STORRS, Conn. – For the first time in the history of the program and to begin its 15th-anniversary season, Penn State will open play next year at the 2026 Ice Breaker Tournament in Connecticut at two of college hockey’s newest arenas.
The Ice Breaker is slated for October 9-10, 2026, and will be co-host by UConn and Sacred Heart at Toscano Family Ice Forum and Martire Family Arena, respectively. The two arenas each opened their doors in 2023 with only St. Thomas and Union who opened new arenas back in October, boast newer facilities in NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey.
Penn State will be joined by Bowling Green as the two will face each of the Connecticut schools once with the Nittany Lions opening at UConn on October 9 and closing with Sacred Heart on October 10 and the Falcons vice versa.
This will be Penn State’s first-ever Ice Breaker Tournament which is an annual event that began in 1997 in Madison, Wisconsin, and brings together four teams typically from different conferences, to celebrate the start of the college hockey season. College Hockey Inc. administers the Ice Breaker on behalf of the Hockey Commissioners Association.
For the Nittany Lions this will be its first trip to Sacred Heart and UConn since its first Division I season as they beat the Pioneers, 6-3, on October 27, 2012 before being swept by the Huskies, 4-3 and 4-1, back on January 4-5, 2013. UConn returned the trip the following season as the teams skated to a 2-2 tie before a 7-1 Nittany Lion victory the following night in Hockey Valley as the series is all knotted up at 2-2-1 through five meetings with the last coming in the 2025 Allentown Regional Final, a 2-1 overtime victory for Penn State.
The Nittany Lions are a perfect 6-0-0 all-time against Sacred Heart with the last meetings taking place on October 11-12, 2019, at Pegula Ice Arena.
Ticket information for the 2026 Ice Breaker Tournament will be announced at a later date.
Click HERE for Ice Breaker Tournament history, including previous locations, participants and champions.