WALTHAM, Mass. – An event more than seven months in the making comes to fruition on Friday night when the 2025 Atlantic Hockey championship banner is unveiled at Bentley Arena prior to the Falcons' game against Canisius.

The banner reveal is scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm and fans are encouraged to get to their seats early to be present for the ceremony. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:09 pm.

On Saturday the teams will play the second game of their series at 6:00 pm.

Tickets for this weekend can be purchased at: https://www.etix.com/ticket/v/12892?cobrand=BentleyHockey

With the banner ceremony set to honor last season's Atlantic Hockey champions, Friday's game also serves as this season's home opener and first conference game of the season.

The Falcons have faced tough competition in their first three games. All three of their opponents are ranked in this week's USCHO poll, with Colorado College 16^th, Denver 7^th and UMass 13^th.

Bentley went stride for stride with the Minutemen last Saturday in Amherst. They held leads of 1-0 and 3-2 in the first period and 4-3 in the second period, only for UMass to score the tying goal in the third frame and eventually win it 1:08 into overtime.

Stephen Castagna had two goals in the first period. Dylan Cook and Jimmy Doyle netted their first goals as Falcons.

Through three games this season five different players share the team lead with two points. Castagna, Cook, Jake Black, Oskar Bakkevig and Michael Mesic.

Canisius already has seven games under its belt and they have a 5-2 record. They have already played one AHA game, a 3-1 win at Army on Oct. 14. Last weekend they split a series at Colgate, with a 4-2 win and 5-3 defeat. The trip to Waltham will be their first games outside the state of New York this season.

The Falcons and Golden Griffins have a long history and Friday's game will be the 84^th all-time meeting. Bentley holds a 37-36-10 edge, including a two-game sweep in the AHA quarterfinals last March at Bentley Arena.

The teams also met in the regular season in Waltham a few weeks before that playoff series and it resulted in a split, with the Falcons winning the first game 4-3 in overtime and dropping the second, 5-3.

This will be the only games this season between the teams.

After this weekend, Bentley goes back on the road for a series at Mercyhurst on October 31 and November 1.