Xcel Energy Center gets men’s college hockey championships in 2018

The University of Minnesota says it's going to host the Frozen Four at the St. Paul arena in 2018, as it has done seven times before.

The school said today: "Minnesota previously hosted the 1958, 1966, 1989, 1991, 1994, 2002 and 2011 Frozen Fours. The 1989, 1991, 1994, 2002 and 2011 Frozen Fours were contested in St. Paul with Xcel Energy Center hosting the 2002 and 2011 renditions."

Xcel Energy Center, the home of the NHL franchise Minnesota Wild, will host again in 2018.

Visit St. Paul, the city's convention authority, says the tournament is great news. "It is a maximum capacity event for Xcel Energy Center with more than 19,000 attendance," says vice president for marketing Adam Johnson. "Our economic impact calculator puts it at an estimated $10 million."

It's among a handful of bids for sports playoffs that are at the bid stage or in hand: Target Field will host the All-Star Game in July. The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority is also pursuing the Final Four basketball championship and the 2017 College Football Playoff, the successor to the Bowl Championship Series, in the new Vikings stadium.

The MSFA and the Vikings are also finalists for the NFL's Super Bowl sweepstakes in 2018. In October, the league said Minneapolis, Indianapolis and New Orleans are the contenders for that game.

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