Here’s a look at the college hockey holiday tournaments that start Friday:
Great Lakes Invitational
Where: Comerica Park, Detroit.
Friday’s schedule: Michigan Tech (6-9-5) vs. Michigan State (5-9-1), 3:30 p.m. EST (Fox Sports Detroit Plus); No. 3 Michigan (10-2-2) vs. Western Michigan (7-8-3), 7 p.m. (Fox Sports Detroit)
Saturday’s schedule: Third-place game, 3:30 p.m. EST (Fox Sports Detroit); championship game, 7 p.m. (Fox Sports Detroit, delay)
Live audio: Michigan Tech | Michigan State | Michigan | Western Michigan
Notes to know: The Great Lakes Invitational goes outside for the first time in its 49-year history, playing at the home of the Detroit Tigers. It’s part of the Hockeytown Winter Festival.
• Michigan Tech is the defending champion, winning its first GLI title in 32 years last season.
• Michigan will play its fifth and sixth outdoor games; the Wolverines are 2-1-1.
• Michigan State is 14-1 in its last 15 games against Michigan Tech in the GLI, but the Huskies beat the Spartans twice in Houghton in November.
• Western Michigan is making its fourth GLI appearance; it won the tournament in 1986 and has a 2-3-1 record.
Social snippit:
Three Rivers Classic
Where: Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh.
Friday’s schedule: No. 7 Boston College (10-4-2) vs. Bowling Green (8-8-4), 4:30 p.m. EST; Penn State (3-9-1) vs. Robert Morris (2-10-2), 7:30 p.m.
Saturday’s schedule: Third-place game, 4:30 p.m. EST; championship game, 7:30 p.m.
Live audio: Boston College | Bowling Green | Penn State | Robert Morris
Notes to know: This is the second season for the Three Rivers Classic; Robert Morris beat Penn State and Miami to win last season’s tournament.
• Boston College coach Jerry York is 4-2 against Bowling Green, the team he led to the national championship in 1984 as part of a 15-year tenure with the Falcons.
• Bowling Green reached the holiday break at .500; last season, the Falcons were seven games under at the break (3-10-4).
• Penn State earned its first-ever victory over a Big Ten school at last year’s Three Rivers Classic when it beat Ohio State 5-4 in the consolation game.
• Robert Morris (2004) and Penn State (2012) are the two newest schools in Division I men’s hockey.
Social snippit:
@penguins head coach Dan Bylsma brought out his old @BGFalconHockey uniform for the keynote address! #3RC pic.twitter.com/Gbl68J1NI5
— Three Rivers Classic (@3RiversClassic) December 27, 2013
More to come
Starting Saturday: Florida College Hockey Classic (Princeton, Maine, New Hampshire, No. 15 Cornell), Catamount Cup (Canisius, No. 10 Massachusetts-Lowell, No. 9 Clarkson, Vermont).
Starting Sunday: UConn Hockey Classic (Massachusetts, No. 8 Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart, Connecticut), Ledyard National Bank Classic (No. 16 Northeastern, Air Force, No. 5 Providence, Dartmouth).
Starting Jan. 3: Mariucci Classic (No. 2 Ferris State, Rensselaer, Colgate, No. 1 Minnesota).
