Oct. 8, 2008

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BOSTON - College hockey season is here, and Agganis Arena will be the location for the first regular-season puck drop, as Boston University will serve as host for the 12th annual Ice Breaker Invitational on Oct. 10-11. The ninth-ranked Terriers will welcome No. 5 North Dakota, No. 11 Michigan State and Massachusetts to Boston for the nation's premier season-opening tournament.

This year's Ice Breaker format will feature an "East vs. West" competition, as BU and Hockey East rival UMass will each face Michigan State and North Dakota. The Spartans won the 2007 NCAA title, while the Fighting Sioux have advanced to the Frozen Four in each of the last four seasons.

Michigan State and UMass will be the first two Division I teams to kick off their 2008-09 campaign when they face off on Friday (Oct. 10) at 4:30 p.m. before the Terriers take on North Dakota at 7:30 p.m. Day two of the Ice Breaker will feature the Minutemen squaring off against the Fighting Sioux at 4:30 p.m., followed by BU against the Spartans in the finale at 7:30 p.m. All four games will be streamed live on GoTerriers.com through BU All-Access.

The Ice Breaker will be held in Massachusetts for the first time ever and BU will become the third Hockey East school to serve as the tournament's host, joining Maine (2001) and New Hampshire (2004). Hockey East has had the most success in the Ice Breaker of any conference, having won 17 of its 22 contests in the tournament - good for a .773 winning percentage - while claiming six of the previous 11 titles.

The Terriers and head coach Jack Parker, who enters his 36th season at the BU post and has 781 career victories, will be making their third Ice Breaker appearance, having participated in the tournament both times it took place in Madison, Wis. The Badgers hosted the inaugural event in 1997 before having it return in 2002, when BU claimed the title with a win over Rensselaer.

This year's field promises to be one of the best ever, as it features three of the top dozen teams in the preseason rankings.

BU (19-17-4 in 2007-08) enters its season with high hopes, as eight of its top 10 scorers from last year return, including senior co-captain Matt Gilroy, who is the only player in the country to have earned All-America honors in each of the past two seasons. Sophomore Colin Wilson, who was the first collegiate player selected in this past summer's NHL Entry Draft (7th overall, Nashville), is the reigning Hockey East Rookie of the Year and is part of an offense that ranked sixth in the country last year and includes four seniors (Chris Higgins, Jason Lawrence, John McCarthy, Brandon Yip) who have been in the lineup since they were freshmen.

The Minutemen (14-16-6 in 2007-08) and head coach Don "Toot" Cahoon - a former BU standout and assistant coach - will be making their Ice Breaker debut. UMass, which was ranked as high as fifth in the country last season, returns seven of its top 10 scorers from 2007-08, including its top two in sophomore James Marcou (8-24--32) and senior co-captain Cory Quirk (11-18--29). The Minutemen received votes in both preseason national polls. The inclusion of both UMass and BU marks the first time that half of the event's four-team field is from the same league.

2007 NCAA champion Michigan State (25-12-5 in 2007-08; NCAA Regional finalist) is led by All-America senior goaltender Jeff Lerg, who was one of five finalists for last year's James E. Sullivan Award, honoring the most outstanding amateur athlete in the country. In his seventh year as head coach of the Spartans, Rick Comley needs just six wins to become the fourth Division I coach in NCAA history to reach 750 career victories. Like BU, Michigan State will be making its third Ice Breaker appearance, having won the first tournament in 1997 before hosting in 2003.

Senior Ryan Duncan, who won the 2007 Hobey Baker Award and leads all active players in career points with 133, will lead the way for this year's Fighting Sioux (28-11-4 in 2007-08; NCAA semifinalist) squad. Dave Hakstol enters his fifth season behind the North Dakota bench after joining Parker and Minnesota's Doug Woog as the only coaches to ever lead their team to the NCAA semifinals in each of their first four seasons. The Fighting Sioux also have previous Ice Breaker experience, having played in the 2000 tournament.

Since this year's format does not include a championship game, the winner will be determined by the teams' records over the two days. All tied games will have a shootout immediately following the end of the five-minute overtime period. Those contests will be officially recorded as a tie and the shootout result will only count toward breaking potential ties to determine the Ice Breaker champion. Head-to-head competition and goal differential are the first two tiebreakers should two teams have the same record.

Tickets for both days of the Ice Breaker are still available and can be purchased by visiting the Agganis Arena ticket office at 925 Commonwealth Ave. or by clicking here.