For those who have attended a college hockey game, you know that the atmosphere is unlike the NFL. You have the pep band playing the school’s fight song and the students heckling the opposing team’s goalie.
It’s an experience like no other.
For college hockey fans based in New England, the next few weeks are the most thrilling part of the season aside from the playoffs.
This is because of the CT Ice tournament, a series of contests that features the men’s hockey teams from UConn, Yale, Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart and which commences this Friday afternoon.
Additionally, the annual Beanpot tournament, consisting of the men’s hockey teams from Boston College, Boston University, Harvard and Northeastern, begins next Monday evening at TD Garden.
After years of planning, CT Ice was finally established as a tournament in 2020. Unfortunately, the 2021 tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In its early season, it took place exclusively in Bridgeport, Connecticut at the Total Mortgage Arena. Then, in 2023, it was decided they would rotate from the four teams’ competing home arenas. Last year, Quinnipiac hosted the tournament at M&T Bank Arena. This year, UConn will host it at the XL Center in Hartford.
The Quinnipiac Bobcats are the reigning 2023 CT Ice Champions and National Champions. Led by captain Jayden Lee, the Bobcats are currently ranked No. 7 in the nation and are the only team competing in CT Ice with a top-20 ranking. With leading goal scorers Collin Graf and Sam Lipkin at the forefront, they are the favorites to win the title for the third year in a row.
You can’t write off the other Connecticut foes that Quinnipiac will be playing against, though. The UConn men’s hockey team is hoping to win the title this year after being the runner-up to Quinnipiac in the past two years. They haven’t had as great of a year as they were hoping for so far, but with goaltender Arsenii Sergeev recently earning Hockey East Goaltender of the Week two weeks in a row, their future looks bright.
The tournament will begin this Friday, Jan. 26. The preliminary round will begin with UConn facing the Sacred Heart Pioneers at 4 p.m., and for a rivalry game, Quinnipiac will face Yale at 7 p.m.
On Saturday, Jan. 27, the teams who lost the preliminary rounds will face off in a third-place game beginning at 3:30 p.m. Shortly after, the championship will begin at 7 p.m., one hour after the end of the third-place game.
If fans aren’t able to make it to Hartford this weekend, all games will be available to watch on SNY.
Meanwhile, the annual Beanpot is celebrating its 72nd anniversary this year. Both Boston College and Boston University remain two of the top programs in the tournament with rankings of first and second in the nation, respectively.
Both teams are deep in history, as various players who have made their mark with the school have made it professionally as well. Boston College has a star-studded roster this year with notable players such as Ryan Leonard, Will Smith and Gabe Perreault. Each weres first-round draft pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and played together in the U.S. National Development program. This makes them the favorites to take the Beanpot title home to Chestnut Hill. However, the Boston University Terriers, led by former Hockey East Rookie of the Year Lane Hutson, have also been a powerhouse this year.
The showdown between these four teams will begin on Feb. 5 at TD Garden with Harvard and Northeastern facing off at 5 p.m., while the puck will drop between Boston University and Boston College at 8 p.m.
On Feb. 12, the losers of the first two games will face each other at 4:30 p.m., while the winners will face each other at 7:30 p.m. at TD Garden.
If you can’t make it to Boston, both of these games can be viewed on NESN.
All in all, it’s going to be an exciting next few weeks for New England college hockey, giving us a preview of what’s to come in the next half of the season and the playoffs.