University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Prepare Ridder Arena for Frozen Four
3/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
By Rachel Timmerman, Athletic Communications Student Assistant
MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota may be on spring break, but Ridder Arena will be busier than ever as the Gophers host the 2015 NCAA Women's Frozen Four this week. Many changes must be made to the arena in a short amount of time before thenation's top teams battle for a national championship.
The Gopher women's hockey team is making its fourth-straight Frozen Four appearance whilehosting the event for the second time in the last three seasons. Boston College, Harvard and Wisconsin round out the teams competing for the 2015 national title at Ridder Arena this weekend.
Craig Flor runs facility operations at Ridder, and this year will mark his fifth year running operations for the Frozen Four - two times at Mariucci and three at Ridder.
"From a facilities standpoint, it's just changing a lot of the décor of the building," Flor said.
Ridder is covered heavily in U of M signs and logos, as would be expected. But those signs, along with local advertisements, have to be covered up for the NCAA games.
"The NCAA has a lot of their own branding, so they send us a lot of signage to put up over any corporate signage that we have," Flor said.
The biggest challenge, Flor says, is covering up the in-ice logos. In addition, much of the signage is not available until the Frozen Four teams are determined; now that the NCAA field has been narrowed to Minnesota, Boston College, Harvard and Wisconsin, the facility staff is busy putting the finishing touches on the arena.
"The team-specific stuff is coming together. They have to manufacture that after the teams are determined and get it over to us as soon as possible," Flor said.
Even though Flor has already gone through the experience of hosting the Frozen Four, he still enjoys each opportunity to showcase the arena.
"I love having these events and getting all sorts of new people to see women's hockey on this stage and this level," he said.
Ridder hosted the Frozen Four in 2010 and 2013, and the Gophers competed in each of those, taking home the program's fifth national title in 2013.
Minnesota will look to hoist another trophy at home this year, and the entire university is thrilled to put Ridder Arena on the national stage in front of a larger crowd. The Gophers enter the Frozen Four leading the nation in women's hockey attendance, averaging 1,543 fans in 39 games this season. Sold-out crowds are expected to fill Ridder Arena (3,400) this weekend.
"Ridder Arena is a perfect venue for the Frozen Four," head coach Brad Frost said. "It brings people from all over the country to the university and into our beautiful rink. There's not a bad seat in the place."
Flor agreed that the sold-out atmosphere at Ridder is unlike any other.
"Being totally sold out, it's a different feel in the building, and it's really cool," he said.
Regardless of the teams competing, Frost says being able to host the Frozen Four is great for the Gopher women's hockey program.
"It's an opportunity to sell it out, and for the teams to play in front of a really enthusiastic sold-out crowd," Frost said. "It brings a lot of excitement to the state of Minnesota."
The Frozen Four gets underway with semifinal matchups on Friday evening. The No. 1 seeded Gophers face No. 4 seed Wisconsin at 5 p.m., followed by No. 2 seed Boston College and No. 3 seed Harvard facing off at 8 p.m. The national championship game is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT Sunday, March 22.
###
