The Minot Minotauros and Minot State hockey team have agreed to play an exhibition contest for the second straight year.

This time, the two squads will play at 7 p.m. on Dec. 6 in the new Maysa Arena, a venue that benefited from the ticket sales of last year’s matchup. The Minotauros won the contest 6-3 a season ago.

“I think the whole hockey community is intrigued to see how we match up against each other,” Minotauros coach Marty Murray said. “Both of us run two completely different styles of hockey. It’s good to generate some interest and get two pretty good fan bases together and see who prevails.”

Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for children 6-12 with children 5 and under receiving free admission. Both the Beavers and Minotauros will be donating proceeds to the Minot Hockey Boosters.

As for the product on the ice, both teams have had hot starts to their seasons. The Minotauros (10-2-2) lead the North American Hockey League Central Division by five points, while the Beavers (7-1) are ranked No. 1 in the American College Hockey Association.

“We didn’t know how last year’s event was going to turn out, but boy, it completely exceeded both of our expectations,” MSU coach Wade Regier said. “We had a near sellout crowd and was a great success all the way around. It was entertaining and immediately after I think both of us were like ‘Hey, let’s do this again.’ “

Regier added while the main goal for both teams will be to walk away from the contest completely healthy, the Beavers haven’t forgotten about last year’s defeat.

“I know our guys will definitely be fired up from a competitive perspective,” Rieger said. “We play a very physical style of play but we might ring it in a little bit because we don’t want anyone getting hurt. That being said, we don’t want it to look like the NAHL All-Star game out there either. We hope it’s intense and a quick-paced entertaining game for the fans.”

Garrick Hodge covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @Garrick_Hodge.