Xcel Energy Center

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The arena opened on September 29, 2000, built on the site of the demolished St. Paul Civic Center. The push for a new arena grew after the Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas. Saint Paul courted the Hartford Whalers and Winnipeg Jets under Mayor Norm Coleman, but the Civic Center was an obstacle. To get an NHL expansion team, Saint Paul needed a new arena. After several failed attempts to get funding, the state funded the project in April 1998, giving Saint Paul a no-interest loan of $65 million for the $130 million project, though it forgave $17 million in exchange for having high school sports championships played at the arena. Naming rights were initially sold to Xcel Energy. The arena hosted the Vote for Change Tour on October 5, 2004, featuring Bright Eyes, R.E.M. and Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. In 2006, the Twin Cities were selected for the 2008 Republican National Convention, held at the arena September 1–4, 2008. The 10 millionth person passed through its gates on July 3, 2007. In 2010, ESPN magazine listed a Minnesota Wild game at Xcel Energy Center as the third-best stadium experience in North America. In December 2023, Saint Paul city officials said the venue was 'showing its age' and needed renovations could cost 'several hundred million dollars'. In April 2025, it was announced that Xcel Energy Center would be renamed before the 2025–26 NHL season. On June 30, 2025, a new naming rights deal with the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe was announced, and the arena is set to be renamed Grand Casino Arena on September 3, 2025.

In Their Own Story

On October 18, 2000, the arena witnessed its first victory when the Wild defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 6–5. Two years later, on April 21, 2003, Richard Park scored an overtime game-winner to secure the franchise's first playoff win against the Colorado Avalanche. A historic moment arrived on April 26, 2015, when the Wild clinched a playoff series for the first time, defeating the St. Louis Blues 4–1 in Game Six of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. The arena has also set records beyond men's hockey; on January 6, 2024, 13,316 fans attended the Minnesota Frost's PWHL debut, setting a new record for professional women's hockey attendance. High school hockey history was made here too, with the March 6, 2015 State Boys' Hockey Tournament semifinals drawing 21,609 fans.

Reader's Guide

The concourse areas contain hockey jerseys from every Minnesota high school. Surrounding the arena at all four corners are 'crow's nests': one features an organ, the second a lighthouse with a foghorn, the third is used for the Wild's disc jockey, and the fourth provides an additional stage. The arena installed an integrated scoring system by Daktronics, including a large LED circular center-hung scoreboard, nearly 1,100 feet of ribbon display, and large video displays outside. The center ice display was replaced in summer 2014. In 2015 the arena began replacing every seat with cushioned seating, finished by early 2016. The campus of Grand Casino Arena, Saint Paul RiverCentre, and Roy Wilkins Auditorium has three world-class certifications: Green Globes (November 2017), LEED Platinum (September 2019), and EIC Sustainable Event Standards Gold (November 2020). 60% of all waste is recycled, 40% of staff commute by sustainable means, and 90% of cleaning products meet green standards. The arena has partnered with the NHL to join Change the Course, a water conservation initiative.

Did You Know?

• The arena's record attendance for a Wild game was set May 6, 2014, at 19,416 against the Chicago Blackhawks.
• On October 28, 2003, Shania Twain set the arena's single-night concert attendance record of 20,554.
• Prince and Taylor Swift hold the record for the most consecutive sold-out shows at three.
• The Minnesota Wild played their first game at the arena on October 11, 2000, against the Philadelphia Flyers.
• The arena hosted the NCAA Frozen Four in 2002, 2011, 2018, and 2024.