BOSTON (AP) – For 1,500 Boston University hockey fans on the waiting list for season tickets, the opening of Agganis Arena in eight months promises something they’ve been missing: seats.

The new building, which will replace Walter Brown Arena as the home rink for the Terriers as well as concerts and some basketball games, is scheduled to open with a hockey game against Minnesota on January 3, 2005. The arena is the focal point of the $225 million John Hancock Student Village, which will also encompass five new dormitories, a new track and tennis center and a recreational center.

“We feel it will be a professional-quality arena for NCAA teams,” said Agganis Arena assistant general manager Jason Soucy.

The arena will seat 6,300 for hockey, almost double the current capacity of Walter Brown. Its design features a sharply-inclined seating bowl, ensuring no seat is more than 60 feet from the ice. It also features 29 suites and a 5,600 square foot restaurant and club for special events.

With John Hancock sponsoring the student village, Boston University officials opted not to sell the naming rights to the arena, instead naming it after Harry Agganis, a standout football and baseball player at Boston University and Red Sox first baseman. He was only 25 years old when he died in 1955.

“It was important for us not to overcommercialize the project. It seemed appropriate to name it after a distinguished alumni,” said Peter Smokowski, the university assistant vice president.

The Terriers’ men’s basketball program, which has made the postseason for three straight years, still plans to play most of its schedule in the 1,800-seat Case Gymnasium and use Agganis only for select non-conference games. But having Agganis Arena could position the university for a chance to jump from the America East conference to a higher-profile conference in the future.

“If the opportunity to move to another conference came up, that is something we have to consider seriously,” Smokowski said.

AP-ES-04-10-04 1649EDT