USHL Arena Review - Scheels Arena, Fargo, ND

by Redwing77

Ok, I'm true to my word in reviewing as many USHL arenas as I can get to in person, so why not review the one located in my parents' backyard?

I went to the Fargo vs. Sioux City tilt on December 27th, 2015 and, well, the arena was fairly empty so some of my review won't be as accurate as if it was a game held when schools were in session.

Anyways, the Scheels Arena is the home to the Fargo Force.  It was originally called the Urban Plains Center, but changed its name due to Scheels sponsorship in 2010.  The 6,000 seat arena (5,000 for hockey) opened in 2008.  It is a multi-purpose venue that also houses NDSU basketball, curling, high school hockey, concerts, rodeos, and MMA fights (I'm sure among other things).

The Facility Itself

When walking through its halls I was reminded in many ways of Omaha's Ralston Arena.  However, there are plenty of differences.  Most notably is the concourse.  The concourse is rather dark and not too well decorated.  Other arenas tend to have famous alumni (such as Cedar Rapids and Lincoln) and the like but not really here.  I also noticed a rather unfortunate side-effect I'll attribute to the North Dakota weather:  cracks.  There were cracks in the concrete EVERYWHERE.  Like I said, I do not believe this could be helped and is certainly not something I'd hold against the arena, but it was quite noticeable.

The concourse is actually situated at the top of the bowl, so one has to go down stairs to get to the top row of seats.  The seats are black, hard plastic seats very similar (in fact probably identical) to Ralston Arena.  The sight lines were pretty good from where I was sitting.  I noticed that each end of the arena featured the seats raised well above the level of the boards and that availed itself to specialty areas such as the Coldstone Area.  There wasn't much in the way of activity in these areas so I'm not quite sure of the purpose.

There were convenience areas, such as places to stand and bathrooms in the concourse area everywhere.  It really made me feel like the facility was made to accommodate more than just a few hundred people at a time (unlike, say, the Baxter Arena).

The entry foyer of the facility is really large and is well set up with decor and custom tiles.  The foyer area was quite nice.

Grade:  A

The Ice

I thought the ice was very good at the arena.  I noticed no players randomly losing an edge... if you don't count the little 5 or 6 year old kid of the game trying valliantly to skate out with the Force flag.  He fell just about 2 dozen times before being helped by the Fargo Force mascot.... "Kid Bobble" (More on that in a bit).

Grade:  A+

The Atmosphere and Technology Use

Scheels Arena has some of the oddest mixes of technology I've seen in arenas that have been built in the last 20 years.  On one hand, they have video screens like Ralston (though they are smaller), they have old school black background/red light shot counters in the corners ala high school basketball scoreboards.

They had speakers everywhere in the arena bowl and they turned it up only enough so that intros could BARELY be heard.  However, they put up more information about their starters than Ralston does for theirs.
The atmosphere as far as fans were concerned was hard to gauge.  The game I was at was during holiday break so that crowd (2,973 per the announcement... more like 1,500 to my eyes) was more subdued.  Or maybe that's how it is... or maybe that's just what a fanbase of a losing team sounds like.  I'm not sure.  The Force aren't that good this year, sadly.

I did not notice many fans of the opposition at the arena, and I was not decked out in any USHL attire (Fargo or otherwise) so how I was treated was rather irrelevant.  That being said, I'm not sure opposing fans would be treated poorly here anyways.  Almost everyone kept to themselves.

Grade:  B-

Food

Scheels Arena serves Pepsi (BOOO!!!).  Other than that, I saw a nice variety of food and potential food spaces (many were closed due to the break).  Prices were about what you'd expect.  The presence of walking tacos aka tacos in a bag was a nice touch.

Grade:  B+

The Entertainment

The sound system was not set very high so, at times, it was hard to hear what the announcer had to say.  This went especially true during intros and for goal announcements.

This arena had the ODDEST selection of downtime music selection I've ever heard.  I'm not saying it was bad, but...  there were a lot of oldies (The Zombies "Time of the Season"?  Really?) and even such wonderful "classics" as the "Whip/Nae Nae" song.  Sorry, any arena who plays that song WILLINGLY is going to get dinged.

They had very good entertainment between periods with a sled race between the first/second periods and a chuck a puck in the 2nd intermission.

Also, their sponsors were nice.  My ticket's back offered 7 cents a gallon off of gas at a local gas station.  Others offered buy one get one at McDonalds.  I though that was very nice (especially the gas coupon).

Grade:  C+  (Would've been a B+ if not for Whip and Sweet Caroline)

Overall

I think this arena would be amongst the best in the USHL had I seen a game during the school year and if Fargo wasn't near the bottom of the USHL.  That being said, most of my complaints (if not all of them) are very easily fixed.  If they fix them (which they have no reason to based solely on my opinion), they'd be top 3 material as far as my travels thus far.

Overall Grade:  B+

UND Hockey: 2014-15 schedule

Oct. 5 — Canadian exhibition TBA
Oct. 10 — BEMIDJI STATE
Oct. 11 — at Bemidji State
Oct. 17 — at Colorado College
Oct. 18 — at Colorado College
Oct. 24 — PROVIDENCE
Oct. 25 — PROVIDENCE

Nov. 1 — AIR FORCE (Hall of Fame Game)
Nov. 7 — at Wisconsin
Nov. 8 — at Wisconsin
Nov. 14 — MIAMI
Nov. 15 — MIAMI
Nov. 21 — at St. Cloud State
Nov. 22 — at St. Cloud State
Nov. 28 — Nebraska-Omaha
Nov. 29 — Nebraska-Omaha

Dec. 5 — LAKE SUPERIOR STATE
Dec. 6 — LAKE SUPERIOR STATE
Dec. 12 — at Denver
Dec. 13 — at Denver

Jan. 3 — U.S. UNDER-18 (exhibition)
Jan. 9 — DULUTH
Jan. 10 — DULUTH
Jan. 16 — NIAGARA
Jan. 17 — NIAGARA
Jan. 23 — COLORADO COLLEGE
Jan. 24 — COLORADO COLLEGE
Jan. 30 — at Omaha
Jan. 31 — at Omaha

Feb. 13 — DENVER
Feb. 14 — DENVER
Feb. 21 — at Western Michigan
Feb. 22 — at Western Michigan
Feb. 27 — ST. CLOUD STATE
Feb. 28 — ST. CLOUD STATE

March 6 — at Miami
March 7 — at Miami
March 13-15 — NCHC first round
March 20-21 — NCHC tournament (Target Center, Minneapolis)
March 27-29 — NCAA tournament (Scheels Arena, Fargo)
April 9-11 — NCAA Frozen Four (T.D. Garden, Boston)

The NCHC Conference Composite Schedule can be found here.
s/t To Brad Schlosman...
21 home games this season and 15 away games this season.

Related articles

• NCAA Hockey: There Has to Be a Better Way
• NCHC Hockey: Breaking Down the Numbers at the Half Way Point
• UND Pounds Miami

Thursday Night Links: "Through These Doors" and 2015 West Regional

It's almost game day, so that means one thing... Another episode of "Through These Doors". Last week, I took a look at the UND reality series.

Walked into the presser on Wednesday. On my way in to the press conference, I chatted briefly with sophomore forward Colton St. Clair and that kid was happy, he was going to skate with the team full practice.  UND misses his skill set, he performs a role that is very valuable.

UND Hockey: Taking a Look at the Reality Series “Through These Doors” - http://t.co/rZsraPiqXb #hockey pic.twitter.com/oCWc08ZZiS
— The Hockey Writers (@TheHockeyWriter) December 6, 2013

UND Hockey: UND to Host 2015 West Regional at Scheels Arena - http://t.co/j8aHNGvSOp #hockey pic.twitter.com/HiBkdaZSDX
— The Hockey Writers (@TheHockeyWriter) December 13, 2013

UND Hockey: Scheels Arena to host 2015 NCAA West Regional

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) announced today that it has selected the University of North Dakota to host the 2015 NCAA Men’s Hockey West Regional Championship at Scheels Arena in Fargo.

The sites were selected by the respective sport committees, which are made up of coaches and administrators from NCAA member schools and conferences, and approved by the appropriate divisional championships cabinets/committees.

“We are honored and excited to have been awarded the 2015 NCAA Men’s West Regional,” said UND Director of Athletics Brian Faison. “This hosting opportunity is the result of a great team effort partnering UND with Ralph Engelstad Arena and Scheels Arena.”

Scheels Arena is the home of the United States Hockey League’s Fargo Force franchise. It has also previously hosted the 2009 IIHF World U18 Hockey Championship.

“Sheels Arena will be a great venue for the 2015 NCAA West Regional tournament,” said UND head men’s hockey coach Dave Hakstol. “It’s a first-class facility that is within driving distance for the fans of several college hockey programs. The atmosphere in the building should be second-to-none within regional competition.”

“We are confident that a NCAA Men’s West Region Tournament will be a huge success in Fargo. Scheels Arena provides a great off-campus location for a regional tournament and we look forward to the tournament returning to North Dakota,” said Ralph Engelstad Arena general manager Jody Hodgson.

“We are extremely excited to host Division I hockey in our venue and in our city,” said Scheels Arena general manager Jon Kram. “Even more than that, we are pleased to be working in conjunction with the University of North Dakota and Ralph Engelstad Arena. It is a testament to the willingness of the organizations to work together to ensure our communities have access to elite events such as this one when so often we are thought of as competitors by the general public. It sets the stage for future partnerships that will continue to enhance the communities in which we live and operate.”

Ticket information, including on-sale dates and pricing, will be announced at a later date

Mark MacMillan on UND hosting the '15 regional in Fargo: It's nice for our fans who usually have to travel all over the country to watch us.
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDMHockey) December 11, 2013

UND will host the 2015 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Regional at Scheels Arena in Fargo. @UNDMHockey
— Jayson Hajdu (@UNDSID) December 11, 2013

Related articles

• UND Hockey: Will UND get to Host a Regional? (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• UND Hockey: Long Video Review Confirms Goal (thehockeywriters.com)
• UND Hockey: Making the Case for Dave Hakstol (thehockeywriters.com)
• NCAA Hockey: There Has to Be a Better Way (thehockeywriters.com)
• NCAA Women's Hockey Weekly Round-Up: December 11th, 2013 (thehockeywriters.com)