The UND Hockey added a couple of exhibition hockey games north of border. The University of North Dakota, Princeton University and University of British Columbia will travel to Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia to play an in-season invitational at Simon Fraser University. Simon Fraser plays its home hockey games at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre.
For those that are wondering, Simon Fraser University is actually a member of the NCAA Division II conference the GNAC which is in the same athletic conference that UAF and UAA are a member of.
I know there are some fans in the UND fan base that have questioned the logic of this exhibition road trip. I think that it’s pure genius. Long road trips like this also give the UND hockey trip an opportunity to bond on the road.
Official press release
GRAND FORKS, N.D. – For the second time in three seasons, the University of North Dakota men’s hockey program will travel to Canada for in-season competition.
Head coach Dave Hakstol announced today that UND has added the Great Northwest Showcase in Burnaby, British Columbia, to its 2013-14 schedule. UND will face the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University on Jan. 3-4 in a pair of exhibition games at Bill Copeland Sports Centre, the home of Simon Fraser men’s hockey. Princeton University will round out the four-team field.
“We appreciate the invitation and are proud to be a part of this tournament,” said Hakstol. “It is a great opportunity to spread the footprint of NCAA Division I hockey and, at the same time, allows many of our players from Western Canada to return home for two exhibition games.”
The Great Northwest Showcase began in 2012 as a four-game exhibition showcasing top level international university men’s hockey, while promoting the importance of education during an athlete’s competitive career. The event is organized by the Burnaby Mountain Hockey Society, a non-profit organization incorporated in 2010 as the promotional and fundraising body of the SFU men’s hockey program.
Tickets for the Great Northwest Showcase will go on sale in the fall. Official game times will be announced at a later date.
In 2011-12, UND played a regular season non-conference game against Clarkson at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg. Dubbed the ‘U.S. College Hockey Classic,' the win over Clarkson was UND's first game on Canadian soil in 59 years. Prior to that, the last time UND played a men's hockey game in Canada was Dec. 29-30, 1953, when UND lost a pair of games to host Fort Frances (Ontario).
