Facility operators at Penn State aren’t shying away from the intense bout of winter weather that has covered much of the Midwest and Northeast with snow and sub-zero temperatures; instead, the Nittany Lions will be hosting two outdoor hockey games at Beaver Stadium this week.
According to Inside The Lions, the women’s hockey team will play Robert Morris on Friday, Jan. 30, and the men’s hockey team will play Michigan State on Saturday, Jan. 31.
More than 67,000 fans purchased tickets to the outdoor ice hockey games and fan events, including an open skate opportunity.
“It’s an outdoor hockey game in the end of January in Central PA — our goal is to do the best that we can and make it safe for everybody that’s coming to see this outstanding opportunity here in the venue,” said Herb Combs, Penn State’s associate athletic director for facilities management and operations.
Remarkable about Penn State’s outdoor ice hockey rink installation is the absence of the NHL. Most often, the NHL will coordinate events to assist in the rink build, but this time, Penn State contracted directly with the same ice rink vendor that installed the NHL Winter Classic facility.
Following the Nittany Lions’ hockey games, the outdoor rink will see action from Penn State’s club hockey team, the State College Youth Ice Hockey Association (SCYIHA) teams and the State College Area High School’s varsity hockey team.
All of this wintery action is billed as a part of Penn State’s ‘Winter Sports Weekend’ that includes more than 15 sporting events during an otherwise slow point in the athletics calendar. Indoor track and field, volleyball, wrestling and swimming will all be competing at home this weekend. Country singer Jason Aldean will perform a concert at the Bryce Jordan Center and Penn State will host a pep rally inside the bubble.
“It’s a weekend kind of like we’ve never seen here before in the winter,” said Vinnie James, Penn State’s deputy athletic director for internal operations.
