Coming home to Athens: UGA Hockey season opens Sunday, Sept. 21 against rival Florida

ATHENS, Ga. – The 2014-15 UGA Hockey season will officially open Sunday, Sept. 21 at 1:30 p.m. when the Ice Dogs host rival Florida at the new Classic Center Arena in downtown Athens.

After 27 years of playing in facilities outside of Athens, UGA’s hockey program has finally now found a home just blocks away from the University of Georgia campus.

The Ice Dogs played their first game in the new Arena on April 9 in a special grand opening exhibition game in which they defeated rival Georgia Tech 6-3 before a sold-out, raucous crowd of 2,000 fans.

“Our goal is going to be to replicate that excitement, that experience, 20 times,” Head Coach John Hoos said. “I think we’re going to do just that.”

A total of 20 UGA home games are scheduled at The Classic Center Arena for the season.

Single tickets for all the home games are on sale now and start at $7. Several different ticket packages for students, groups and others are available. Fans can go to ClassicCenter.com to buy tickets, call 706-357-4444 or visit The Classic Center box office at 300 N. Thomas St. in downtown Athens.

Head Coach John Hoos said the introduction of hockey at The Classic Center Arena has been a game-changer for the Ice Dogs’ program, boosting recruiting and more of a local profile, considering its previous home at the IceFourm in Gwinnett County wasn’t nearly as convenient.

“Athens is on the map now as a hockey home,” he said.

In October 2013, The Classic Center received the green light for a project to install a temporary, removable ice rink and telescopic seating in its Grand Hall. In addition to hockey games, The Classic Center can host other ice entertainment shows and public skating, which opens Sept. 21 as well.

Since UGA’s hockey program is a non-varsity sport, it competes in the South Eastern Collegiate Hockey Conference (which includes 12 of the schools from what is known as the SEC in football and other sports).

So the names and universities representing opposing teams – Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia Tech, LSU, South Carolina and Tennessee, for example – will be familiar. The atmosphere isn’t quite the same. One major bonus for many fans is that alcohol can be sold at The Classic Center Arena, which is not the case at NCAA-sanctioned events.

And at every home game there will also be a large family area with activities for children throughout the concourse leading into the arena.

Georgia is rebounding from an 8-11-2 record this past season, but an injury-plagued group improved as the season progressed and the roster became healthier. Counting the Georgia Tech victory, the Ice Dogs won four of their final six games and hope to continue that improvement with a large core of players back for a new season.

Hoos recently finalized a 27-player roster for this season that includes roughly 16 returnees and team members from as far away as Vermont, Michigan, Minnesota, Massachusetts and New York and as close as the Atlanta area.

Among the key players are senior goal-tender Kevin Smith, an Alpharetta native who missed the first half of last season after undergoing surgery, senior defenseman Nick Carlotto (who now is planning to be back in goal) and junior forwards Stephen Bray and David Bakin, who is now about to enjoy a full season after study abroad trips limited his past two seasons.