game" for UND, played at the 5,000-seat Scheels Arena rather than its 12,000-seat Ralph Engelstad Arena 70 miles away in Grand Forks. Meanwhile, Friday's first round game featuring Minnesota-Duluth and Minnesota was played before a "sparse crowd" in Manchester, N.H. UND AD Brian Faison, who serves as the NCAA men's ice hockey committee Chair, said, "There's a balancing act every year. You try to come up with the best venue that you can while at the same time keeping in mind the geography and getting teams from the same area." He added that the topic "will be up for discussion after this season" because the regional sites for the next two years "have not been decided" (AP, 3/29).
