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M arch Madness in Minneapolis doesn't mean college basketball. No, it's college hockey playoff time. And for the second year in a row, that called for a STAR staff Target Center take- over for the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Frozen Faceoff. "When we started the new confer- ence (in 2011), a lot of schools felt that they wanted to have a presence here in Minneapolis," said Joe Novak, assistant commissioner and director of operations for the NCHC. "We negotiated a couple different venues across the country but the bottom line was this was where our coaches wanted to be. The exposure in the state of Minnesota couldn't be better and it's been a great relationship." With the Big Ten and Western Collegiate Hockey Association occupy- ing Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, the NCHC created a rivaling hockey atmo- sphere west of the capital city. But turning the 831,533-square-foot Target Center into a bonafide ice rink was no easy task. "We learned a lot from our first year," said Novak. "It was still a good experience (last year) but I think this year was even better because of the things we tweaked. That's why we were here one month in advance, to make sure we had everything good to go for the actual tournament." So how do you transition from hard- wood to concrete to ice and back again all within four weeks? STAR staff showed us how it's done. Ice, Ice, Baby Nothing is more important than ice qual- ity, especially during tournament time. STAR's Don Moffatt, along with arena and NCHC staff, began the ice-building process in February. 30 / MAY.JUNE.2015 RINKMAGAZINE.COM Behind the scenes of STAR's Target Center turnaround for the NCHC Frozen Faceoff // by JESSI PIERCE In Transition PHOTOS: COURTESY OF STAR