A yet-to-be named two-day mid-season tournament involving the state's five Division I men's teams has officially set a schedule for the first four years, starting in 2014 at St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center.
Minnesota will serve as a permanent host, and the other four teams will compete on a rotating schedule in the four-team event.
The inaugural tournament, Jan. 24-25, 2014, has Minnesota Duluth facing Minnesota State-Mankato and St. Cloud State meeting Minnesota in the opening round. A championship and third-place game are played the next day. Bemidji State will sit out in the first year. Game times and ticket information are to be determined, and a contest is planned to name the tournament. The working name of the event has been the Minnesota Cup.
First-round pairings and tournament dates beyond 2014: Jan. 23-24, 2015, UMD vs. Bemidji State and Minnesota State-Mankato vs. Minnesota; Jan. 29-30, 2016, Minnesota State-Mankato vs. St. Cloud State and Bemidji State vs. Minnesota; and Jan. 27-28, 2017, St. Cloud State vs. Bemidji State and UMD vs. Minnesota.
