SCHENECTADY — Three tournaments, three games against two ECAC Hockey rivals and a pair of Saturday afternoon contests highlight the 2008-09 Union College men’s hockey schedule, which was released Thursday.

Coming off a fourth-place finish, the highest in the program’s 17-year Division I history, the Dutchmen will open their 34-game regular-season schedule with back-to-back tournaments, which will have opening-round games against ECACH teams.

Union will face Quinnipiac in the Maverick Stampede at Nebraska-Omaha on Oct. 17. The following weekend, the Dutchmen face Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the third annual Governor’s Cup at the Times Union Center. Colgate, another ECACH team Union could meet the next night, will face an opponent to be determined in the other first-round game.

“It does seem odd to fly out all the way out [to Omaha] and play Quinnipiac,” Union coach Nate Leaman said. “But at the same time, we can use that as an advantage. I like the fact that we’re starting off early in the year and playing two tournaments to give ourselves a feel early of desperation to get to the final games.

“What’s also going to help us is that we will end up playing Quinnipiac and RPI on neutral ice, and we’ll get to play a league opponent. We’ll get a chance to measure ourselves, as well as get our team ready for ECAC play.”

Union and RPI will meet again Feb. 6 at Houston Field House and Feb. 7 at Messa Rink. The Dutchmen will face Quinnipiac Nov. 14 at Messa and Jan. 10 in Hamden, Conn.

The third tournament Union will be in is the Tampa Bay Classic

Jan. 2-3. The other teams in the field are Notre Dame, which reached the NCAA Frozen Four final, Min­nesota-Duluth and UMass-Lowell.

The first-round pairings haven’t been set yet, but Union could face Notre Dame.

“They’re a well-coached team,” Leaman said. “I think they return almost everyone. That will definitely be a highlight on the schedule.”

Union will host two Saturday afternoon games. The Nov. 15 game against ECACH tournament-champion Princeton and the Feb. 14 contest against Brown will start at

4 p.m., instead of the normal 7 p.m.

“We want to give our fans a little bit of a different look, to be able to give them an opportunity for fans that may want to bring their families, but sometimes don’t, because the games start at 7,” Leaman said.

Other schedule highlights include an exhibition game against the U.S. Under-18 team Oct. 11 at Messa. That game will reunite Leaman and Under-18 coach Ron Rolston. The two were assistant coaches at Harvard under Mark Mazzoleni.

Leaman will have another reunion when the Dutchmen visit Maine for two games Dec. 12-13. Leaman was a volunteer assistant coach under the late Shawn Walsh during the 1998-99 season. It is the first time Union and Maine have faced each other since Oct. 24, 1998.

The Dutchmen open ECACH play Nov. 7 when they host Dartmouth.

SCHEDULE

Home Games in CAPS

e-denotes ECAC Hockey game

OCTOBER

11 — U.S. under-18 team (exhibition), 7:30; 17 — vs. Quinnipiac in Maverick Stampede at Nebraska-Omaha, 5:05;

18 — vs. American International or Nebraska-Omaha in Maverick Stampede, 5:05 or 8:05;

24 — vs. RPI in Governor’s Cup at Times Union Center, 7; 25 — vs. Colgate or opponent TBA in Governor’s Cup, 4 or 7;

31 — CONNECTICUT, 7.

NOVEMBER

7 — e-DARTMOUTH, 7; 8 — e-HARVARD, 7; 14 — e-QUINNIPIAC, 7; 15 — e-PRINCETON, 4; 28 —ARMY, 7; 29 — PROVIDENCE, 7.

DECEMBER

5 — e-at Brown, 7; 6 — e-at Yale, 7;

9 — AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL, 7; 12 — at Maine, 7; 13 — at Maine, 7.

JANUARY

2-3 — at Tampa Bay Classic (Minnesota-Duluth, Notre Dame and UMass-Lowell in field); 9 — e-at Princeton, 7; 10 — e-at Quinnipiac, 7; 16 — e-CORNELL, 7; 17 — e-COLGATE, 7; 23 — e-at Clarkson, 7; 24 — e-at St. Lawrence, 7; 30 — e-at Harvard, 7; 31 — e-at Dartmouth, 7.

FEBRUARY

6 — e-at RPI, 7; 7 — e-RPI, 7; 13 — e-YALE, 7; 14 — e-BROWN, 4; 20 — e-at Colgate, 7;

21 — e-at Cornell, 7; 27 — e-ST. LAWRENCE, 7; 28 — e-CLARKSON, 7.