With the holidays officially here, college hockey is taking a well-deserved break.
College hockey is on a hiatus until Dec. 28, when the Holiday Face-Off tournament is scheduled to kick off at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee with Bowling Green, Yale, Wisconsin and Providence taking the ice.
With the holiday break in place, the national polls have remained consistent with last week’s. Minnesota State continues to hold on to the top spot, followed by Quinnipiac, Michigan, Western Michigan and North Dakota in the top five.
Even with most teams on a pause, there still was some action to take a look at over the last week, though.
Who’s Playing Well?
Ohio State entered its break with a two-game sweep of Bowling Green. Arizona State and Colorado College split a two-game series with the Sun Devils taking the front end, and the Prowlers taking Game 2. Hockey East’s own Merrimack played Dartmouth to a 2-2 non-conference draw on Dec. 17 in the other game action.
Local Spotlight
In Merrimack’s tie with Dartmouth, forwards Mick Messner and and Mac Welsher netted the two goals for the squad. The Warriors are 3-1-2 over their last five games with wins coming against Maine, Holy Cross and United States U-18 National Development Team in an exhibition.
National News
The Holiday Face-Off isn’t the only tournament set to begin in the week following Christmas. The Great Lakes Invitational will begin in East Lansing, Mich., on Dec. 29 with Western Michigan, Michigan, Michigan State and Michigan Tech taking part. The Ledyard Bank Classic also will begin between Boston College, New Hampshire, Mercyhurst and Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H.
NESN Game of the Week
The next NESN Game of the Week will take place on Jan. 7, when Boston College dukes it out with rival BU in women’s hockey action. All coverage can be found right here on NESN beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
