Coming off its best season in almost 10 years, the Clarkson University Hockey team will face a challenging task in trying to surpass last season's success when the Golden Knights begin their 86th year of NCAA hockey in 2007-08. The 35-game slate features eight contests against teams from last year's NCAA tournament for fifth-year head coach George Roll's squad, along with the 22-game ECAC Hockey campaign.
Highlights on the 2007-08 schedule are the 17 regular-season home games at Cheel Arena in Potsdam, NY, including the 11-game league slate, along with a weekend series against WCHA standout St. Cloud on November 23-24, and a match up vs. perennial NCAA and Hockey East powerhouse Boston College on January 5. The Knights and Eagles last played during the 1997-98 campaign.
Clarkson will also take on two formidable opponents in a pair of non-league weekend road series. The Knights will travel to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to battle Lake Superior State in Sault Ste. Marie on October 26-27. Clarkson will also compete in a rare February non-league series, flying out West to face off against Colorado College at the Colorado Springs World Arena on February 1-2.
The Green and Gold will return to Sunshine State during the Christmas break, where they will battle Cornell, Lowell and Maine in the Florida College Classic on December 28-29. Clarkson played in the inaugural tournament held in Estero, Florida in 2000.
"Once again Greg (Drechsel) has done a phenomenal job with the scheduling," stated Roll. "We knew as things progressed here during our tenure the team would get better and we wanted to improve our schedule to reflect that. We have a great mixture of teams this year, featuring several of the top programs in the country. With coach York coming in to Cheel Arena with Boston College, that is an opportunity that Clarkson has not had in some time. The trips to Lake Superior and to Colorado College should be great experiences for our guys, along with the tournament in Florida. It is one of the top holiday tournaments in the country. After winning out in Wisconsin last year, we would like nothing more than to continue that trend of winning a quality tournament down in Florida."
Clarkson will begin the season early in the fall. After an exhibition contest against Acadia University (Canada) on October 6 at Cheel Arena, the Knights open the regular season with a non-league game at arch-rival St. Lawrence on Sunday afternoon, October 7 in a game broadcast live by ESPNU-TV, beginning at 4:00 p.m. from Appleton Arena.
A rematch against last year's NCAA East Regional foe, UMass follows on October 12 and the Knights host Providence on October 13. The ECAC Hockey campaign begins on Saturday October 20 when Clarkson and St. Lawrence faceoff in an early league contest at Cheel Arena.
For ticket information on all Clarkson Hockey games, contact the Cheel Arena box office (315) 268-7750. Reserve seating is $12.00 and general admission in $10.00.