The Fortress Invitational, formerly known as the Ice Vegas Invitational, is an annual mid-season

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the g ...

tournament that has been held since 2018 at

T-Mobile Arena T-Mobile Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Paradise, Nevada. Opened on April 6, 2016, it is the home arena of the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). A joint venture between MGM Resorts International and Anschutz En ...

on the

Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of ...

History

The Ice Vegas Invitational was created by BD Global, a marketing firm that had produced various college sports events in the Las Vegas area, in partnership with

MGM Resorts International MGM Resorts International is an American global hospitality and entertainment company operating destination resorts in Las Vegas, Massachusetts, Detroit, Mississippi, Maryland, and New Jersey, including Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, and Pa ...

, the operator of T-Mobile Arena. The organizers hoped that the tournament would attract the top college hockey teams in the country by its third year, fueled by growing appreciation of ice hockey in the area since the launch of the

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. Founded in 2017 as an expan ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

. They expected the Invitational to demonstrate the arena's viability as an eventual venue for the

NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship ''NCAA men's ice hockey championship'' refers to either of the two tournaments in men's ice hockey – one in Division I and one in Division III – contested by the National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athlet ...

(the "Frozen Four"). In 2017,

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

decided to cancel the Desert Hockey Classic in order to participate in the inaugural Ice Vegas Invitational. They won the tournament. The 2020 tournament was renamed the Fortress Invitational (in reference to T-Mobile Arena's nickname, "The Fortress"), and was hosted by the Golden Knights. It was held January 3 and 4, 2020 and included

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

and

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

. Providence defeated Army 3-1 in the first round while Cornell defeated Ohio State 5-2.

Yearly Results

References

External links

* {{Las Vegas Sports College ice hockey tournaments in the United States Annual sporting events in the United States Recurring sporting events established in 2018 2018 establishments in Nevada Ice hockey competitions in Nevada Events in Paradise, Nevada