FARGO, N.D. (AP) - Ralph Engelstad and his family have been the biggest donors to the University of North Dakota hockey program since the Las Vegas casino owner played for the team decades ago, including building a $110 million arena on campus that’s one of the top facilities in the country.
Now the school is bringing the hockey team to them, in Las Vegas.
The independent group that runs the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks won a successful bid to host the annual U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame game this Saturday, with North Dakota playing longtime rival and fellow hockey powerhouse Minnesota.
Engelstad, who died in 2002, was a goaltender for North Dakota from 1948-1950 and later owned the Imperial Palace casino in Las Vegas. His daughter is now a trustee for the Engelstad Family Foundation, a nonprofit that has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to causes focusing on education, health care and childhood issues.
“They’ve always come to us,” said Jody Hodgson, director of the Ralph Engelstad Arena. “We thought, ’Let’s take something to Vegas.’”
The event benefits the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum in Eveleth, Minnesota. The U.S. Olympic team has played in the event, but the annual game has usually featured college teams since the inaugural event in 1974. North Dakota was awarded the game in 2016, as well as 2020 and 2022, which Hodgson said is due in no small part to the program’s ability to finance it.
Saturday’s game should be a show worthy of Law Vegas’ glitz. If the atmosphere inside the 7,500-seat Orleans Arena isn’t boisterous enough, there’s a two-day tailgating party outside that will have a DJ, live band, a dozen bars and food trucks, and a massive video screen for those who can’t commandeer a game ticket. The event quickly sold out, with ticket brokers now asking as much as $400 per seat.
“When you talk about playing hockey at North Dakota, certainly we want people to think about playing on the biggest stages and in the best events against the best opponents in the craziest environments,” Hodgson said. “We hope this checks the box.”
Doug Palazzari, director of the U.S Hockey Hall of Fame Museum, said no college hockey fans travel better than North Dakota, and Minnesota is still the marquee game for Fighting Hawks fans even though the teams are no longer in the same conference.
“From our perspective it’s more exposure for the museum, so we’re happy about that. I also know a lot of people who now have an excuse to fly to Vegas,” Palazzari said.
Hodgson said discussions about holding the game in Las Vegas began more than five years ago when North Dakota’s coach was Dave Hakstol, who is now behind the Philadelphia Flyers bench, and before NHL hockey came to Nevada.
Previous matchups for the annual game have included Wisconsin and Michigan Tech, Vermont and Minnesota, and North Dakota and RPI.
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