GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Great Lakes invite hockey tournament starts this Thursday here in Grand Rapids and will showcase some of the best hockey in the state including a rematch from last year between msu and ferris.
“I think it’s the greatest holiday tournament in college hockey,” said Adam Nightingale.
The GLI will be played in Grand Rapids for the second straight year and features Michigan Tech, Alaska-Anchorage, Michigan state and Ferris State.
“I think Grand Rapids is such a great hockey town. With having the Griffins there and it being at Van Andel, they do such a great job. We have a ton of alumni on the west side of the state. I think if we have a chance to go out and play in front of our proud alumni, we’re going to do it,” said Nightingale.
MSU Hockey is no. 7 in the country and leads the Big Ten and they’re 12-4-2 this season. The Spartans will face Ferris State in the semi final game on Thursday, a rematch of their outing from last year where the Dawgs got the best of them, 4-2.
“They beat us last year. Coach Daniels he’s a legend in college hockey. He’s a Michigan State grad, he’s a guy that I have a lot of respect for and his staff. They’re going to be well prepared and be ready to go. One of the things when you get a chance to play in the Big Ten is you see everyone’s best and that’s a blessing. We’ll make sure that we are at our best and it’ll be a bit of test for our guys but we’re looking forward to it,” said Nightingale.
The Bulldogs will also be coming off their holiday break and look to make it back to the GLI title game. For Travis Shoudy and Antonio Venuto they love playing in the exciting atmosphere at the GLI.
“My favorite part is just the environment, the arena. Being down there and just the environment of all the fans, all the different media. I think my favorite part is getting to play against my brother because he plays at Michigan State. That’s probably my favorite part of it,” said Shoudy.
“It’s a big tournament obviously. A lot of people show up every year, a lot of people come to town so it’s definitely something that’s marked on our calendar and we definitely look forward to it each year,” said Antonio Venuto.
Ferris is 5-11-1 this season. Head Coach Bob Daniels admitted that their record isn’t as good as they’d like it to be, but he hopes that the GLI can really light a spark for them heading into the second half of the season.
“It’s very interesting this time of year to play in a holiday tournament. I’ve seen some really strange things happen over the years like a 8-7 type scores. So I do think the guys play looser. I think it’s way better to play in a holiday tournament like this in front of really good crowds than it would be to play a non-conference series. It’ll be a good game between us and Michigan State. Over the years we may have played them 50-60 times and I’ve been involved with 40 of them because of how old I am and I can tell you they’re always really good hockey games,” said Daniels.
The winner of the Ferris vs. Michigan State game on Thursday will take on the winner of Michigan tech vs. Alaska-Anchorage on Friday in the finals.
