Friday, March 27, 2009

Venue Change

Press Release

The United States Hockey League has announced that the games scheduled for this weekend between the Fargo Force and the Tri-City Storm, originally slated to be played at Fargo's Urban Plains Center, have been moved to new venues due to floods in the Fargo area. The Red River, which runs along the border between North Dakota and Minnesota, has reached near record flood levels, forcing the teams to move to substitute arenas in North Dakota where the river has not yet crested.

Friday's game will be played at the Centennial Center in Grafton, N.D. and will get underway at 7:05 p.m. Saturday's game will be held at Purpur Arena in Grand Forks, N.D., with the opening face-off scheduled for 7:45 p.m. Please go to www.fargoforce.com for more information and directions to both venues from Interstate 29.

"With all that is going on out there, these are just games and out there is real, it would be very distasteful for us to move forward playing these games in town. This was not a hard decision to make, it is the right thing to do," said Fargo Force Director of Media Andy Leapaldt.

Admission for both games this weekend will be $10 for adults, $5 for children (18 and under). The Force will be donating $1 from every ticket sold to the local Red Cross to aid in the fight against the flood. In addition, all concession revenues will be donated to the local venues.

With the change in venue, neither game will be available on B2 Networks nor will the statistics be available live on Pointstreak, but rather will be entered manually after the games are completed.

Any individual or group who have purchased single game tickets for either Friday or Saturday night will gain admittance with their existing tickets. Ticket holders opting not to make the trip to either Grafton or Grand Forks they can either redeem their tickets next weekend at the Urban Plains Center when the Force finish out the season against Omaha and Lincoln or can use this weekend's tickets any home playoff game by visiting the Fargo Force box office.

"Our hearts go out to those in the Red River Valley affected by this flooding," said USHL Commissioner Skip Prince. "Together with the ownership, management, staff and players of the Fargo Force, we at the USHL want to thank the cities of Grafton and Grand Forks for opening their doors and being partners during this turbulent time. Without the support and flexibility they have shown, this could not be possible."

The USHL is celebrating its 30th season of junior hockey in 2008-09. With over 160 players already committed to NCAA Division I schools and 16 NHL Draft picks playing in the league, the USHL is the nation's foremost producer of junior hockey talent. For more information, visit us on the web at www.ushl.com.

(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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