Ice Breaker Tournament Skates Into Erie Insurance Arena

Friday, Oct. 12 - 13

The 2018 Ice Breaker Tournament is coming to Erie Insurance Arena. On Sept. 14, it was announced that Mercyhurst University (MU) won the bid for the Division I men's hockey tournament. The Erie Sports Commission and MU organized the event, with Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) standing as the title sponsor.

The Ice Breaker Tournament became an annual occurrence in 1997. The traditional start to the college ice hockey season, the tournament hosts four top-ranking national hockey teams from four different conferences.

This year's tournament will feature the University of Notre Dame, Providence College, Miami University and the host school, Mercyhurst. MU was most recently a part of the Ice Breaker Tournament in 2013, when it was hosted by the University of Minnesota.

As the host location this time around, "We're especially excited about the tournament because two of our teams finished in the Top 10 last year," Emily Biddle of Erie Sports Inc., said. "Preseason rankings for 18-19 haven't been released yet … but we're optimistic that these teams will remain high seeds."

One-day and weekend tickets are currently on sale for the tournament, which should draw the excitement of college hockey fans everywhere. — Hannah McDonald

4 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday // 809 French St. // $50 full weekend, $30 single-day // eriesportscommission.com/icebreaker/