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Chris Perry
2/13/2006, 04:31 PM
*** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ***



SOONERS WEEKLY
For the Week of February 13, 2006

SOONERS SPLIT WITH No. 11 ARIZONA
IS No. 15 OKLAHOMA BOUND FOR PHILLY?

THIS WEEK’S GAMES - The No. 15-ranked University of Oklahoma® hockey club (17-11-2) do not play this week. The Sooners return to action on February 24th and 25th when they host Saint Cloud State University at the Blazers Ice Centre.

LAST OU HOCKEY GAMES – The Sooners hosted No. 11 Arizona this past weekend for a pair of games at the Blazers Ice Centre. On Friday night, the Sooners came out strong and put Arizona down 3-0 early before the IceCats battled back to tie the game at 3. The Sooners responded with four unanswered goals to put the game away by a score of 7-3. Saturday night, the roles were reversed from the previous night’s contest as Arizona had OU down 2-0 and it was OU that had to rebound and tie the game. After the game was tied at 3, Arizona scored the last two goals to coast to a 5-3 win over the Sooners. OU is now 6-2-0 all time against Arizona.

RANKINGS AND NATIONAL TOURNAMENT – The Sooners are currently ranked 15th in the nation in the latest ACHA Coaches Division 1 ranking. This year’s ACHA Division 1 National Championships will be hosted by West Chester University and will take place March 2-5, 2006 in suburban Philadelphia. Usually, those teams ranked in the Top Sixteen in the final regular season ranking will qualify for the tournament. However, because the regular season champions from the ACHA’s Central States Collegiate Hockey League, East Coast Hockey Association and East Coast Hockey League will receive an automatic berth to the tournament, as does the tournament’s host, the possibility exists that a “Notre Dame-style BCS bump” may occur to one or more of those teams at the tail of the Top 16.

The University of Ohio, currently ranked #3 in the ACHA, is the CSCHL champion and No. 2-ranked University of Rhode Island has won the ECHA so those two schools have automatically qualified for the tournament. No. 16 West Chester University, as the tournament’s host, has also qualified. In the ECHL, No. 14 Mercyhurst University and unranked Niagara University are vying for the ECHL championship. If Mercyhurst wins the ECHL and gets the autobid, it is unlikely that Oklahoma would be bumped from the tournament field of 16. However, if unranked Niagara wins the ECHL, there is a very real possibility that Oklahoma could get bumped out of the tournament field despite being ranked in the Top 16.

The final ACHA D1 regular season ranking which determines the participants in this season’s ACHA D1 National Championships is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, February 15th, 2006.

SOONERS HOME GAMES ON THE AIR – The two remaining OU Hockey regular season home games will be broadcast over the internet this season. Join Caleb Fox, a junior from Rowlett, Texas (play-by-play), and Keaton Fuchs, a junior from Norman (color), as they bring the hard-hitting, fast-paced action that is Sooners Hockey to you over the internet throughout the 2005-2006 season. OU Hockey broadcasts begin 15 minutes prior to faceoff. Oklahoma hockey fans can listen to the OU Hockey internet broadcast by going to either www.icehockey.ou.edu or www.broadcastmonsters.com and clicking the appropriate link.

SOONERS & CANADIAN AIR FORCE TO FIGHT CANCER – On Saturday, March 25th, the Sooners will play a charity game against the Canadian Air Force hockey team stationed at Tinker Air Force Base with all proceeds from the game to benefit the American Cancer Society. The game will be at 3:30 P.M. at the Blazers Ice Centre and admission will be $5 per person. After the game, fans will be permitted on the ice for an additional $5 to have their pictures taken with their favorite players from both teams.

HOME SWEET HOME – Although formally known as Blazers Ice Centre, when the Sooners take the ice to “Oklahoma!” and “Boomer Sooner” blares over the sound system after every Sooners goal, the rink transforms into the “Sooners Ice Center”. All Sooners home games are played at 7:30 P.M. at Blazers Ice Centre, 8000 South I-35, in Oklahoma City.

TICKETS – Individual tickets for the last two OU Hockey home games are on sale now and can be purchased at Blazers Ice Centre. Call 631-3307 or 631-2709 for additional information.

PRACTICE SCHEDULE – The Sooners practice this week at the Blazers Ice Centre on Monday and Wednesday from 4:30-6:00 P.M. and Tuesday from 8:45-10:30 P.M.

### BOOMER SOONER! ###
MEDIA CONTACT:
Chris Perry, General Manager
University of Oklahoma® Hockey
Phone: (405) 631-2709 / Cell: (405) 488-4048
Email: [email protected] / Fax: (405) 631-2102
www.icehockey.ou.edu / www.ouhockey.com