Puck magic will return to Ames after four years during the weekend of March 4, 1998, when the Iowa State hockey team hosts the National Invitational Tournament.

Competition for the Murdoch Cup, named after Al Murdoch, Cyclone hockey coach of 28 years and the past president of the National Collegiate Hockey Association, will be held at ISU’s Hilton Coliseum.

Murdoch said he is happy to host, as is his team.

Since the invitational is several months away, however, his players remain “quietly excited.”

All in all, Murdoch said hosting the championship “will be an honor, a privilege and an opportunity to see what is fast becoming one of the more popular activities on campus.”

As with the track and field program, Cyclone hockey had to put in a bid for the tournament site.

Last April, the organization made its bid at the national meeting held in Chicago.

Despite tough competition with Arizona over weather conditions and Ohio University, which garnered last year’s championship, ISU won the vote.

Murdoch said he thinks the committee chose ISU because of the university’s previous success as a host.

He said last time ISU took on the job, it was “well-organized, well-run and a class act.”

A total of eight teams are invited to the tournament which is played in round-robin style.

In 1993, when ISU hosted the invitational, it had to be careful not to over-promote the event because of limited seating in the Ames/ISU Ice Arena.

Murdoch said the ticket office could not take reservations and people had to purchase tickets at the door.

Since 12,500 seats are available at Hilton, the hockey team is able to sell tickets through Ticketmaster for the first time ever.

He said spectators can make reservations ahead of time both for single and group seating.

So far, he said the marketing, publicity and sales have been moving along.

He said the media have been very supportive of the event. U.S.A. Hockey and KASI/KCCQ have already agreed to be major sponsors of the championship tournament.

Like the Lied Recreation Center, Murdoch said Hilton has to prepare for the invitational.

Murdoch said last spring the players held a call-a-thon to generate enough funding so the tournament could be held at Hilton.

Successfully reaching a goal of $25,000, the team was able to find used hockey boards from a Minnesota rink for only $16,500, leaving enough money for labor and extra materials.

Murdoch said much work has gone into preparing for the competition so far.

The last two weeks have been spent retrofitting boards and plexi-glass in the building, he said.

Murdoch said it will be a challenge to get everything, including his team, prepared.