Union Hockey hosts welcome event at new arena

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The Union men's and women's hockey teams hosted a welcome event at the new M&T Bank Center Wednesday night, taking the ice in front of their fans in the new building for the first time.

After warm-ups, the players were introduced to the crowd. A skills competition was held, and the teams took part in 4-on-4 scrimmages.

It's a new era for the Union hockey programs, making the move from historic Messa Rink, and seeing the building welcome in fans for the first time was a special moment.

"It's a little surreal to be here," said men's hockey head coach Josh Hauge. "All the planning to get the locker rooms set up, to the weight room, to how the seats are gonna go and now we're here. It's an amazing event."

A strong crowd for the event showed the community's support for the Garnet Chargers, and the players fed off the energy in the arena.

"We're so excited and we can tell the community is as well," said Drew Sutton, a sophomore forward for the men's hockey team. "Just the people expressing their excitement to come see us play here. We feel like we've been extremely blessed to get this new arena, new facilities and we hope it's a step in taking our program to the next level, which we think it will be."

The Union men will play their first home game at the new arena against Army on Oct. 4 after the women's team plays the first game in the building on Sep. 26 against Franklin Pierce.