New Grafton athletic facility will be named after Chad Demers

• New Grafton athletic facility will be named after Chad Demers

Brad Elliott Schlossman, Grand Forks HeraldMon, Jul 6, 2026·3 min read

Jul. 6—GRAFTON, N.D. — Joey Demers heard rumors that organizers wanted to recognize his late brother, Chad, in some way in Grafton's new $7-million arena.

"We thought they might name a locker room or shooting room after him," Joey said. "We did not envision naming the whole arena after him. It has been a crazy, emotional few weeks."

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On June 26, the Chad Demers Athletic Center was introduced to the public at a ceremony in Grafton. It is expected to open in October or November.

Choice Bank purchased the naming rights to the facility. Instead of putting the business's name on it, the bank decided to honor the former Grafton-Park River hockey star, who died in 2024 at age 33 after a six-year battle with brain cancer.

The new arena is connected to the Centennial Center, where Grafton-Park River plays its home hockey games. The Spoilers will continue to play at the Centennial Center.

The Chad Demers Athletic Center will have an ice sheet for hockey and figure skating. It also will have a track and the ability to put turf down for football, baseball, softball, golf and soccer.

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Andrew Petersen, the president of Choice Bank's Grafton location, informed the Demers family of the facility's name about a month ago.

"A lot of tears were shed," Joey Demers said. "It was very emotional. We were just shocked and couldn't believe it. It's truly special and it shows the impact Chad had on this community."

Petersen and his brother, Billy, knew Demers growing up.

"Chad always brought a work ethic to it," Petersen said. "It didn't matter if it was hockey, football or baseball. He brought it every single day. He was the first guy to practice, the last to leave. This isn't a fancy new building to play games in; this is an arena to go to work in. That's why we're doing the Chad Demers Athletic Center."

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Petersen said Choice Bank worked with the Blue Line Club on the banking side of the project.

"We made a deal with them to get the naming rights," Petersen said. "This was in the back of our minds the whole time as a team at Choice. This was the vision we had the whole time. We weren't looking at Choice Bank Arena. We were looking at it as a community project."

Demers was one of Grafton-Park River's all-time greats.

He won hockey state championships at the peewee, bantam and high school levels.

In 2008, he scored the state title-winning goal in triple overtime against Grand Forks Red River. The Spoilers have not won a state championship since then.

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Demers went on to play junior hockey with the Fargo Force in the United States Hockey League and college hockey at Air Force Academy.

"I think he was one of the greatest Spoilers of all time," said Kody Stark, one of Demers' childhood friends. "That's not even just hockey. He was a great baseball player, a great football player. Then, you tie everything else about him into it — his perseverance in sports and how long he lived with his cancer. He never made anything about himself."

Demers was diagnosed with Grade 4 Glioblastoma in September 2018. He died on Oct. 3, 2024.

While battling cancer, Demers continued to work in hockey. He served as an assistant coach for the Fargo Force, an operations director at Air Force Academy and an assistant coach at Division-I Augustana University.

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Demers and his wife, Danika, had three children. Beau is 8, Thea is 6 and Ella is 4.

Beau was one of four speakers at the ceremony.

While organizers expected about 50 people to attend, about 150 showed up, including some of Demers' old teammates.

"It's awesome and hard at the same time," Stark said. "It's definitely bittersweet."

Story byGrand Forks Herald