June 11, 2008

Fairfield, CT - Ten games against teams in the 2008 NCAA men's ice hockey tournament, including a series with national runner-up Notre Dame, highlight the 2008-09 Sacred Heart men's ice hockey schedule, announced by head coach Shaun Hannah. The Pioneers will make 16 appearances on home ice and face national and regional powers in addition to their Atlantic Hockey schedule.

Sacred Heart will open their season with a tough match-up right out of the gate, as they welcome defending AHA champion Air Force to the Milford Ice Pavilion on October 10 and 11. After facing the defending league champions, the Pioneers travel to Indiana for a series against national runner-up Notre Dame October 17-18.

As October comes to a close league play heats up as the Pioneers host AHA rival RIT October 24-25 then face defending regular season champion Army in a home-and-home series on October 31 and November 1. After a weekend off, the Pioneers face AIC in a home-and-home set November 14-15 and travel to Air Force the weekend before Thanksgiving. During the holiday weekend, the Pioneers will play a pair of matinees with Holy Cross on November 29 and 30. A midweek date with Connecticut on December 2 concludes the first half schedule for Sacred Heart.

During the holiday season SHU will play two non-league series against two national powerhouses. The Pioneers visit Colorado College December 19-20. During the first weekend of 2009, SHU hosts Niagara for a weekend set at the Milford Ice Pavilion on January 2 and 3.

The Pioneers kick-off the second half of the Atlantic Hockey season against UConn on January 6. SHU will then travel to Erie for a two game set at Mercyhurst January 16-17 and then host Bentley for a pair of games the following weekend.

As January ends and February begins, the Pioneers will log a lot of miles traveling through New York State. Back-to-back weekend trips to Canisius and RIT are followed by a home and home set with Army. Two game, home-and-home series with AIC and Holy Cross close out the regular season for the Pioneers.

Atlantic Hockey has once again tweaked its playoff format for 2008-09. Seedings will be determined by the final regular season standings. The seven through ten seeds will play a single elimination, first-round game on March 7. The winners of those contests will advance to the quarterfinals with the other top six seeds. The quarterfinals will be a best-of-three format, held March 13-15.

The four quarterfinal winners advance to the AHA Final Four in Rochester, NY. The semifinals are set for March 20 with the championship game slated for March 21 at the Blue Cross Arena.