University of Maine athletic officials had just announced Tuesday the field of teams they’ll be hosting in the 2015 Ice Breaker college hockey tournament in Portland when discussion shifted to an even bigger prize.

What about landing an NCAA regional tournament at Cross Insurance Arena?

“We’re looking at this as an opportunity to show that we can host these events if people are into supporting it,” said Seth Woodcock, the Black Bears’ Associate Director of Athletic Development. “The goal here isn’t to get a regional. The goal is to host the Ice Breaker tournament and kill it. And we’re hoping it shows we’re capable of hosting other things as well.”

The four-team event – considered the kickoff of the college hockey season – is in its 19th year. This is the second time Maine has hosted the event, which was held in Orono in 2001. Maine also competed in 2005 and 2012.

The Black Bears will play Michigan State at 8 p.m. Oct. 9 and North Dakota at 8 p.m. Oct. 10 at the CIA. Lake Superior State is the fourth team in the field, and will play in the early game those days, at 4:30 p.m.

Maine Coach Red Gendron, heading into his third season, was responsible for securing the other three teams in the field and is excited about providing an early test for his team, which finished 14-22-3 last winter.

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“I want to schedule teams that are going to be challenging for us and exciting for our fans. I’m not trying to build wins into my schedule. We have to learn to win those games,” Gendron said.

Maine will follow up its Ice Breaker appearance with two games the following weekend at Union College, the 2014 national champions, and then a rare Tuesday game at Quinnipiac.

“Double-button your chinstrap, let’s go. That’s Maine hockey, thank you very much,” Gendron said.

“If we’re going to be great again, I’m not going to do it the easy way.”

Michigan State was 17-16-2 last season, while North Dakota finished 29-10-3 and reached the NCAA Frozen Four. North Dakota will be guided by first-year coach Brad Berry after Dave Hakstol was hired by the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday. Lake Superior State, which will be making its Ice Breaker debut, has a history with Maine. The Lakers ousted the Black Bears from the NCAA tournament in their first meeting in 1988. Five years later, Maine rallied to beat the Lakers for the 1993 national championship.

Tickets will cost $25 for one night and $45 for both evenings. They go on sale June 7 via Ticketmaster.

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Big crowds will be crucial to help Maine recoup the cost of hosting the tournament, but also to show the NCAA that Portland is a viable market for NCAA regional tournaments. CIA’s capacity is 6,733.

Maine’s bid for the 2015 event was accepted two years ago. The school paid a $75,000 guarantee to College Hockey Inc., which manages the Ice Breaker on behalf of the Hockey Commissioners Association. Maine also must pay $15,000 to the three visiting schools, plus provide 17 hotel rooms for each.

Offsetting those costs will be ticket sales plus corporate sponsorships. Gorham Savings Bank has signed on as the title sponsor.

The games are not yet scheduled to be televised. NESN had a conflict with those dates. ESPN3 is willing to live-stream the games, but Maine would have to provide the production.

It’s also possible the university could make the games available on its normal networks of Fox College Sports, WPME in Portland and WVII in Bangor. That decision will be made within a few weeks.

In the meantime, the Ice Breaker is leading to thoughts of more games potentially being held at the renovated CIA, which now has the four locker rooms required for such tournaments. Maine will also play New Hampshire at the Portland arena again this winter.

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“We just thought it was a good opportunity to rally our alumni base down here in Portland. We put on great events in Orono all year long. This is just kind of a chance for us to expand our footprint,” Woodcock said.

“When you look at the regionals now and where they’re held (including Providence, Rhode Island, and Manchester, New Hampshire, in March), we feel like we can compete. We’d like to be in the mix.

“We’re going to continue to play games down here in Portland. We could be looking at some conference games here. We’re not looking to move out of Alfond (Arena). We’re not trying to send shock waves to our supporters in Orono.”

Mark Emmert can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:

memmert@pressherald.com

Twitter: MarkEmmertPPH


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