Old "Ralph" to be demolished?

The Ralph to be demolished?

An end of era is possibly just around the corner? I suppose you could say that I would have mixed emotions. I watched many of games in the old building and have had tickets since the new building has been open. Frankly the new building is a palace and may be on of the best arenas in the world of hockey either college or pro. I enjoy going to a game there as well as sitting in my leather seat drinking a cold Miller Lite. Life is good.

The old Ralph was like a comfortable old shoe. In my opinion the old Ralph didn’t look like much but it was a nice place to go to a game, with no beer. Not legally at least, one could find many empties in the bathrooms and in the garbage.

Fall 1993
When I came to UND in fall of 1993 the Sioux were on the last legs of the Gino Gasparini era and were anchored in the bottom of the WCHA standings going nowhere fast. Frankly the sucked and were a disgrace to the WCHA. The arena was playing to half full games and it wasn’t hard to get a seat. People were giving thickets away.

Dean Blais
However, this would soon change as the Blais era brought national prominence to the Fighting Sioux hockey program and the roar was back in the Engelstad Arena. Tickets were hard to come by and fans had to get to the arena early to get a good seat. During the Blais era the Fighting Sioux went on to win a couple of NCAA titles 1996-1997, 1999-2000 a Runner up in 2000-2001 and also numerous WCHA regular season titles 1996-1997, 1997-1998 and 1998-1999. Since the Fighting Sioux team moved into its new home the REA, starting with Blais have had some decent success as they won another WCHA title in 2003-2004 but were bounced out of the playoffs that season by eventual National Champion Denver.

Enter Hakstol
During the Dave Hakstol era The Fighting Sioux have become a fixture at the Frozen Four as Dave Hakstol has guided his team to the frozen four twice in his first two seasons of coaching. Both teams started out tough, both team barely a bubble team losing a fair number of games at the REA before salvaging the season and going on torrid runs at the end of the season to make the NCAA Frozen four. During the 2005-2006 campaign the Fighting Sioux lost 9 games in the REA being swept by eventual NCAA champ Wisconsin, First Round Regional Loser Minnesota as well as Final Fiver Runner Up Saint Cloud State University. During the 2004-2005 season the Sioux lost 6 games. The 2005-2006 team had a better winning percentage on the road that they had at home, going 11-5-1 on the road and 15-9-0 at home.

During the NCAA West Regional Championship games the roar returned to the Ralph as the new arena was rocking. This proved to be a hostile environment for opposing teams as the Sioux cruised to the west regional championships pasting Michigan 5-1 and Holy Cross 5-2 to advance to the NCAA Frozen Four were they lost to the Boston College Eagles. The Gophers also found it tough sledding at they lost to the Holy Cross Crusaders 4-3 in overtime.


Seen and heard at the “Ralph” during the regionals

A massive crowd was both seen and heard at the Ralph. The announced attendance for each game was 11,153, breaking the previous single-game attendance record for a West or Midwest Regional of 9,540 set at Minnesota’s Mariucci Arena in 2003.


There was never any doubt. Buoyed by a boisterous Ralph Engelstad Arena crowd and Minnesota’s stunning loss to Holy Cross, the Fighting Sioux of North Dakota stormed onto the ice for Friday’s NCAA West Regional showdown with Michigan and marched off with a succinct, convincing and workmanlike 5-1 victory, knowing full well the opportunity that lay ahead of them.