RYE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College men’s and women’s hockey teams, as well as Manhattanville College President Dr. Jon C. Strauss, participated alongside Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino in the ceremonial re-opening of Playland Ice Casino after a two-year closure on Thursday morning at Playland.
Members of the Valiant hockey programs joined others from Rye High School, the Rye Rangers and the Rye Figure Skating Club as well as local dignitaries including President Strauss, former New York Rangers goalie Mike Richter, and Shane Coppola, chairman and CEO of American Skating Entertainment Centers, which will oversee operations of Playland.
In recognizing Manhattanville as the “anchor tenant” of Playland over the last decade, Astorino also touted the Valiants’ excellent success at the Ice Casino since 2002, including a combined 11 conference championships and 11 NCAA Tournament appearances.
President Strauss also got the opportunity to speak about the teams’ return to their home ice and expressed his optimism for the upcoming season, which for the women’s team begins this weekend in Vermont.
Both Manhattanville hockey teams will take to the Playland Ice competitively for the first time since February 2012 next weekend, when the Valiants host a rare Friday hockey doubleheader on November 7. The women’s team kicks off the day against Nichols starting at 3 p.m., followed by the men’s team hosting Hobart at 7 p.m. If you can’t make it to Rye for the games, both contests will be video streamed on GoValiants.TV as well.