The Auburn Ice Hockey Club is preparing to take on Georgia in an outdoor contest in late February, the club announced on Saturday.
The series will take place somewhere in Athens, but the exact location of the game has not been revealed. A source associated with the team told The Plainsman that it also indicated to make it an annual event.
The Tigers will be wearing specially designed jerseys for the event. These jerseys, along with an associated line of merchandise, will be available for a limited sale.
The series draws inspiration from the NHL’s Winter Classic series, which started in 2008, as a way to show the game to a large outdoor audience. While Alabama is not a traditional hub of hockey, the sport has seen a rise in popularity over the past few years, partly due to the success of nearby Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL.
Auburn Hockey is currently 6-2-2 on the season, including a 3-2 OT loss to the Georgia Bulldogs. The club underwent a coaching change. Former head coach Marcel Richard, who was with the team for eight years, was replaced by former assistant Ryan Rutz.
More details on the outdoor series, as well as the special alternate jerseys, are set to arrive soon. Until then, Auburn Hockey has several weekend series against Alabama and Florida Atlantic, including a home series against the Crimson Tide on Jan. 22 and 23 at the Columbus Civic Center in Columbus, Georgia.
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Dylan Fox, Junior in Civil Site Design Engineering, joined The Plainsman as a sports writer in Spring 2020. From Geneva, IL.
