TU Center lands NCAA hockey
Arena will be allowed to admit fans, up to 10 percent of capacity
Downtown Albany has landed another NCAA championship event, and, for the first time in more than a year, fans will be permitted to attend.
The Times Union Center on Thursday officially was awarded the NCAA Ice Hockey Regional, to be held Saturdaysunday, March 27-28, and up to 1,392 fans — 10 percent of arena capacity for the sport — will be permitted to attend.
All-session tickets, priced at $50 apiece, will go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday through Ticketmaster. They will be sold in two-person pods, and all pods will be a minimum of 9 feet apart to abide by New York State guidelines established because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Temperature checks are going to be in place upon arrival,” Times Union Center general manager Bob Belber said. “People are going to have
to bring with them or show on their phones emails that they may have received in conjunction with a negative PCR COVID test. They have to have that in order to get in with their ticket.”
Albany also is host for the NCAA Division II basketball East Regional, to be played March 12-15, but those five games have been moved to the adjacent Albany Capital Center because no fans will be permitted.
“No family or friends, either,” ACC general manager Doug Mcclaine said. “Just the games.”
Albany was chosen as a hockey regional site when Manchester, N.H., dropped out last month. Other regional sites are Bridgeport, Conn., Fargo, N.D., and Loveland, Colo. The ECAC will be the host of the Albany regional.
“Albany has a rich tradition of hosting NCAA men’s ice hockey tournament games, so we know they will do an outstanding job,” Kristin Fasbender, director of championships and for the NCAA, said in a statement. “The Times Union Center staff is tremendous, and we know they can handle all the challenges that hosting an event in the COVID-19 era present.”
There will be a semifinal doubleheader Saturday, March 27, and the regional championship game the following day. Teams and starting times will be announced during the NCAA selection show Sunday, March 21.
“It will be a great atmosphere,” Belber said. “Obviously, we’re living in a different time with the COVID. There’s great light at the end of the tunnel with regard to the number of people that are getting vaccinated, and that only can mean that we’re going to get down the road further here and hopefully have a widening of the number of sellable seats.”
The arena has not held a live
event since a Casting Crowns concert on March 8, 2020. The arena was selected as a subregional host for the 2020 men’s basketball championship, but the entire tournament was canceled because of COVID. The building also was selected as the host site for the Division I women’s basketball East Regional on March 26-29, but the NCAA opted to hold the entire tournament in a bubble in San Antonio.
“I feel comfortable that all of our safety protocols, our safety shield plan that we’ve reviewed with the Department of Health, is going to be all set to go,” Belber said. “Our MERV 13 filters are going to be in. Many people don’t know this, but we actually bring in outside air to filter in our building, and the air is exhausted out of the top roof vent.
“There will be social distancing from start to finish. There
will be dedicated arrival times for people when they buy tickets. We will be separating the people as they arrive and cutting down on how many people will be coming in at one time. Concessions, you’ll see many of the plexiglass point-of-purchase scenarios, signage throughout the building that will relate to the mask mandate. The only time that food and beverage will be able to be consumed will be at their seats. Once they’re done consuming, the mask has to go back on. There will be enforcement throughout the building by our employees.”
For the Division II basketball, six teams will be assigned to Albany. The NCAA selection show is at 10:30 p.m. Sunday.
The basketball schedule calls for two games Saturday, March 13; two games Sunday, March 14, and the championship game
Tuesday, March 16. All games will be streamed live by NCAA.COM, and are expected to be in the evening, although the times won’t be announced until after the selection show.
“Saint Rose did get a waiver, so they are eligible for the tournament,” Mcclaine said. “Whether or not they’ll be selected, I’m not sure.”
Saint Rose, which is the host school, didn’t start its season until Feb. 5 and sports a 4-3 record. Without the waiver, the Golden Knights would have needed 11 games to be eligible.
Daemen College (7-4), led in scoring by Guilderland High graduate Andrew Sischo, is among the teams likely to be sent to Albany.