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Old Ralph Englestad Arena to be demolished this week

The arena that North Dakota called home from 1972 until 2001 is being demolished this week.

By Jeff Cox
Elsa

The old Ralph Englestad Arena in Grand Forks, ND is being demolished this week, starting today. According to Brad Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald, the old arena is being demolished to make way for a practice facility for other sports such as football and track and field.

Schlossman states on his blog, North Dakota defeated Colorado College 5-4 in 1972 in the first game at the arena. Schlossman, the terrific beat writer for UND, went on to say, the last game played at the old version of the Ralph was an exhibition victory over Manitoba in 2001.

Ralph Englestad was a former North Dakota goaltender who went on to make an exorbitant amount of money in Las Vegas as a casino owner. He was very generous with his money. In addition to the old and new arenas in Grand Forks at the North Dakota campus, a rink in Thief River Falls, Minn. is named in his honor.

Englestad was a staunch supporter of the Fighting Sioux nickname. The university has decided to distance itself from the nickname and logo after much pressure from the NCAA.

Jeff Cox is a hockey reporter for SBNation. Follow Jeff on twitter @JeffCoxSBNation.