The puck won't drop for another two days, but that doesn't mean there's no action at the Liberty Bell Invitational Tournament.
The inaugural event, which is hosted by the Penn Club Hockey team and will take place this weekend at the Class of 1923 Ice Rink, secured two new sponsors yesterday -- the Flyers and the Flyers' farm-team, the Phantoms.
The Flyers have donated an autographed puck, while the Phantoms have donated an autographed stick. And both professional teams are publicizing the event at their preseason games.
The Liberty Bell Invitational begins with first round games on Saturday. Penn will face La Salle at 3 p.m. and Drexel will go against Temple at 5 p.m. The consolation and championship games will take place on Sunday at 2:45 p.m. and 5:15 p.m., respectively.
Although the games are free of charge to Penn students, all proceeds from other ticket sales ($8 for Saturday and $10 for Sunday) will be donated to the relief effort of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
"This is something Penn Hockey felt [it] could do to help all that suffered," senior captain Whit Matthews said.
The tournament, which has been in the planning stages for a number of years, pits the four major Philadelphia club teams against each other.
Although there are no Philadelphia players on the Penn team, Penn coach Dean Winter thinks that the tournament provides a good opportunity to showcase Philadelphia hockey.
"[We want people to say,] `Hey, there is a lot of good hockey in Philly,'" Winter said.
As part of a desire to draw large local crowds, there will also be free admission to all youth hockey players wearing their jerseys.
Drexel, the only Division I club team in the tournament, is the favorite to win. Nevertheless, Winter feels confident about Penn's chances.
"I think we do [have a chance of winning]."
Penn, a team that graduated only three seniors, will have a decidedly veteran look to it. But the six freshman who are joining the team have the coaching staff excited.
Since the tournament is earlier than the normal beginning of Penn's schedule, the team has only practiced for two weeks. Winter said that "time will tell" concerning this lack of training time.
Penn, which is a currently a Division II club team, finished in third place last year in the Mid-Atlantic Hockey Association.
Following the tournament, the team will continue its season with an Oct. 5 game against Marist College.
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