The 2008-09 Union men’s hockey schedule was released Thursday. The 35-game slate (34 regular season, one exhibition) is pretty interesting.

For starters, the Dutchmen will play in three tournaments. In two of those tourneys, they will face ECAC Hockey opponents in the opening round. They will play Quinnipiac in the Maverick Stampede at Nebraska-Omaha Oct. 17.

A week later (on my birthday, no less), it’s the traditional meeting with RPI in the third annual Governor’s Cup at the Times Union Center. RPI has won the first two tournaments. Union could face another ECACH rival, Colgate, in either the consolation or championship 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.”

Although it hasn’t been officially announced by the ECACH, Robert Morris of College Hockey America is expected to be the fourth team in the Governor’s Cup. And before anyone starts complaining about the Colonials being a weak opponent for Colgate, consider that they beat Boston University and Ohio State last season, and won at Notre Dame two seasons ago. Plus, Robert Morris gave RPI fits in the first round of the 2004 Rensselaer Holiday Tournament before losing, 2-0, and then beat Sacred Heart, 4-2, to finish third.

The interesting tournament will take place Jan 2-3. Union will participate in the Tampa Bay Classic. The other teams are Notre Dame (the tourney host), Minnesota-Duluth and UMass-Lowell. The Dutchmen could face the Fighting Irish in the first round. I think a working vacation is in order for me.

The Dutchmen will be home for seven straight games, starting Halloween night when Connecticut comes to Messa Rink for the Dutchmen’s regular-season home opener at 7 p.m. That will be the nightcap of a double-header with the Dutchwomen. They host Yale in their ECACH opener at 3 p.m. Call this the battle between New York and Connecticut.

Included in that seven-game stretch is the Dutchmen’s ECACH opener against Dartmouth on Nov. 7. Also, defending ECACH tournament champion Princeton visits Messa for a 4 p.m. game Saturday, Nov. 15. That will be one of two late Saturday afternoon games Union will host. The other one is against Brown on Feb. 14.

Don’t be surprised if we start to see more and more Saturday games played in the late afternoon. It will give families a chance to attend games, and then have Saturday night free to do whatever they want.

Another highlight is a two-game set at Maine Dec. 12-13. It’s the first time the two teams have met since Oct. 24, 1998, when Leaman was a volunteer assistant coach with the Black Bears.

The exhibition game will be against the U.S. Under-18 team Oct. 11 at Messa. That will be a reunion between Leaman and Under-18 coach Ron Rolston. The two were assistants at Harvard under Mark Mazzoleni.

To view Union’s schedule, click here.