A month after its season opener, the Arizona club hockey team will play its first home game tonight at 7 against DePaul at the Tucson Convention Center to open up the Icecats’ 30th anniversary season, with the second game of the series scheduled for the same time Saturday.

“”We’re definitely excited about the opportunity to show our home fans that we’re a good hockey team,”” said goaltender Nick Boddy.

The Icecats (2-3) will try to improve their record this weekend in order to get back into the American Collegiate Hockey Association top 25 rankings. They fell out of the polls when they started the season 0-3 in the ACHA Showcase in West Chester, Penn.

Though it’s early in the season, players understand that how they perform while the season is still young could determine if the team is one of the top-16 squads by the end of year, a ranking the Icecats must earn in order to make the national championship tournament in Cleveland, Ohio.

“”We have to take it game by game, and hopefully we get the sweep this weekend,”” said forward Matt Conover.

DePaul (8-2) is a Division II team in the ACHA working to prove that they can compete against a Division I team like the Icecats.

The Icecats were 13-5 at the TCC last season and will strive for similar results. The team will play 16 straight home games, including the pair of contests against the Blue Demons, and the Icecats won’t hit the road again until late January for a clash with ASU.

In the last couple of weeks, Icecats head coach Leo Golembiewski has not been happy with the execution by each line on the team. He said the players have to do a better job of protecting Boddy in the net.

On “”The Leo Golembiewski Show,”” the coach’s weekly radio show on Tucson’s ESPN Radio affiliate, it was discussed that Boddy had a tendency to come too far out of the crease in order to make a save. In explaining this, Boddy said it was habit he picked up playing for teams that didn’t protect the goaltender particularly well.

Perhaps the familiar surroundings will help settle down the Icecats’ defense and give Boddy a helping hand, but both offensive and defensive players expect to play much better this weekend than the first five games of the season.

To celebrate the team’s 30th anniversary, the first 250 fans to be admitted to each night’s game will receive a free team poster.

“”Hopefully we get a good crowd, and a lot of the new guys will get a chance to experience a good home crowd for the first time,”” Conover said.