Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum is a 2,000-seat hockey rink in

Storrs, Connecticut Storrs is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Mansfield in eastern Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 15,344 at the 2010 census. It is dominated economically and demographically by the main campus ...

. It is the home arena for the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...

and practice facility of men's

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the g ...

teams. It opened on November 7, 1998, replacing the outdoor UConn Ice Arena, which was in use since the 1960s. The Forum was constructed as part of the UCONN 2000 commitment by the State of Connecticut to help rebuild, renew, and enhance the campuses of the University of Connecticut. It was opened in time for the hockey team's elevation to Division I status. The arena was used for the 2000 MAAC Championship (won by UConn), the 2001 MAAC tournament, and the 2002 ECAC women's hockey tournament. It hosted the 2008

Hockey East The Hockey East Association, also known as Hockey East, is a college ice hockey conference which operates entirely in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. Hockey East came into existence in 1984 fo ...

Women's Tournament. The building was named for Mark E. Freitas '81, a former hockey letter winner and benefactor, on February 5, 2005. The men's hockey team had used the venue for home games prior to them becoming the newest member of

in 2014, but have since moved to the

XL Center The XL Center (originally known as the Hartford Civic Center) is a multi-purpose arena and convention center located in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. Owned by the City of Hartford, it is managed by the quasi-public Capital Region Developmen ...

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

, as their primary arena. As of the 2015–16 season they currently play all home games at the XL Center, which has a hockey capacity of 15,635. For the duration of the 2020–21 season, the men's team reverted to using the forum due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The 2021–22 women's season is expected to be UConn's last in the Forum. UConn has begun construction on a new 2,600-seat on-campus arena that will be home to both the men's and women's varsity hockey programs upon its opening, planned for the 2022–23 season. UConn will continue to use the Forum as a practice facility for the varsity teams and the home ice of its club hockey teams.

References

External links

UConn Athletics: Facilities
UConn Huskies ice hockey College ice hockey venues in the United States Indoor ice hockey venues in the United States Sports venues in Tolland County, Connecticut UConn Huskies sports venues 1998 establishments in Connecticut Sports venues completed in 1998 {{Connecticut-stadium-stub