It is now official: The Tampa Bay Lightning has zapped the Lightning College Hockey Classic.

Notre Dame, which co-hosted the tournament, announced Friday that the tournament will move to the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill., a Chicago suburb. It has been renamed the Shillelagh Tournament, and will take place Jan. 2-3.

Union will play the Fighting Irish in one semifinal, while Minnesota-Duluth faces UMass-Lowell in the other semi.

Notre Dame and the Lightning co-hosted the tournament the last two years. RPI played in last year’s tournament.

In a statement, Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson said: “We had commitments from three teams that expected to play in this tournament, and it was important for us to fulfill that obligation. We were very fortunate that the people from the Sears Centre opened their doors for us to maintain this tournament. The Chicago area is a second home to Notre Dame and, hopefully, this can help develop into a relationship that will allow us to play games in Chicago on an annual basis.”

Jackson was critical of the new ownership group of the Lightning, which is headed by Oren Koules and former NHL player Len Barrie.

“I am extremely disappointed in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s decision to not continue the tournament. We had a verbal agreement to continue this for two more years, and as hosts of the Frozen Four in 2012, I’m not sure it’s the best message to send to the college hockey community by cancelling the tournament at such a late date.”

Union coach Nate Leaman is looking forward to the tournament, no matter where it is being played.

“It’s going to be a great tournament,” Leaman said. “We get to play a team [Notre Dame] that was in the national final last year, and was that close to winning a national championship. I’m not sure when the last time our program has had that opportunity.”

Lightning officials were not immediately available for comment.