Pegula To Host First NHL Pre-Season Game
GoPSUSports.com/UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa – Penn State and the Pegula Ice Arena will host their first National Hockey League pre-season game, with the Buffalo Sabres and Minnesota Wild.
The contest is set for Monday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. in the opening weekend for Pegula Ice Arena’s fourth year. Penn State men’s hockey season ticket holders will have an opportunity to purchase tickets for the Sabres-Wild game starting on July 18.
“We are thrilled to host the first of what we hope will be many NHL pre-season games in Pegula Ice Arena,” said Sandy Barbour, Penn State Director of Athletics. “We are very appreciative of the NHL and the Sabres for their partnership to bring a pre-season game to Penn State and further grow the game in central Pennsylvania. I know there will be significant interest by Penn Staters and hockey fans in Hockey Valley and beyond to be a part of the first NHL pre-season contest in our magnificent facility.”
The Sabres are owned by Terry Pegula, who joined with his wife, Kim, to donate $102 million to Penn State to fund the state-of-the-art Pegula Ice Arena and establish an NCAA Division I men’s hockey program in 2010. Penn State launched men’s and women’s varsity hockey programs in 2012-13 and moved into the spectacular Pegula Ice Arena for the 2013-14 season.
“We look forward to being the first team to bring professional hockey to Penn State at Pegula Ice Arena,” Buffalo Sabres President Russ Brandon said. “It will be a privilege for our organization to play in the state-of-the-art facility that Terry and Kim Pegula envisioned.”
Tickets for the game will range from $25-80 for Penn State men’s hockey season ticket holders, Nittany Lion Club members and students, as well as the public, if any tickets remain. There will be a fee for event parking, with the parking details to be announced.
Terry Pegula has had a profound hockey and economic impact in central Pennsylvania and western New York. Soon after purchasing the Buffalo Sabres in 2011, Pegula bought the AHL’s Rochester (N.Y.) Americans, maintaining the team’s affiliation with the Sabres. In 2012, the city of Buffalo selected Pegula and his development team to design and construct HARBORCenter, a $123 million mixed-use facility in downtown Buffalo that includes two rinks, a hotel, restaurants and other retailers. The complex opened in 2014.
