Aug. 29, 2008
Indianapolis, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame and the Allen Country War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind., will play host to the 2010 NCAA Midwest Hockey Regionals on March 27-28, 2010 the NCAA Ice Hockey Committee announced on Thursday afternoon.
The committee announced the sites for both the Midwest and West regionals for the 2010 and 2011 seasons. In 2010, joining Fort Wayne as the West Regional host is the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota with the University of Minnesota serving as host. The following year, the Midwest Regional will be played at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wis., with Michigan Tech University serving as host while the West Regional will be held at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo., with the Central Collegiate Hockey Association serving as host.
In making the announcement, Joel Maturi, chair of the Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee said, “The ice hockey committee is excited to announce these sites as we had a tremendous amount of interest shown by cities across the Midwest. We focused on selecting sites that have NHL-size sheets and are in neutral buildings. We really feel that each of these buildings will showcase college hockey, give our student-athletes a tremendous experience and take our championships to another level.”
Memorial Coliseum general manager Randy Brown said, “After pursuing an event of this magnitude with the NCAA on several occasions, we are pleased to be able to partner with the University of Notre Dame to bring a nationally prominent championship event to the Memorial Coliseum and to hockey fans in the Fort Wayne area. We look forward to working with the University of Notre Dame over the next few years, planning and preparing for the Midwest Regional Tournament in 2010.”
The Memorial Coliseum boasts a proud hockey tradition as the home of the International Hockey League’s Fort Wayne Komets for the past 57 years.
The facility also has hosted two Notre Dame regular season hockey games in recent history – in 2005 versus the University of Michigan and in 2007 against Northern Michigan. The Irish also hosted a sold-out men’s NIT basketball tournament at Memorial Coliseum in 2004.
“This is a great opportunity for Notre Dame to host an NCAA hockey regional,” said Tom Nevala, associate athletics director and hockey administrator.
“We certainly hope that our team will be in position to take advantage of the opportunity. I know that it will be a successful event for all involved due to the people that we have partnered with in Fort Wayne.”
Getting the opportunity to host an NCAA Regional was a combined effort of the Memorial Coliseum the University of Notre Dame with assistance from the Fort Wayne Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“The selection of Fort Wayne and Allen County as the host of this prestigious NCAA Division I Midwest Regional is a momentous occasion for the entire community! Not only is this an exciting opportunity for a marquee event in 2010, but this also bodes well for the formation of a long-term mutually beneficial relationship with the NCAA,” said Jim Nirmaier, Vice-President of Group Sales for Fort Wayne/Allen County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“This is the successful culmination of a unique partnership between several local entities and the University of Notre Dame! The Fighting Irish bring instant credibility to every endeavor and we are proud to be chosen as their first-ever off-campus host site partner! This has truly been an exciting synergistic effort encompassing all of Northeast Indiana!”
Notre Dame has appeared in the NCAA Tournament three times in the last five years, playing in the Midwest Regional in 2004 and 2007 at Grand Rapids, Mich., and then last year in Colorado Springs, Colo. where they won the West Regional on the way to their first-ever berth in the NCAA Frozen Four.