Penn State hockey will square off against North Dakota at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee on October 17, 2020.

Tickets for the game will go on sale to the general public at 11 a.m. Eastern time on December 14. Puck drop is tentatively slated for 7:07 p.m. Central time (8:07 p.m. Eastern).

The game will mark the annual United States Hockey Hall of Fame game. Barring an NCAA tournament meeting this year, it’ll be the first-ever clash between the Nittany Lions and North Dakota.

This match-up between Guy Gadowsky’s program and the Fighting Hawks has been in the making for years now, and work behind the scenes from both sides culminated in Monday’s announcement. Brad Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald first reported that North Dakota was interested in playing Penn State in Nashville in May 2018.

A lot can obviously change from now until the start of next season, but North Dakota is currently 8-1-2 and ranked No. 5 in the USCHO poll. The Fighting Hawks are one of college hockey’s blue-blood programs, and they’ve produced high-quality NHL players throughout their history. Chicago Blackhawks star Jonathan Toews and United States Olympians Zach Parise and TJ Oshie are among North Dakota’s most notable active NHL alumni.

Nashville might not seem like a hockey hotbed, but the hometown Predators have become one of the most popular sports teams in the city. Although the team was knocked out in the first round of last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, Bridgestone Arena’s rowdy fan support played a big part in Nashville qualifying for the Stanley Cup Final in 2017. The rink’s notorious atmosphere made the city an appealing option for North Dakota during the planning process of this game.

Penn State has never played a game in “Smashville,” but the team is definitely no stranger to NHL rinks. Guy Gadowsky’s program has made appearances at the homes of the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Arizona Coyotes since the start of the 2016-17 season. The team most recently played Michigan at Madison Square Garden and came away with a 5-2 victory in front of a great crowd made up of mostly Penn State supporters.