The University of Maine and the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland will be sharing expenses and revenues from the 2015 Ice Breaker Tournament, according to Will Biberstein, the associate athletic director for internal operations at UMaine.
Biberstein said when UMaine plays a regular-season game in Portland, the university simply rents the facility.
“This is an opportunity to expand our relationship with the Cross Insurance Arena,” said Biberstein.
Global Spectrum manages the Cross Insurance Arena, as it does the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
The University of North Dakota, a member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference that reached the Frozen Four last season, will take on Western Collegiate Hockey Association member Lake Superior State to open the tourney at 4:30 p.m., and Maine will face Big Ten school Michigan State at 8 p.m.
The next day, Michigan State and Lake Superior State play at 4:30 p.m., and Maine and North Dakota face off at 8 p.m.
Biberstein said the expenses shared by the school and Cross Insurance Arena will include $75,000 to College Hockey Inc., which manages the event on behalf of the Hockey Commissioners Association, along with $15,000 in travel expenses for each of the three visiting schools ($45,000 total) and $26,700 for three nights of hotel rooms for them ($8,670 apiece).
Biberstein said the university and Cross Insurance Arena’s revenues will include ticket sales, concessions and merchandise.
“It will all go into the revenue stream and, at the end of the day, we’ll hopefully share the profits,” said Biberstein.
The university’s own expenses, including travel and hotel rooms, will come out of the profits.
The Cross Insurance Arena can hold 6,183 fans, and tickets will be $25 for a single session (two games) and a Gorham Savings Bank Power Play Pack at $45 for all four games.
Biberstein said they are working with Black Bear Sports Properties and Learfield Communications to try secure a television deal for the tournament.
“Ideally, we’d love to show all four games,” said Biberstein. “It’s a great college hockey matchup, and we’d love to bring more exposure to the Ice Breaker and Maine athletics.”
Biberstein is optimistic that the tournament will be a money-maker, noting that fans have always turned out when the team played in Portland.
“If you go back through the numbers, when we play a high level of competition, Maine hockey fans come out and really support us. They want to see great college hockey, and with the field we’ve put together, they’ll come out,” said Biberstein.
Last year’s game in Portland between Maine and New Hampshire drew a sellout crowd of 6,183. UNH won 7-4 to snap Maine’s 15-game unbeaten streak in Portland (12-0-3).
The four schools have combined to win 15 NCAA Division I championships led by North Dakota’s seven. Michigan State and Lake Superior State have each won three, and Maine has notched two.
“The field is phenomenal, and we have a history with each member,” said Maine coach Red Gendron.
Michigan State’s top scoring defenseman this past season was Travis Walsh, son of late Maine coach Shawn Walsh. He will be a senior in the fall.
Maine has played the other three schools in various Frozen Fours and won its first NCAA tournament in 1993 with a come-from-behind 5-4 win over Lake Superior State.
“This is going to be a fabulous event for the student-athletes, the visiting schools and all of our fans across the state,” Gendron said. “We’ll put our best foot forward for the state and for college hockey.”
The Ice Breaker is an exempt tournament, meaning the games will count on their records but not toward the maximum 34 games allowed under NCAA regulations.
Biberstein and Gendron are hoping the Ice Breaker serves as a forerunner to placing a bid for an NCAA Regional.
“That is our long-term goal,” said Biberstein, who noted that the recent $34 million renovation to the Cross Insurance Arena, which included the addition of locker rooms, will help their chances.