Ferris State Hockey to Compete in Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off In 2024
Big Rapids, Mich. – The Ferris State University men's ice hockey team will take part again in another major in-season tournament next year as the Bulldogs head to Fiserv Forum on Dec. 28-29, 2024, to compete in the fourth annual Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off Tournament as announced this week.
The Bulldogs will join Wisconsin, Alaska Fairbanks and UConn in the tournament. Semifinal play will take place on Saturday, Dec. 28 with the championship and third-place games set for Sunday, Dec. 29. Matchups and game times will be announced later. Tickets are now on sale at ticketmaster.com.
Wisconsin won the Holiday Face-Off Championship in 2023 and will be looking to defend its title in 2024. Since the tournament's inaugural season in 2021, the Badgers have appeared in all three championship games and have won the tournament twice (2021, 2023).
Ferris State finished the 2023-24 regular season 10-22-2 under the direction of 32nd-year head coach Bob Daniels. The Bulldogs will play the first round of the CCHA Tournament at Bemidji State in a best-of-three series this Friday, March 8 thru Sunday, March 10.
The Badgers finished 2023-24 in second place of the Big Ten standings in regular season action and are currently ranked #5 in the nation. Their 25-9-2 record was their first 25-win regular season since 2000.
UConn finished its 2023-24 regular season 13-18-2 under the direction of 10th-year head coach Mike Cavanaugh and is set to compete against Vermont in the Hockey East Tournament.
Alaska Fairbanks finished the 2023-24 regular season 16-14-3 and faced the Bulldogs in the Great Lakes Invitational (GLI) at Van Andel Arena back in December. The Nanooks captured a 3-2 victory and a third-place finish at the GLI with their win over Ferris State.
About Kwik Trip
First played in 2021, the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off has quickly become a highlight on the college hockey calendar. It attracts the top programs in the sport with an opportunity to win a championship in a state that loves hockey and in a magnificent venue – Fiserv Forum in downtown Milwaukee.
Kwik Trip is a family-owned company founded in 1965. Kwik Trip operates over 870 stores and employs 38,000 co-workers across six states in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, and South Dakota. The stores receive daily deliveries of fresh baked goods, dairy products, soups, salads, fruit, produce, and sandwiches. Kwik Trip also sells grocery products, general merchandise, gasoline, and related petroleum products. The company operates its own bakery, dairy, water bottling line, kitchens, food safety lab, distribution center, ice plant, LP plant, blow mold facility, transportation company and health clinics. Kwik Trip makes, ships, and sells 80 percent of its own branded products and serves over 11.5 million guests per week. The C-store chain consistently ranks as a Top Workplace in each of its market areas. For more, visit www.kwiktrip.com.
About the Gazelle Group
The Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off is produced by the Gazelle Group of Princeton, N.J. The Gazelle Group is a sports marketing firm, specializing in event production and management, client representation, and sponsorship consulting. In addition to the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off, Gazelle produces numerous nationally recognized college basketball events, such as the Empire Classic benefiting Wounded Warrior Project, the Legends Classic, the Gotham Classic, the Sunshine Slam, the jersey Jam, and the College Basketball Invitational. For more information on the Gazelle Group, please visit www.gazellegroup.com.
About Fiserv Forum
Fiserv Forum is a preeminent sports and entertainment arena in downtown Milwaukee that opened on Aug. 26, 2018. Designed by Populous, Eppstein Uhen Architects and HNTB, the venue offers incomparable sightlines, customer service, technology and amenities. Fiserv Forum includes 17,341 seats for basketball, 15,178 for hockey and up to 18,000 for concerts, with 34 luxury suites and three clubs. The world-class arena is home to the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks and Marquette University's men's basketball team and was selected to host the 2020 Democratic National Convention and the 2024 Republican National Convention. Fiserv Forum hosts a diverse variety of year-round events, including major concerts, family shows and other sports and entertainment events. Fiserv Forum is the anchor of the surrounding 30-acre Deer District neighborhood, which is Milwaukee's premier location for people to live, work and play. In 2021, Fiserv Forum was awarded LEED Gold Certification for sustainability performance. Founding Partners for Fiserv Forum include Fiserv, BMO, Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, Johnson Controls, Motorola, Potawatomi Hotel and Casino and Beechwood Sales and Service / Anheuser-Busch. For more information, please visit fiservforum.com.