Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges stemming from an incident in which police used pepper spray to subdue him after an off-campus party.SOUTH BEND – Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson wants to bring the atmosphere of college hockey to Fort Wayne.
Along with the Irish playing a regular-season game against Michigan State on Nov. 22 at Memorial Coliseum, the NCAA tournament will come to town this season.
The Coliseum will be the site for the NCAA Midwest Regional on March 27 and 28, with Notre Dame as the host school.
“I find it hard to believe that it just wouldn’t be an awesome college hockey environment in (the Coliseum) when it was full,” said Jackson, who guided the Irish to a 4-3 victory over Northern Michigan at the Coliseum on Dec. 30, 2006.
“ I’m hoping Fort Wayne proves to be that site that the NCAA looks at as a potential annual or semi-annual site for the hockey regionals.”
Tickets for the Midwest Regional go on sale at 10 a.m. today.
“I think the support of the community is what makes a great hockey town,” Jackson said. “Fort Wayne for minor pro hockey has done a tremendous job of maintaining a high-caliber program and high-caliber organization that continues to draw extremely well.”
