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SCHENECTADY, NY – The Union College men's ice hockey and head coach Nate Leaman released the 2010-11 regular season schedule, which includes 36 contests against 12 non-league opponents and the 11 members of ECAC Hockey. The Dutchmen will make trips to Alaska-Fairbanks, Western Michigan and Minnesota and will take on Rensselaer in Lake Placid as part of a two-game showcase that also includes Clarkson and St. Lawrence.

 

“We take three trips west and I think they are really going to build our road mentality,” Leaman said. “Winning on the road is always difficult, but I think putting our squad in challenging situations is only going to build the character and caliber of our team.

 

“As for Lake Placid, It's going to be a great event. As a coach I participated when the league held the championship weekend there. It is a special place to play hockey and I think its going to be a special place to watch hockey for our fans.”

 

Union, which posted a school-record 21 wins last season and made it to the ECAC Hockey Championship game, opens the season with a home series against Sacred Heart on Oct. 8-9.

 

The following weekend, the Dutchmen travel 4,000-plus miles to participate in the Alaska-Fairbanks Goal Rush. Union takes on the host school on Friday, Oct. 15 at 8:05 p.m., which is Saturday, Oct. 16 at 12:05 a.m. in the Eastern Time Zone. An 8:05 p.m. (EST) game follows against Alaska-Anchorage the following night.

 

A three-game homestand waits Union upon its arrive back to Messa Rink. Niagara and 2010 Frozen Four finalist R.I.T show up on Oct. 22-23. Connecticut makes its second trip to Schenectady in three years for a rare Thursday night game on Oct. 28.

 

After a day off, Union takes on RPI in Lake Placid on Oct. 30 for a 4 p.m. contest. The game will be the first of three against the Engineers. The next two take place two weeks later with a home-and-home series starting at Union on Nov. 12 and ending at RPI on Nov. 13.

 

The weekend prior, the Dutchmen open up league play at Harvard on Nov. 5 and at Dartmouth on Nov. 6.

 

“Our league is going to be tight as usual,” Leaman said. “I think it would be difficult to pick the top three in our league and the bottom three. I like the team we are turning, but I know every game is going to be highly contested.”

 

After games at Brown and Yale on (Dec. 3-4), Union welcomes American International and Army to Messa Rink on Dec. 10-11. The team then takes two trips. The first is to Western Michigan for back-to-back games on Dec. 18-19. The second is to the Minnesota Dodge Holiday Tournament. Union plays Minnesota on Dec. 31 and Bemidji on Jan. 1.

 

As usual, the Dutchmen end the season with a long stretch of ECAC Hockey games. They take to the road for games at Colgate and Cornell (Jan. 14-15), at Princeton and Quinnipiac (Feb. 4-5) and at Clarkson and St. Lawrence (Jan. 18-19).

 

The final stretch includes five home, weekend sets with St. Lawrence and Clarkson (Jan. 7-8), Dartmouth and Harvard (Jan. 21-22), Brown and Yale (Jan. 28-29), Cornell and Colgate (Feb. 11-12) and finally Quinnipiac and Princeton (Feb. 25-26).