Mercyhurst Ice Center is a 35,280 square foot, 1,500-seat
hockey rink
An ice hockey rink is an ice rink that is specifically designed for ice hockey, a competitive team sport. Alternatively it is used for other sports such as broomball, ringette, rinkball, and rink bandy. It is a rectangle with rounded corners an ...
in
Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pen ...
, United States. It is home to the
Mercyhurst University Lakers Men's and
Women's ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
teams. The center was the first privately funded
ice rink
An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water or an artificial sheet of ice where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The growth and increasing popularity of ...
in Erie when it opened on 8 December 1991. The school expects to retire its 30-year construction bond through the assessment of a student fee, which produces $80,000 annually.
Lakers Men's Team
The Lakers men's ice hockey team currently competes in Division I
Atlantic Hockey
The Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) was an NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey conference which operates primarily in the northeastern United States. It participated in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference. Unlike several other ...
. Prior to 1991, the Lakers were known as ''The Boys on the Bus'' because they had to shuttle by bus to local civic ice rinks for events. Their determination and competitiveness encouraged the school to build the new center. The arena was the site of the 1995
NCAA Men's Division II Ice Hockey Championship.
Laker's Women's Team
Lakers women's ice hockey has been played at the center since the team formed in 1999. The women, who play in the
College Hockey America
College Hockey America (CHA) was a college ice hockey conference in the United States. It participated in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. The conference's final membership featured six women's teams, with three in Pennsylvani ...
league, reached the 2007 NCAA
Frozen Four
The annual NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament is a college ice hockey tournament held in the United States by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to determine the top men's team in Division I. Like other Division I cham ...
as #2 seed. Their overtime loss to Duluth in quarterfinal play at the Ice Center on 9 March 2007 left the Lakers with a 32-2-3 season recor
General Uses
The Ice Center hosts local youth and high school hockey programs, as well as recreational skating for Mercyhurst students.
See also
*
Mercyhurst University
External links
Lakers Women's Ice Hockey
1991 establishments in Pennsylvania
College ice hockey venues in Pennsylvania
Sports venues completed in 1991
Mercyhurst Lakers ice hockey
Sports venues in Erie, Pennsylvania
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