A state-of-the-art building located in the heart of downtown Mankato that first opened in 1995, Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center seats 4,832 for Minnesota State men’s and women's hockey games.Â
The facility has also played host to several internationally-renown musical acts including
Aerosmith,
Tom Petty,
Brooks & Dunn,
Styx,
Kiss,
Def Leppard,
REO Speedwagon,
Poison,
Sammy Hager, Bob Dylan,
ZZ Top,
John Fogerty,
Kenny Rogers,
John Denver,
Steve Miller,
John Mellencamp,
Rob Zombie,
Gary Allan, Miranda Lambert, Sugarland,
Alan Jackson, Eric Church and
Elton John.
The building was updated in the summer of 2013 with new seating, new board and glass system, along with a new ice plant which modified the ice surface lay-out from 200 X 100 to 200 by 87. In 2015, the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center truly became the home for Minnesota State Hockey with both the men's and women's programs moving full-time to new facilities built on the west side of the building. Besides locker room facilities and offices, the two-story build-out also includes a new weight room, athletic training and equipment facilities, player and alumni lounge areas. A new four-sided Daktronics video scoreboard also came online in the fall of 2015.
Take a look at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center - home of the Mavericks - by going
HERE.
Built for $22.5 million, the Mayo Clinic HSEC opened for its first hockey game on February 3, 1995. The building was named the Mankato Civic Center and the Mavericks entertained a crowd of 3,147 for a 6-3 victory over Alabama-Huntsville. Hockey legends Herb Brooks and John Mayasich were on hand to drop the first puck. "This is a great facility where this is going to be some great hockey played," Brooks told Roger Dier of Minnesota Showcase Hockey Magazine. "A facility like this gives so much to Mankato and to Southern Minnesota."
Chris Hvinden scored the first goal on the Olympic Sized ice sheet at 1:58 of the first period. The building was funded by a 0.5 percent sales tax on local purchases. In its infancy, the Mayo Clinic HSEC featured two animated scoreboards, escalators and roomy seats. Although the Mavericks averaged 2,421 fans in the first two weekends of its opening, officials said a meningitis outbreak suppressed attendance by 10-15 percent and Mankato West hockey player John Janavaras, a 15-year old died on the day the Mayo Clinic HSEC opened.
The Maverick men's hockey team played at All-Seasons Arena on the corner of Monks Ave and Balcerzak Ave in Mankato from its opening in 1973 to 1995. Previously called the Mankato Ice Palace, the Mavericks won the NCAA Division II National Championship at ASA under head coach Don Brose in 1979-80. Minnesota State women's hockey also played home games at All Seasons Arena before making the transition downtown in 2015-16.
