Mariucci Arena has been host to prominent regional, national, and international competitions, including the
2005 and
2009 West Regional of the
NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship, the 2006 NCAA Women's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament, and the 2006 World
Short Track speed skating event. 3M Arena also hosted the
inaugural Women's Frozen Four on March 23 and March 25, 2001. The
Minnesota State High School League state hockey tournament holds its consolation bracket at Mariucci. On March 19, 2022, 10,774 fans watched the Gophers take on the
Michigan Wolverines in the B1G Tournament Championship Game, the largest crowd to watch a game at Mariucci Arena. From 1950 to 1993 the hockey team played in the hockey arena section of
Williams Arena. That arena was renamed Mariucci Arena in 1985. People now generally refer to that as the "old" Mariucci Arena. In 2007,
Sports Illustrated on Campus named Mariucci Arena one of the top ten venues in college sports. The facility was the only ice hockey arena to make the list. Before the 2012–13 hockey season, the University of Minnesota upgraded Mariucci Arena, which saw the replacement of the old scoreboard with a new state of the art Daktronics videoboard and the addition of a fascia display that rings the arena. In May 2014, a proposal for an $8 million renovation to the arena was announced. The renovations would include reducing the ice sheet to approximately , increased seating capacity, improved sightlines and an upgraded weight room. The proposed renovation would be funded privately. The reduced-size playing surface would allow for playing style to be more similar to the
NHL, which has a standard . On July 10, 2017,
Maplewood-based
3M bought the naming rights of Mariucci Arena for for 14 years. In September 2020, the arena was again renovated by Gopher Athletics. The renovation spanned 11,000 square feet and included a new training center, a new 'M' Club alumni room and a remodeled office suite. Ice surface reduction and renovation finally began with removal of the concrete arena rink base shortly after the March 18, 2023, Big Ten championship game. The Minnesota
FFA Association hold General Sessions during the Minnesota FFA State Convention at the arena. ==References==