Jumping on an opportunity to return to a holiday tournament it won impressively five years earlier, Colorado College has added the Great Lakes Invitational to a 2010-11 schedule featuring as many as nine opponents that earned NCAA playoff bids last spring.
The Tigers have replaced Boston University as the fourth team at the GLI, meeting Michigan State University on Dec. 29 and either the University of Michigan or host school Michigan Tech on Dec. 30 at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena.
The change is the result of a scheduling oversight made by BU.
“We would like to welcome and thank Colorado College for committing to the GLI on such short notice, said Suzanne Sanregret, director of athletics at Michigan Tech. “They will be a great addition to the tournament.”
CC will skate in the Motor City's annual classic for the third time after claiming the GLI title in 2005 with victories over Michigan (6-1) and Michigan State (6-3). The Tigers also played in the inaugural tournament in 1965.
“We are excited to be a part of the GLI, one of the most prestigious holiday tournaments in college hockey,” said Scott Owens, who enters his 12th season as head coach of the Tigers. “We have such good memories from participating in 2005-06 that we are thrilled to be going back. I want to thank Michigan State, Michigan and especially our league cohorts at Michigan Tech for the invitation.”
Tech and Michigan will tangle in this year's GLI opener on Wednesday, Dec. 29, preceding the game between Colorado College and MSU. The two losing teams will meet in a third-place contest on Thursday, Dec. 30, followed by the championship game between Wednesday's winners.
The Tigers already were slated to face eight teams that reached the national playoffs last season – the University of Alabama-Huntsville, Alaska Fairbanks, Bemidji State, Denver, North Dakota, St. Cloud State, Wisconsin and Yale – in 2010-11. Michigan, which dropped a 3-2 double-overtime decision to Miami University in the NCAA quarterfinals last March, potentially would be the ninth.
