Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/797481
USICERINKS.COM MARCH.APRIL.2017 / 17 reptiles to the locker rooms. Through the chaos, the arena's West Rink stayed open. "We had our normal summer activities on our one sheet of ice," says Jarrod Olson, director of operations for the Minot Park District. "It was a good place for people to come to maybe get their mind off of the flood…I think a lot of people wanted to try to keep as much normalcy in their families' routine as they could." Named after the Minot Area Youth Skating Association, the Maysa Arena remains a community hub five-and-a-half years later. In 2016, Minot resident's votes put Maysa among the top four finalists for the title of Kraft Hockeyville USA. The arena also just cut the ribbon for its third sheet in November, making it the third largest ice facility in the state— behind Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks and Scheels Arena in Fargo. The Minot Minotauros, the resident Tier II junior team, faced-off against their rival Bismarck for the first game on the new Pepsi Rink. The moment was nearly a decade overdue. Olson casually proposed a third sheet back in 2007 to accommodate growing hockey and figure skating programs, but the flood delayed construction. Finally, after $10.9 million from the Minot Hockey Boosters, MAYSA, Minot Park District and the City of Minot, the new rink opened this fall. "It took a while," says Thor Nelson, a longtime NHL linesman and an organizer for the nonprofit Prairie Grit Adaptive Sports. "But we all pushed through, as resilient cities do, and we finally got this done." Thanks to more ice time, Maysa Arena started hosting sled hockey practices for the first time this year. The free program offers anyone with a mental or physical disability the opportunity to learn to play every Saturday, gear provided. If participants can't propel themselves, volunteers push them, so they can still shoot, pass and participate to the best of their abilities. Minot is one of the few communities around that even offers sled hockey. Nelson says that one player's family drives four hours one way from their home in Montana to practice each week. Nelson also mentions a good friend who's used a wheelchair his whole life. A lifelong hockey fan, he sat by the glass at every game. Now in his early 20s, he's finally on the ice himself. "You know, there are barriers," Nelson says. "But if we can get them on the ice and playing hockey, at least for two hours, those barriers disappear. "It gives them the chance to do things they hear their friends talk about." "YOU KNOW, THERE ARE BARRIERS, BUT IF WE CAN GET THEM ON THE ICE AND PLAYING HOCKEY, AT LEAST FOR TWO HOURS, THOSE BARRIERS DISAPPEAR."