By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
STORRS, CT – UCONN’S new building for their hockey teams has a new name, the Toscano Family Ice Forum.
A week after Sacred Heart University announced The Matire Family Arena was the name of their new arena, UCONN followed suit announcing their soon-to-be-completed on-campus arena now will bear the name of UCONN Board Trustee Chairman Dan Toscano as The Toscano Family Ice Forum. The full and formal Board approval is expected at its meeting on September 28th.
“Dan Toscano and his family have been remarkable friends and supporters of UCONN and our athletics programs for many years and are passionate hockey fans,” said David Benedict, Director of Athletics, in a prepared statement. “Our men’s and women’s programs compete in the strongest hockey league in the nation, and with the help of this gift, they’ll now be playing in one of the best campus ice arenas. The amenities in this state-of-the-art facility will transform the fan experience and provide every resource for our student-athletes and coaches to compete at a championship level. I’m grateful to Dan and his family for helping us position us for an exciting new era of UCONN hockey.
“Toscano and his wife, Tresa, have made UCONN a philanthropic priority for more than a quarter century, with the majority of their transformational support directed toward students with financial need, attracting top faculty, and athletics, among others.”
FREITAS RETIRED
The Toscano Family Ice Forum will replace the Freitas Ice Forum for both the men’s and women’s teams. The Freitas Ice Forum will be re-purposed for volleyball after this season. The ice portion at Freitas has reached its shelf life, and unlike the XL Center, its “other home” since its inception into Hockey East, this building will be retired.
UCONN will christen their new building with a game against Northeastern with a men’s and women’s game doubleheader on January 14th, the same day Sacred Heart will open their building when they play Boston College. The Huskies will play its final five home games in the new building, and next season will likely play a more significant number of games there as they seek to cut into the more than $60 million-dollar athletic department shortfall.
The Toscanos have been loyal supporters of UCONN Athletics and demonstrated a deep commitment to student-athletes, providing critical funding for capital projects, the Fight On Fund, the strength training facility in the Rizza Performance Center, and teams — basketball, baseball, ice hockey, soccer, and lacrosse.
UCONN SCHEDULE
The regular season kicks off with two games in Vermont for the first time in over two years on October 1st and 2nd. The Huskies’ home opener is set for October 7th in a non-conference meeting with Union College (ECACHL) at the XL Center. All games at the Toscano Family Center are listed as TBD- until the University receives a Certificate of Occupancy to play and host fans. Find their entire season’s schedule HERE.
