Cheel Arena


Cheel Arena is a 3,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Potsdam, New York at Clarkson University. 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.
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. When the ice is removed, the facility is used for Clarkson's graduation and other local events. Cheel Arena typically hosts a concert every April featuring several music and comedy acts, presented by Clarkson Union Board.
The attendance record of 4,125 was set on January 18, 2003 against arch-rival St. Lawrence University, although many consider it to be unofficial due to the large number of empty seats at the game. The previous record was 4,115 set against the same team the previous year.
Students are admitted to most regular season hockey games free of charge. 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.