WORCESTER, Mass. - It was quiet at Off the Rails early Tuesday afternoon, but they’re expecting it to be much different this weekend.

“We had one of our biggest weekends last weekend. Expecting a huge weekend again for hockey,” Eric Lindquist, Off the Rails’ communication director, said. “It’s just nice to have people out again, right?”

The NCAA Division 1 Men’s Ice Hockey regionals are returning to the DCU Center for the first time since 2018.

The tournament was scheduled to be in Worcester in 2020, but was canceled because of COVID-19 concerns. Two years later, it’s another chance to showcase downtown as the city looks to skate out of the pandemic.

“Hopefully a time to get people back to normal, but also spend some dollars in the community and keep dollars and businesses growing,” Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, Tim Murray, said.

For tickets to this weekend's games, click here.

Games are scheduled for Friday and Sunday, creating a three-day window of opportunity for city businesses.

“They all usually create economic activity before and after events,” Murray said. “And then, if people have a good experience, they go back to the water cooler at work or they talk to family and friends about a great experience they had in Worcester, which makes them and others likely to come back.”

Off the Rails is steps away from the DCU Center. Lindquist said having two teams from Massachusetts play this weekend should help.

“I think the DCU Center got a great draw. You got (Northeastern University in Boston), so the 45-minute commute that way. And you got UMass Amherst, another 45-minute commute. And then two traveling teams.”

The two teams traveling to Worcester are Western Michigan University and University of Minnesota. 

Northeastern will play Western Michigan on Friday at 12 p.m. UMass and Minnesota will square off later in the day at 6 p.m. The winners will play in the Regional Final on Sunday.

Lindquist said the removal of the mask mandate has already driven in more business, and this weekend should add to it.

“We want the people,” Lindquist said. “We met as a group this morning, talking about making sure we’ve got enough staff on hand for the big crowds this weekend.”