Long Island Adds Holiday Tournament; Is Targeting a Frozen Four Next? Puck Drop

2026 Frozen Four Schedule
Puck Drop
Hockey Quote of the Day
We'll Leave You With This ...

It added women's hockey in 2019-20, and a men's program in 2020-21. Next up, an annual holiday tournament to be held in an NHL arena.

One of the fastest growing programs in college hockey, Long Island, announced in conjunction with the New York Islanders and UBS Arena a five-year partnership to promote the growth and development of hockey across Long Island and the New York City region.

Long Island University, the New York Islanders, and UBS Arena jointly announce a five-year partnership to advance "the growth and development of hockey across Long Island and the New York City region, and the creation of the Empire State Holiday Invitational, an annual Division I men's hockey tournament hosted at UBS Arena.

Long Island, which played this past season as an independent, will serve as host and be in the four-team field. The inaugural tournament will take place Dec. 28–29, 2026.

Naturally, the tournament was immediately celebrated by local fans, and sparked speculation that the partnership could lead to a bid for the Frozen Four in the near future, especially since the announcement included the line: "Together, the groups will look to expand opportunities, strengthen community connections, and further establish Long Island as a destination for hockey."

Consider the following 5 things about college hockey and New York:

1) LIU is the only Division I hockey program in the New York City area, plus the school has a Brooklyn campus. Columbia was one of the first colleges in the U.S. to play hockey, but it doesn't have a Division I team. LIU plays its home games at the Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow, which is out of the city in Nassau County, Long Island. The facility is owned by the New York Islanders, and seats 2,500. Otherwise, the closest Division I programs are Princeton in New Jersey, while Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart are both nearby in Connecticut. The closest in New York are Colgate and Cornell, roughly four hours away.

2) The venues and settings for the Frozen Four are only getting bigger, and in places where the spotlight shines brightest. This year's semifinals and finals will be held in Las Vegas for the first time, with North Dakota the host school. Washington D.C. is the site in 2027 (U.S. Naval Academy hosting) and Chicago in 2028 (Denver).

3) The New York City area has never hosted a Frozen Four. Ever.

The NCAA tournament in hockey dates back to 1948, and until 1957 the national championship game was played in Colorado Springs, Colo. Up until 1976, the NCAA tournament included two teams from each of the two major regions, East and West. The Frozen Four began in 1999, when the title game was played on the West Coast for the first time (and ironically, featuring the two programs located the farthest away, Maine defeated rival New Hampshire in overtime).

The state of New York has hosted numerous national championships, but there's never been one near New York City: Troy 1959, Utica 1962, Syracuse 1967, 1971), Lake Placid (1970, 1984, 1988), Albany (1992, 2001). and Buffalo (2003, 2019). Four of the tile games went to overtime, including the first to require multiple extra periods, the epic four-overtime 1984 game won by Bowling Green over Minnesota Duluth at Olympic Arena.

4) Long Island is already a hotbed for hockey talent. Players from there include Charlie McAvoy (Long Beach), Adam Fox (Jericho), Shane Pinto (Franklin Square), Matt Coronato (Greenlawn), Marshall Warren (Laurel), Robert Mastrosimone (East Islip) and Sonny Milan (Massapequa), plus top prospect James Hagens (Hauppauge). Moreover, Tage Thompson grew up in the area, Kyle Palmieri has ties there, and 2009 Hobey Baker Award winner Matt Gilroy (Boston University) called it home.

5) There are currently no local college hockey tournaments.

The ECAC plays its hockey championships for both the men and women's hockey in Lake Placid, which is about a 5-hour drive not including city traffic. The conference used to host its Holiday Hockey Festival at Madison Square Garden, but it was discontinued in 1977.

Red Hot Hockey between Boston University and Cornell has become an annual Thanksgiving-weekendd game at MSG since 2007, and half of the games have sold out. The teams play for the Kelley-Harkness Cup, honors legendary coaches Jack Kelley (BU) and Ned Harkness (Cornell). But it's a rivarly game and not a tournament.

This past season there was the Adirondack Winter Invitational in Lake Placid around Thanksgiving, and included St. Lawrence, Clarkson, Alaska and UMass Lowell. That same weekend Sacred Heart, RIT and Union were playing the Freindship Four in Belfast, Northern Ireland, with Miami (Ohio).

Meanwhile, over Winter Break there was the Great Lakes Invitational (at Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Mich.), Holiday Face-Off (at Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wisc.), Cactus Cup (at Acrisure Arena, Palm Springs, Calif.), and the Desert Hockey Classic (at Mullett Arena, Tempe, Ariz.).

The last one is especially important to this discussion because Arizona State has successfully used tournaments, including the season-opener Ice Breaker, to help elevate its status in Diivsion I hockey. This could be big for the sport in general in New York, but perhaps LIU using some of the Sun Devils' playbook as well. Plus, it's in a much better hockey territory than Phoenix as there are three nearby NHL teams, while the Coyotes recently moved to Utah.

If anything, the new holiday tournament figures to be an important test for college hockey in the area, and should it pass — there's no reason to think that it won't, especially with support from the Islanders — a Frozen Four down the road makes a lot of sense.

2026 Frozen Four Schedule

At Las Vegas
T-Mobile Arena
All times Eastern
Thursday, April 9
No. 2 North Dakota vs. Wisconsin, 5 p.m., ESPN2
No. 1 Michigan vs. Denver, 8:30 p.m., ESPN2

Championship
Saturday, April 11
Semifinal winners, 7:30 p.m., ESPN2

Puck Drop

• Speaking of Madison Square Garden, the PWHL set the U.S. attendance record for a professional women's hockey game with 18,006 fans at Madison Square Garden over the weekend. The Sirens defeated the Torrent 2-1 in a shootout. Check the out the impressive video using a drone:

MADE HISTORY AT THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS ARENA pic.twitter.com/bji4hYwQv8
— PWHL (@thepwhlofficial) April 5, 2026

• Matt Shasby stepped down as head coach at Alaska Anchorage. The Seawolves were 5-27-1 this past season, 34-86-9 during his four seasons. "We appreciate Matt's service to the hockey team and the university," acting athletic director Tanya Pont said in a release. "He stepped in during an important chapter for the program, and we wish him the best in his future endeavors."

• Miami coach Anthony Noreen agreed to a contract extension through the 2031-32 season.

• Connecticut has received a philanthropic commitment of $15 million from Robert and Stefanie Skinner that’s structured across several levels of investment in support of Huskies athletics. It includes $2.5 million in support of the football, baseball, men's soccer and men's hockey programs.

• Michigan State standout Charlie Stramel signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Minnesota Wild beginning in 2026-27. The Wild selected Stramel, who is from Rosemount, Minn., with the 21st-overall selection in the 2023 NHL Draft. ... Notre Dame forward Cole Knuble signed with the Philadelphia Flyers and will report to the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He's the son of former Mike Knuble, the former Michigan forward who played for five different NHL teams including the Flyers.

• Mike Divver of NHL.com reported that Penn State sophomore forward JJ Wiebusch is expected to enter the transfer portal. The transfer portal will open on Monday, April 13, for a 15-day period. He also reported that Quinnipiac goaltender Dylan Silverstein and New Hampshire defenseman Josh Player will enter the portal as well.

• The exodus from Mercyhurst has begun after the school cut the men's hockey program. Freshman defenseman Lukas Klemm is heading to Alaska, while three freshmen, forward Will Schumacher, forward Andrew LeBlanc, and defenseman Jacob LeBlanc, have all committed to Lindenwood.

• Updeats from the women's transfer portal: Freshman defender Neely Hawn of Merrimack is headed to Minnesota State. Meanwhile, Minnesota State sophomore defender Lauren Goldsworthy has committed to Minnesota. St. Cloud State freshman defender Sydney Lamb, is off to Clarkson. Quinnipiac freshman forward Ruby Rauk has committed to Bemidji State.

• Jack Hughes (out of the U.S. National Development Team) was named the second star of the week by the NHL. topped the NHL with nine points (three goals and six assists) for the New Jersey Devils.

• Former Boston University defenseman Cole Hutson's seven points in nine games are the most by a Washington Capitals defenseman within his first 10 career NHL games.

• Former Providence forward Tom Fitzgerald was was fired as general manager of the New Jersey Devils. He had been with the franchise since 2015, and general manager since 2020.

• Check out this goal by the Sharks. Collin Graf played for Union and Will Smith was at Boston College.

EWWWW 🤢

What an unreal pass by Collin Graf, and Will Smith capitalizes! pic.twitter.com/lZfrBsoWOr
— NHL (@NHL) April 7, 2026

Hockey Quote of the Day

“I’m only one of two Chicago-born athletes to have their jersey retired in their hometown and it just so happened he was one of my childhood heroes: Dick Butkus."
Chris Chelios

We'll Leave You With This ...

He was the first player in Flyers history to score his first NHL goal in overtime.

PORTER MARTONE'S FIRST NHL GOAL IS THE @ENERGIZER OVERTIME WINNER! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/FixjAo1SST
— NHL (@NHL) April 5, 2026