It's an exciting day for hockey fans in the Mohawk Valley. The Utica Comets will play their season opener tonight. Utica will host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at 7 p.m. at the Adirondack Bank Center.

The Comets are beginning their 10th season, and there is quite a bit in store for fans. Team president and former pro Rob Esche said since the team began a decade ago, the fans have come out and always been extremely supportive.

This year, the team will play 36 home games. Many of those games will feature giveaways, contests and promotions for the entire family.

Esche said the Mohawk Valley has always had a lot of youth hockey programs. He said the Comets have built off that, and it's evident a lot of fans want to bring their kids to games.

"It's real genuine grass-roots outreach to kids and try and get them to learn how to skate, that feeling of gliding on the ice for the first time, the feeling of coming to a game, you know,” Esche said. “Utica Comets games with your parents, it's just … a lot of good things that revolve around the sport, and we try to tie them all together.”

Esche said one of the cool things about the Adirondack Bank Center is that it's a tight and loud environment. It holds a smaller crowd of a little less than 4,000 fans, but he said it's typically a full arena for every game.

The Comets will make their first visit to Syracuse this season on Saturday, Nov. 12, but Utica will meet Syracuse 14 times this season, so there are a lot of opportunities to check out the action.

Single-game and season tickets can be purchased on the team’s website.