Sept. 19, 2002
Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame hockey team will take a home game on the road this season as Irish head coach Dave Poulin announced today that the January 18 game versus Yale has been shifted from the Joyce Center to Chicago’s Allstate Arena. Faceoff that night will be 7:05 p.m. (CST).
Notre Dame and Yale will still play the opening game of the series on Friday night, Jan. 17 at the Joyce Center with game time remaining 7:05 p.m. as scheduled.
In making the announcement, Poulin said, “It’s great to be bringing Division I college hockey back to the Chicago area. We have four players from the Chicago area and it will be a great chance for them to play in front of their families and friends in a major league building like the Allstate Arena. Chicago has become an extremely important recruiting area for our program and this is a great way to get exposure for Notre Dame hockey in the area.
Poulin added, “This will be the first time that Notre Dame has played in Chicago since 1995-96. It will be a great opportunity for the Notre Dame and Yale alumni clubs to see their teams play in Chicago.”
Tickets will be available for the game at Allstate Arena via all Ticketmaster outlets and the Notre Dame Box Office in mid-October. Ticket prices are $25.00 for the Lower Bowl of the Arena, $17.50 for the Main Floor Bowl, $12.50 for the Upper Bowl and $10.00 for the Student Section.
Notre Dame season ticket holders who purchased the early-bird package which included a ticket for the second Yale game will have the option to receive a $17.50 ticket in exchange for their Yale ticket for Jan. 18 or receive a refund for the price of that ticket already purchased via the season ticket package. Notre Dame plans on offering a bus trip at $15.00 per person for season ticket holders wishing to travel to the game.
Cary Capparelli, the director of the Notre Dame-Yale Collegiate Hockey Classic, said, “The Allstate Arena is proud about bringing big-time college hockey back into metropolitan Chicago. With its huge alumni base in Chicago, this offers Notre Dame an exciting venue for their hockey program. We are hopeful this is just the first of many Notre Dame games played at the Allstate Arena.”
The Irish currently have four players on their roster from the Chicago area including seniors Evan Nielsen (Evanston, Ill.), Tony Zasowski (Darien, Ill.), junior Brett Lebda (Buffalo Grove) and sophomore Joe Zurenko (Arlington Heights). A fifth player, senior Michael Chin (Urbana, Ill.) is an Illinois native. Chicago is the home of two junior hockey teams – the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League (USHL) and the Chicago Freeze of the North American Hockey League (NAHL). Those teams have produced three current players, Cory McLean (Steel), T.J. Mathieson (Freeze) and Chris Trick (Freeze) for the Irish roster.
For ticket information, contact the Notre Dame box office at (574) 631-7356. . Notre Dame opens the hockey season with the annual Blue and Gold game on Sunday, September 29th at 4:00 p.m. The following week, the Irish host the University of Toronto in a preseason game at the Joyce Center on Friday, October 4 with game time set for 7:05 p.m.