Notre Dame has moved the second game of a two-game weekend series with Yale to Allstate Arena in suburban Chicago.
The game, to be played Saturday, Jan. 18 at 7:05 (CT), will be the Irish’s first game in Chicago since 1995-96. The game scheduled for Friday, Jan. 17 between Notre Dame and Yale will remain in South Bend at the Joyce Center.
“It’s great to be bringing Division I college hockey back to the Chicago area,” said Fighting Irish head coach Dave Poulin. “We have four players from the Chicago area and it will be a great chance for them to play in front of their families and friends in a major league building like the Allstate Arena. Chicago has become an extremely important recruiting area for our program and this is a great way to get exposure for Notre Dame hockey in the area.”
The four Notre Dame players from the Chicago suburban area are seniors Evan Nielsen (Evanston) and Tony Zasowski (Darien), junior Brett Lebda (Buffalo Grove) and sophomore Joe Zurenko (Arlington Heights). A fifth player, senior Michael Chin (Urbana, Ill.), is also an Illinois native.
Allstate Arena — formerly known as the Rosemont Horizon — is located in Rosemont, Ill., and is home to the American Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves, the defending Calder Cup champions.
Cary Capparelli, the director of the Notre Dame-Yale Collegiate Hockey Classic, said, “The Allstate Arena is proud about bringing big-time college hockey back into metropolitan Chicago. With its huge alumni base in Chicago, this offers Notre Dame an exciting venue for its hockey program. We are hopeful this is just the first of many Notre Dame games played at the Allstate Arena.”
