UMass Lowell Hockey to Play in First Cactus Cup Event

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Palm Springs California is known for plenty of things, hockey may not be one of them. However, come the first weekend of next January, four teams will be given a chance to change some minds about that. On January 3, and 4th, the first annual Coachella Valley Cactus Cup will be held. UMass Lowell, Holy Cross, Michigan Tech, and Omaha University will be the four teams involved. Tickets for this 2-day tournament will go on sale on April 19. The first day of the event has already been set. The early game will have Holy Cross vs Omaha. Then the late game has UMass Lowell meeting Michigan Tech.

The tournament will be held inside Acrisure Arena, which is the home of the Coachella Valley Firebirds of the American Hockey League. They are the affiliate of the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League. Let’s get some idea of the four teams that will take part in this brand new Division One college hockey tournament.

Holy Cross is from the Atlantic League. Their record from a year ago was 21-14-4 for head coach Bill Rigo. They reached the finals of the Atlantic Hockey League tournament losing to AIC twice. In the regular season, the Crusaders were 2-1 vs teams that were ranked in the Top 20 poll. They did play the River Hawks last year losing in a shootout on December 8 at Tsongas Center by a 2-0 shootout score but the game went down officially as a 2-2 tie. Then, the next night at the Hart Center Rink in Worcester, MA., the Crusaders earned a 4-2 victory. Their best stretch of last year came right before their tournament began as Holy Cross won seven of their last eight regular season games.

It was a tough season for the UMass Lowell River Hawks (8-24-4) and head coach Norm Bazin. Injuries and inconsistent play plagued this team all season long. They lost five games by shutout last season, including their final three games of the season. All three went to the University of New Hampshire—the final two games of the regular season, then the opening round of the Hockey East tournament. The River Hawks will return their number-one goaltenders from a year ago. Henry Welsch was 5-13-4 with a 2.45 GAA and a .907% save percentage.

The Michigan Tech Huskies were a part of the NCAA Hockey Tournament this spring. They got there by winning the CCHA Mason Cup with a 2-1 win over Bemidji State. They finished their year with a 19-15-6 record, 12-10-2 in the conference. Their victory in the first-ever Mason Cup tournament allowed the Huskies to be a part of the field of 16 for the third straight season under head coach Joe Shawhan. The Huskies lost to Boston College 6-1 in the Providence RI regional. It was their 16th trip in program history. The Huskies are no strangers to in-season tournaments. This past year, they won the 57th annual Great Lakes Invitational defeating Alaska in the semifinals 3-2, then beating Michigan State in a shootout. The title win was their 12th in that event. Michigan Tech finished their year as the 19th-ranked team in the country.

The University of Omaha Mavericks were 23-13-4 last season under head coach Mike Gabinel. They would lose in the finals of the NCHC Frozen Faceoff to the eventual National Champions, Denver University. The Mavericks also made the NCAA Hockey Tournament, losing to Minnesota by a 3-2 score in Sioux Falls, S.D, in the first round. This will be their second straight year of playing an in-season tournament. This past year, they were a part of the Desert Hockey Classic in Arizona. They defeated the River Hawks in the first round by a 4-3 score in overtime. Then, lost the championship game to the Arizona State Sun Devils by a 2-1 score in OT. The NCAA appearance was their fifth in program history that dates back to 1997-98.

With two teams that were a part of this year’s field, and two looking to get there, this should be a very good weekend of College Hockey in the first weekend of January.