Draft Press Release 4: Aggie Hockey

February 13, 2009
For Immediate Release
Utah State Hockey Team
2825 N 200 E
North Logan, Ut 84341


Last Chance for Nationals
Aggies Aim for Grand Rapids

The Utah State Aggies hockey team aims for a trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan this weekend when the host the Western Regional Tournament here in Logan at the Eccles Ice Center. The tournament consists of 8 teams seeded 3-10 in the Western Division. The tournament will be held this weekend Friday and Saturday the 27th-28th of February. The two teams that survive and win two games in two days will be the final two teams that will get the opportunity to go to Grand Rapids, Michigan to compete with 15 other teams in the National Tourament.

The tournament will consist of four games on Friday and another two on Saturday. On Friday February 27th, the #5 seeded Northern Colorado plays against the #8 seeded San Jose State University at 11 a.m. The next game is at 2 p.m. and the game it features the #4 seeded Eastern Washington University against the #9 seeded University of Nevada Las Vegas. The third game is at 5 p.m. and it is between the #3 Colorado University versus the #10 seeded San Diego State University. The last game is between the #6 seeded Utah State Aggies and the #7 seeded Denver University.

For Fridays game the Aggies would like to promote a “white out,” which is wear everybody is the stands come to the game in white shirts. This happens in the National Hockey League (NHL) for some teams when they get into the playoffs. It is an amazing site, which the Aggies would love to have replicated for their playoff run starting on Friday.

This is the last chance for Aggies Defenseman Jordan Francom, as his hockey eligibility runs out after this year. Francom is the captain of the team and the only player on the team that has experience at the national tournament. Francom went to nationals in March of 2004 in Laurel, Maryland, and again the next year in Oakland, Michigan. Francom had this to say about the possibility of the Aggies making it to nationals this year, “As far as talent goes there is no team in the league better than us, if we play as a team and work hard this weekend, we should be punching our ticket to Grand Rapids…the problem with our team this year has been individualism, if we get past that, we should have no problems.”

The Aggies would love the community to come out and support them in this tournament. Head Coach Jon Eccles had this to say about the home crowds at Eccles Ice Center, “It is a blast to come out and play in front of our fans, we certainly have the best fans in the league…hopefully our great fans can pack the house in white this weekend for the big weekend.”

For more information, contact:
Matt Ferris
Utah State Hockey Team
253-312-2387
Matthew.Ferris@aggiemail.usu.edu

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