PURCHASE, N.Y. – Following two years in Stamford, the Manhattanville men's and women's hockey teams are proud to return to Playland Ice Casino for the 2014-15 season, the Department of Athletics officially announced this week.
 
Playland Ice Casino served as the home of the Valiants for a decade from 2002 until 2012, when parts of the venerable facility were badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy just weeks before the start of the 2012-13 campaign. After two seasons at Terry Conners Rink in Stamford, Conn., Manhattanville will be back for its 11th season at the venerable facility, which was built in 1930 on the site of Westchester's Playland Amusement Park in nearby Rye, N.Y.
 
"It will be great to see our senior players finish their careers back at Playland after it was suddenly taken away from them as sophomores," said head women's hockey coach David Turco. "More so, I'm excited for our incoming freshmen and underclassmen who will get to experience our great locker room and facility for the first time."
 
"We couldn't be more excited to return to Playland Ice Casino for the upcoming season," said head men's hockey coach Arlen Marshall '10.  It's an awesome place to call home for our players and coaching staff."
 
The Manhattanville programs have historically been very successful at Playland, as the men and women combined for an incredible 196-44-21 (.791) record in their first decade at the rink. The women's team is an amazing 112-18-7 (.843) all-time on the Playland ice, including a remarkable 85-6-2 (.925) against ECAC East Conference competition, while the men's team is 84-26-14 all-time at Playland and has only eight losses in 58 home non-conference games over that span.
 
Once the practice facility of the New York Rangers, Playland's state-of-the-art facilities provide Manhattanville a huge off-the-ice advantage over its opponent, while on the ice the intimate setting delivers an intimidating game-day atmosphere that gives the Valiants a leg up from the opening faceoff.
 
"We are looking forward to again benefitting from the close proximity to campus and feeling the support of our student body and surrounding hockey community," Marshall said. "The environment for our 2014-15 home games will be really fun to be a part of."
 
The Manhattanville programs went a combined 25-14-5 in their two seasons at Terry Conners Rink, making the best of their time at the temporary home.
 
"We want to thank the City of Stamford, Terry Conners Rink and everyone at the facility for all that they have done for us the past two seasons," Turco added. "It was a tough transition for our programs that couldn't have been at all possible if not for their help and support."
 
Both Manhattanville teams will begin the home portion of their 2014-15 schedules during the first full weekend of November. The home season starts with a rare Friday doubleheader at Playland, with the women's team taking on Nichols at 3 p.m. followed by the men's team hosting Hobart at 7 p.m. The men will also host Elmira on Saturday at 7 p.m. to complete the first weekend back at home. The full 2014-15 schedules for both programs will be released in the coming weeks.