Home in the world of junior hockey has many different meanings. Young athletes leave home as young as sixteen to chase the dreams that started since the first time they laced up their skates. They make a temporary home with billet families that welcome them with open arms. But then there is a place that is always familiar their home away from home, the ice arena.
The Tauros took the ice for the first time in the new Pepsi Rink at the MAYSA Arena in November as they faced off against their division rivals the Bismarck Bobcats. The Pepsi Rink inside the MAYSA Arena is a $10.9 million facility made possible by the work of many community partners.
The move on the ice would not be to only move for the Tauros this season. After spending nearly five years in their current dressing room the players were welcomed to their brand-new space thanks to the help of local businesses. With the Pepsi Rink being a state of the art junior facility the Tauros knew the room would need to be of the same caliber. After many months of planning and preparing an execution plan was put into place to make a scribbling on a piece of paper turn into a reality. “To make the move happen it was going to take the support of many local sponsors, my first meeting happened in December of 2015. After getting twelve different businesses on board and many hours spent planning we were ready to start,” said Assistant Coach/Assistant GM Nigel Dube who led the build. One of the largest thought out obstacles would be the construction of the individual stalls but thanks to the commitment of Excel Improvement Inc., a locally owned and operated business the Tauros had a proud sponsor ready to construct the stalls. “Steve and his family were one of the first to come on board, the endless amount of hours they spent building a thank you does not do enough justice. Between Steve and his boy Carson they worked on these for 67 days straight outside of their own work hours.” said Dube.
The new dressing room has quickly become home to the Minotauros Players. Team Captain Dittel, who has been with the Tauros for three seasons said, “We can’t thank the people that put all the hard work in to making this an unbelievable home for us! We appreciate all they did an as a team we like to spend a lot of time in it as well as trying to put on a great performance to show how much we care.”
“The smiles and the excitement when the boys first saw the room made all the hours of work more than worth it.” said Coach Dube. “As a team we are a family and as a family this locker room is our home base and we have the community to thank for that.”
The dressing room is made up of 25 individual stalls and has the Tauros bull head and wording on the wall thanks to 3D Concrete and Custom Cutting.
“It just shows the dedication of this city and our partners. Hockey in general is at an all-time high in Minot on every level and it couldn’t be more exciting! The passion and work all of our partners put in to make this room possible speaks volumes of how much support we get from our community that we love to be a part of, without them we wouldn’t be able to do this!” said Dube.
Are you looking for a personal stall for your son or daughter to have at home? Great way to air their equipment out in the garage and look just like the Tauros! Excel Improvement will be making custom stalls!!! Call Steve today for a quote and get your custom stall! Excel Improvements: 701-852-8648
The partners that made this all possible we cannot thank enough:
Excel Improvements Inc. – Steve Haberman
Flooring Concepts – Shane Williams
3D Concrete – Dave Lakefield
Ralph’s Plumbing and Heating
WinnSupply Of Minot
RoLac Contracting
The Original Bar and Night Club
Pacific Sound and Audio
Minot Lumber & Hardware
Hirshfield Paint and Coating
Tollefson’s Carpetland
Farroh Roof Truss
Drew’s Auto body
Lizotte Family