Olympic-size ice sheets, 15 feet wider than the normal NHL-size playing surfaces, were once a hockey trend that is quickly going away. Locally, the Gophers reduced the size of the ice at 3M Arena at Mariucci a few years ago, and St. Cloud State recently announced plans to do the same.

In the 1990s, when the “big ice” was all the rage, many believed that more playing surface would open up the game to more dynamic offense. It didn’t really happen that way, but there were nuances in the game on an Olympic-size sheet that caused teams to adjust their style of play.

During his run as head coach at the University of Michigan, Edina native Mel Pearson noted that playing on the Gophers’ big ice caused many young defenders to stray farther and farther away from their own net, leaving the Wolverin

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