The best and worst of the International Collegiate Hockey League will be displayed at the Ice Pavilion this weekend when the ice hockey team faces defending-champion Niagara at 9 tonight and last-place Rochester at 3:30 tomorrow.

Sophomore forward Lance Riddile said that the game against Niagara will set the tone for next weekend, when the team travels to Niagara for the last two games of the regular season. Coach Joe Battista said that the home ice advantage should help against Niagara because the Icers have never beaten them on the road.

"This is the biggest home game of the season, there's no doubt about that," Battista said of tonight's game, adding that the Icers may see Niagara again in the playoffs.

"This weekend we're going to take them one game at a time, but we can't overlook Rochester," senior forward Ken Fatur said.

Battista said the ICHL is so close that Niagara managed only a 2-1 overtime victory over Rochester two weeks ago.

At this time last season, the Icers seemed to run out of gas, losing their last three games after an impressive start. Assistant Coach Ray Lombra said that this season the Icers have held back some tricks so they could have some surprises for Niagara.

"That means maybe we lost a game or two earlier in the season that we could have won, but we wanted to have something left coming into the end," he said.

According to Battista, the team has worked on a new offensive scheme to maintain possession of the puck in the offensive zone. He would not disclose details, however, because he said Niagara subscribes to The Daily Collegian and he didn't want to ruin the surprise.

After a game against University of Buffalo earlier in the season, Buffalo's coach told Battista that the Icers are faster than Niagara, but that the Knights are disciplined and never give up.

The Icers last played Niagara in last season's semifinal playoff game. The Knights rallied from a 5-2 deficit to edge Penn State, 6-5, in double overtime. Niagara Coach Fred Bassi believes that this team is even better than last year's championship team, Battista said.

"I'd like to meet them (Niagara) in the championship game," Battista said.