Stanley Cup Makes Visit To Adrian College posted 10/15/07
Hockey's Holy Grail will visit for the College’s ice arena dedication.

ADRIAN, Mich. - Adrian College is pleased to announce the dedication weekend of Arrington Ice Arena Oct. 19-21, with a special appearance of the Stanley Cup on Oct. 20.

The Stanley Cup, the National Hockey League’s championship trophy, will be on campus to help promote the College’s first-ever weekend of NCAA hockey. The men's and women's varsity hockey teams will take the ice for the first time in Adrian College history.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to have the Stanley Cup on campus at such an exciting time for Adrian College hockey,” Athletic Director Mike Duffy said. “We couldn’t imagine a better way to start off our new programs and get a lot of people on campus for a great hockey weekend.”

Arrington Ice Arena is a brand new multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art facility that is home to Adrian's four collegiate on-ice programs: men's varsity Division III hockey, women's varsity Division III hockey, men's ACHA Division I hockey, and synchronized skating.

Adrian has been recruiting student athletes for its ice teams for over one year. The only other school in Michigan to currently offer NCAA Division III hockey is Finlandia University, located 12 hours away in the Upper Peninsula. According to collegehockeyrecruits.com, Adrian captured the top 2007 recruiting class in all of NCAA Division III men’s ice hockey.

The Cup will be attended by Philip Pritchard, vice president of hockey operations at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario. Known as the “Keeper of the Cup,” he is one of the two men who present the Cup at the conclusion of the NHL playoffs.

The Stanley Cup is the oldest trophy for professional athletes in North America and has 100 years of history written on it. Every year the winning roster is engraved on the famous icon. The Cup has passed through the hands of the world's greatest players including Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Steve Yzerman, and Mario Lemieux.

Michigan is no stranger to this timeless carving of history. The Detroit Red Wings have won the Stanley Cup championship 10 times with its most recent victory in 2002.

The Stanley Cup has a busy schedule when it’s in town on Oct. 20, with both private and public viewings. The Cup will be open to the public on Saturday afternoon and visitors can have their picture taken with it by a professional photographer for a fee.

The men’s varsity hockey team plays Potsdam State University on Friday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. A private dedication ceremony will precede the game at 6 p.m. The men will play Potsdam again at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

The Adrian College women’s varsity hockey team will host Chatham College on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 3 p.m. and on Sunday, Oct. 21 at 2 p.m. A public dedication ceremony is scheduled before Saturday’s game.

For more information, visit www.adrian.edu or call 517-265-5161, ext. 5011.