Cheel Arena

Helen S. Cheel Arena
	Interactive map of Helen S. Cheel Arena
Location	Clarkson University; 8 Clarkson Avenue; Potsdam, New York 13699
Coordinates	44°39′50″N 75°00′07″W / 44.663836°N 75.001946°W
Owner	St Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency
Operator	Clarkson University
Capacity	4,200
Surface	Ice
Construction
Broke ground	June 15, 1990
Opened	October 26, 1991
Renovated	July 14, 2018 - November 2021
Architect	Daniel F. Tully Associates, Boston
Tenants
	Clarkson Golden Knights; (men's and women's ice hockey)

Cheel Arena is a 3,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Potsdam, New York, at Clarkson University.^[1] Cheel Arena was opened on October 26, 1991, and is named after Helen Snell Cheel, a long-time benefactor of Clarkson University, who provided a major gift towards the project.^[2]

It is home to the Clarkson University Golden Knights Men's and Women's hockey programs, which play at the NCAA Division I level. Ice is maintained throughout a large portion of the year for campus and community usage ranging from intramural hockey and broomball, Section X High School Championships, and figure skating.^[3] When the ice is removed, the facility is used for Clarkson's graduation and other local events.^[4] Cheel Arena typically hosts a concert every April featuring several music and comedy acts, presented by Clarkson Union Board.^[2]

The attendance record of 4,125 was set on January 18, 2003, against arch-rival St. Lawrence University,^[2] although many consider it to be unofficial due to the large number of empty seats at the game.^[5] The previous record was 4,115 set against the same team the previous year.^[5]

Students are admitted to most regular season hockey games free of charge.^[2] In a nod to the school's engineering heritage, a steam whistle is blown to mark Tech goals.

The arena is located within Cheel Campus Center which was the former student center for Clarkson. The center contains eateries, administrative offices, and Club 99. It replaced Walker Arena, the 1,800 seat home of Clarkson since 1938.^[2]

Renovation

In June 2018, Clarkson revealed the new renovation and expansion project on the arena. The project would add more than 30,000 square feet to the structure and the project would be completed in different phases. The expansion to the front of the building would feature a new fitness facility & the upper level would feature the Student Professional Development Center, focused on hands-on construction engineering management. The project was set to be completed by April 1, 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project wasn't completed until September 2020. The project broke ground on July 14, 2018, and progress was visible by December 2018. Inside the arena, a new floor, boards, glass, & ice making systems were installed to enhance the ice playing surface.

2023 FISU World University Games

On March 5, 2018, International University Sports Federation or FISU announced that Lake Placid, New York, has won the bid on hosting the 2023 Winter World University Games. It was not the first time Lake Placid had hosted the World University Games, as they hosted in 1972 as well. At the time of the reveal, the games were projected to cost $83 million. The dates for the games were set to be January 12–22, 2023. Cheel was selected to be a host for the hockey games, as well as take care of the hockey athletes. In 2022, it was announced that the Team USA men's hockey team would play all of their qualifying games at Cheel. The first game, including the first international game at Cheel, took place on January 11, 2023, when Team Slovakia defeated Team Hungary by a score of 4–0.

References

^ "Inside College Hockey | College Hockey Rink Directory". www.insidecollegehockey.com.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "CHEEL ARENA". Clarkson University Athletics.
^ "Featured Events | NorthCountryNow". northcountrynow.com.
^ "Clarkson University: Commencement". Archived from the original on 2010-09-18. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
^ ^a ^b "CheelAttnedance (PDF)" (PDF). Clarkson University Athletics.

[1] "Inside College Hockey | College Hockey Rink Directory". www.insidecollegehockey.com.

[Clarkson_Athletics-CHEEL_ARENA-2] "CHEEL ARENA". Clarkson University Athletics.

[3] "Featured Events | NorthCountryNow". northcountrynow.com.

[4] "Clarkson University: Commencement". Archived from the original on 2010-09-18. Retrieved 2010-09-12.

[clarksonathletics.com-5] "CheelAttnedance (PDF)" (PDF). Clarkson University Athletics.

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[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e ECAC Hockey
Teams	Brown Bears men women Clarkson Golden Knights men women Colgate Raiders men women Cornell Big Red men women Dartmouth Big Green men women Harvard Crimson men women Princeton Tigers men women Quinnipiac Bobcats men women Rensselaer Engineers men women St. Lawrence Saints men women Union Garnet Chargers men women Yale Bulldogs men women
Venues	Meehan Auditorium (Brown) Cheel Arena (Clarkson) Class of 1965 Arena (Colgate) Lynah Rink (Cornell) Thompson Arena (Dartmouth) Bright Hockey Center (Harvard) Hobey Baker Memorial Rink (Princeton) M&T Bank Arena (Quinnipiac) Houston Field House (Rensselaer) Appleton Arena (St. Lawrence) M&T Bank Center (Union) Ingalls Rink (Yale) Herb Brooks Arena (Men's tournament)
Men's awards	All-ECAC Hockey Team Player of the Year Rookie of the Year Tim Taylor Award (Coach of the Year) Best Defensive Defenseman Best Defensive Forward Ken Dryden Award (Best Goaltender) Student-Athlete of the Year Wayne Dean Sportsmanship Award Most Outstanding Player in Tournament All-Tournament Team
Women's awards	Women's champions
Men's seasons	1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26

v t e Clarkson Golden Knights men's ice hockey
Playing venues	Ives Park (1920–1923, 1925–1938) Clarkson Rink (1923–1925) Walker Arena (1938–1991) Cheel Arena (1991–present)
Head coaches	Gordon Croskery (1923–1929) Jack Roos (1929–1948) Bill Harrison (1948–1958) Len Ceglarski (1958–1972) Jerry York (1972–1979) Bill O'Flaherty (1979–1985) Cap Raeder (1985–1988) Mark Morris (1988–2002) Fred Parker (2002–2003) George Roll (2003–2011) Casey Jones (2011–2024) Jean-François Houle (2024–present)
Seasons	1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
Conference affiliations	Tri-State League 1950–1972 ECAC Hockey (1961–present)
Rivalries	Rensselaer St. Lawrence
Culture & lore	North Country Thanksgiving Festival
All-time leaders	Statistical leaders Dave Taylor (251 Points) Kevin Zappia (103 Goals) Dan Murphy (85 Wins)
Frozen Four appearances	1957 1958 1962 1963 1966 1970 1991
NCAA Tournament appearances	1957 1958 1962 1963 1966 1970 1981 1982 1984 1990 1991 1992 1993 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2007 2008 2018
Conference Tournament titles	1966 1991 1993 1999 2007
Clarkson University Potsdam, NY

v t e Clarkson Golden Knights women's ice hockey
All-time record	349–159–59
Playing venues	Cheel Arena
Head coaches	Rick Seeley (2003–2008) Shannon Desrosiers (2008–14) Matt Desrosiers (2008–present)
Seasons	2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21
Conference affiliations	ECAC Hockey
Rivalries	St. Lawrence Cornell
National championships	2014 2017 2018
Women's Frozen Four appearances	2014 2016 2017 2018
NCAA Tournament appearances	2010 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Conference championships	2017 2018 2019
Patty Kazmaier winners	Jamie Lee Rattray (2014) Loren Gabel (2019) Élizabeth Giguère (2020)
All-America selections	Kira Hurley (2006) Erin Ambrose (2014) Jamie Lee Rattray (2014) Savannah Harmon (2017, 2018) Cayley Mercer (2017) Loren Gabel (2018) Élizabeth Giguère (2018, 2019, 2020) Shea Tiley (2018)
Olympians	Erin Ambrose Renata Fast Savannah Harmon Michaela Pejzlová Jamie Lee Rattray Ella Shelton
Clarkson University Potsdam, NY

Construction

Interactive map of Helen S. Cheel Arena
Location	Clarkson University 8 Clarkson Avenue Potsdam, New York 13699
Coordinates	44°39′50″N 75°00′07″W / 44.663836°N 75.001946°W / 44.663836; -75.001946
Owner	St Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency
Operator	Clarkson University
Capacity	4,200
Surface	Ice
Broke ground	June 15, 1990
Opened	October 26, 1991
Renovated	July 14, 2018 - November 2021
Architect	Daniel F. Tully Associates, Boston
Tenants
Clarkson Golden Knights (men's and women's ice hockey)