The Holiday Face–Off is a 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 with the first iteration played in late December 2021. Clarkson is the defending champion after beating Wisconsin 3-1 in the 2022 championship game. The 2023 Kwik Trip Holiday Face–Off will feature Wisconsin, Minnesota Duluth, Northeastern and Air Force on December 28 and 29 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.

History

The Holiday Face–Off was brought about by the Gazelle Group, a marketing firm based in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

. The group sought to rekindle a mid-western holiday tournament that had previously been organized by the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

as the

Badger Showdown The Badger Showdown was a college Division I men's ice hockey tournament usually played before New Years at first the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and then the Kohl Center in Madison. Wisconsin served as the tournament's host for the ...

. No winter tournament had been held in the region since the Showdown was discontinued in 2009. The tournament was first supposed to be held on December 28–29, 2020. However, it was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The original teams meant to play were the Wisconsin Badgers,

Clarkson Golden Knights The Clarkson Golden Knights are composed of 20 teams representing Clarkson University in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's alpine skiing, basketball, cross country, ice hockey, lacrosse, nordic skiing, soccer, and swimming. Men' ...

UConn Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, located in Storrs. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big East Conference. The university's fo ...

, and

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member o ...

. On June 15, 2021, it was announced that the inaugural Holiday Face–Off tournament would be played on December 28–29, 2021 between the Wisconsin Badgers,

Providence Friars The Providence Friars are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Providence College, located in Providence, Rhode Island. They compete in the Big East Conference (NCAA Division I) for every sport except for ice hockey, where they compet ...

Bowling Green Falcons The Bowling Green Falcons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Bowling Green State University (BGSU), in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The Falcons compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Divi ...

, and

Yale Bulldogs The Yale Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. The school sponsors 35 varsity sports. The school has won two NCAA national championships in women's fencing, four in ...

. The Badgers and Friars took the championship game into overtime and ended with a final score of 2-2. The Badgers would ultimately win the inaugural Holiday Face–Off championship on a shootout goal by freshman forward, Zach Urdahl.

Yearly Results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holiday Face-Off Sports competitions in Wisconsin College sports in Wisconsin College ice hockey tournaments in the United States Recurring sporting events established in 2021 2021 establishments in Wisconsin Ice hockey in Wisconsin