BILL GRAY'S REGIONAL ICEPLEX HOSTING THREE MAJOR ICE HOCKEY EVENTS THIS WEEKEND

Bill Gray’s Regional Iceplex is playing host to three major ice hockey events this weekend at the 186,000 square foot multi-use sports facility.  In all, over 2,500 athletes and visitors are expected to visit the Iceplex over the course of this weekend.

SuperSeriesAAA Bracket Madness:  October 26th – 28th
17 Peewee Minor AAA teams are competing in this annual ice hockey tournament organized by SuperSeriesAAA, which is based out of Livingston, New Jersey.  Teams from NY, CT, NJ, MA, PA, CA, NY, and Canada will be participating in this tournament, which runs Friday through Sunday.
For more information, visit www.superseriesaaa.com.

Mite Fright Tournament: October 27th and 28th
This annual hockey event, run by Rochester Youth Hockey, has 23 teams from all over Wester New York competing.  Teams are all from the Mite level, meaning players are all 7 and 8 years of age, with games taking place in a cross ice format.
For more information, visit www.ryhockeytournaments.com.

Nazareth Women’s Hockey: October 26th and 27th
Nazareth's newest intercollegiate team -- women's hockey -- makes its debut this weekend with a pair of non-conference home games against Anna Maria College of Massachusetts. Friday's first face-off is at 6 p.m., Saturday's at 2 p.m.

Head Coach Chris Baudo has spent more than a year recruiting players from all over the United States. Nine different states and one foreign country (Sweden) are represented on the 27-player roster. There are 24 freshmen and three sophomores.

"The plan is to be consistent every day in what we do and to be better every day," said Baudo, who previously coached at The Gunnery prep school in Connecticut. "We haven't talked about wins and losses, but the cool thing is that we are what we are right now, but we're not what we're going to be."

As competitors in the 10-team UCHC, Nazareth will play a 25-game schedule with 13 home games. The Golden Flyers' first taste of college hockey came last Saturday when they traveled to Morrisville for an exhibition game. Though they lost 4-1, Baudo and his troops were encouraged by the team's resilience. Three of the four goals that were allowed came in the closing minute of each period, including an empty-net tally with 30 seconds left in the third.

"I think we gained come confidence in knowing that we can compete right away," said Baudo. "We know that it's going to take a consistent work ethic and playing hard and fast all the time."

Even though the Golden Flyers have yet to play an official game, they were picked to place eighth in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference for 2018-19.
 
"We're chomping at the bit," said Baudo. "I think the kids have been blown away by the support of the school and they're anxious to get started."
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For more information, visit www.nazathletics.com.