STILLWATER – As first reported by Scott Pfeil of KOTV Channel 6 Sports in Tulsa, the Oklahoma State hockey club team will be holding a four-day event on Boone Pickens Stadium ice. It will be similar to the popular NHL Stadium Series. The Oklahoma State hockey club participated in a similar this past season at Penn State University inside gigantic Beaver Stadium. The OSU game had to be moved indoors because of weather.
The Oklahoma State club hockey squad is one of the best at its level in the collegiate club ranks. The team recently reached the Frozen Four of the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s Division 2 national tournament, losing 3-2 to Florida Gulf Coast in the championship game.
The festival next January inside Boone Pickens Stadium is planned as a four-day event. It is expected to include games between multiple teams with the OSU club team playing twice including possibly a Bedlam game against the OU club team. There will also be public skating opportunities and possibly a hockey clinic and lessons for younger kids interested.
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Oklahoma State hockey in action against Missouri’s club team. The Cowboys team beat OU in a game played in the BOK Center in Tulsa in February with a 13-2 final score.
Pokes Report did confirm that the event is on through Oklahoma State University Athletic Department sources. The OSU club hockey program will be paying rent to use the stadium and supporting facilities and Oklahoma State Athletics will monitor and have input as to who the vendors and the ice set-up people are. Our source told us that the athletic department will make some money off the event in the form of rent. They also confirmed that this is not a sign that Oklahoma State University is in the process of sponsoring hockey as a sport. At this time, the athletic department is not in a financial position to bring on any other sports.
The OSU hockey club has a major benefactor in Dallas, Texas investment banker Michael Mann. He has met with Oklahoma State athletics director Chad Weiberg, but again, Oklahoma State is not in a position to bring on another NCAA varsity sport, particularly one as expensive as ice hockey.
The OSU hockey club team was 23-1 in the ACHA regular season. Mann and the club have openly voiced the desire to elevate the club to the NCAA Division I level.
