December is a time for families, friends, and communities to come together, celebrate, reflect on the previous year, and look forward to the next. And while some will spend the upcoming week celebrating the 50th Anniversary of “Rudolph the Red- Nosed Reindeer”, there is a much more relevant 50th Anniversary in the college hockey community.

 

This Sunday, December 28 and Monday, December 29, now at the legendary Joe Louis Arena, host Michigan Tech, along with Ferris State, Michigan, and Michigan State will face off in the 50 th Annual Great Lakes Invitational (GLI).

 

The tournament will begin Sunday with a doubleheader between Michigan and Michigan Tech at 3:30 p.m. and Michigan State and Ferris State at 7:00 p.m. The winners of those games will advance to the championship game on Monday, Dec. 29 at 7:00 p.m., while the other two will meet in the third-place game at 3:30 p.m. All four games will be televised live on FOX Sports Detroit Plus.

 

It was in the mid-1960’s that Lincoln Cavalieri (General Manager of Olympia Stadium), John MacInnes (Head Coach at Michigan Tech), and Jack Paterson (scout with the Detroit Red Wings), got together and envisioned a college hockey tournament that enhanced the college and pro system, gave college hockey more exposure, and gave more opportunities to US-born players to play in college and eventually the NHL.

 

In 1965 the Great Lakes Invitational was born when Michigan Tech, Boston University, Colorado College, and Toronto faced off at Olympia Stadium in Detroit, Michigan.

 

The tournament, hosted by Michigan Tech since its inception, has evolved into an elite college hockey tournament at Joe Louis Arena that includes Michigan and Michigan State, along with a fourth team by invitation.

 

This year the invite went to Ferris State, which will be their first appearance as a team in the GLI, but most people will know that does not represent the previous experience the players and coaches have had with the tournament.

 

“Growing up in the Detroit area my first exposure to college hockey was at the GLI,” said Ferris State Head Coach Bob Daniels. “My father worked at the Olympia and I sat in the stands while he worked. I really enjoyed the experience, I liked the bands, the enthusiasm the players brought to the game, it really sold me on college hockey.”

 

It is a great experience many young hockey fans can be a part of, and as it grew it became a part of the fabric of the Michigan hockey culture, something Ferris State senior CJ Motte experienced first hand.

 

“Michigan is a pretty hockey intense state so having it in a big city where a bunch of kids can watch on TV I think a lot of kids have the goal to be a part of it, so it gets more kids into hockey and hopefully they can develop and get to the pro’s.”

 

Motte, a 2014 Hobey Baker Award Finalist, is one of many players that fit that mold of watching the tournament at a young age and having aspirations of a professional career.

 

Born in St. Clair, Michigan, Motte played junior hockey growing up and has now become one of the premier goaltenders in college hockey, posting a 28-8-3 record in 2013-14, earning the “Bulldog of the Year” Award and was the National Winner of the Premiere Player Award. At the end of year meetings for Ferris State, Coach Daniels asked the players who they saw as captain the following season and why, and Motte’s name continued to pop up.

 

“For the staff, we finally said we know it’s unusual but let’s make CJ our captain and what speaks volumes for him is he’s the first goaltender to be captain of a Ferris State hockey team.” Coach Daniels said. “He’s one of the hardest workers we have on and off the ice. What that means is not just in the weight room, but also in the classroom. He’s great in the community and is very thoughtful, so not only do we have a great goalie, but a great leader and I think that speaks volumes to the type of kid he is.”

 

For Motte, that work ethic was instilled early and is fitting for a kid coming from Michigan, known as a “blue-collar” state.

 

“We have a great group of guys in the locker room so I was just honored to take that position [as captain],” Motte said. “I think growing up my parents told me if you want something you have to work for it. They steered me in the right direction that I had to work for it and earn it.”

 

Through all that hard work the reward of playing in the GLI at Joe Louis Arena is one to cherish.

 

“It’s college hockey at the Joe. Watching the Detroit Red Wings play, always looking up to the Red Wings being from Michigan and knowing college hockey was a goal of mine, I just looked forward to hopefully one day playing in it.”

 

Now that the opportunity is here, Motte and his team want to take full advantage.

 

“It’s definitely been one of our goals [to win] since the beginning of the season,” Motte added. “We put it on the calendar and it would be a big confidence booster for the team in the second half of the season. The other three teams are top teams in college hockey and we’re real excited to be a part of it.”

 

And while the players and coaches may not know the numbers behind it, they do understand the importance of the tournament coming out of the holiday break and the opportunity to build confidence and catapult them into the second half of the
season.

 

“It means a lot to all the programs,” Coach Daniels added. “Especially knowing we have 17 players from Michigan there will be a lot of emotion and I think it will be a playoff like atmosphere, it will serve us well as we go forward with the rest of the season.”

 

The last four GLI winners have used the tournament victory as a way to propel them into the second half of the season. Perhaps most impressive in that time was Michigan’s 15-5-1 finish to the 2011-12 season after heading into the holiday break at 9-8-3, similar to Ferris State’s 9-7-1 record this year heading into the tournament.

 

Also on that list was the surprise tournament victory in 2012 for Michigan Tech, who ended a 30 year drought at the tournament and posted a 9-10-1 record in the second half of the season after starting 5-10-3.

 

“It was pretty crazy at the time,” Michigan Tech Junior Co-Captain and native of Houghton, Michigan Tanner Kero said about the 2012 victory. “It felt like we won the national title, and with the win our overall confidence got a lot higher and really catapulted us into the second half.”

 

But for those in the tournament it isn’t just on the ice where winning is important, as Coach Pearson recalls winning in 2012, it is an event that can have a much deeper impact.

 

“Hockey is intertwined into the fabric, whether you’re five years old or 80 years old it’s in your soul,” he said. “After we won we took the trophy out on Portage Lake for a day, there wasn’t much snow and the kids could skate all over the lake, it was unbelievable.”

 

“It was special for our community and school,” Kero remembers. “Being the host and winning after that many years, it put us more back on the map.”

 

Despite 95 years of college hockey history, including tremendous success under MacInnes in the 1960’s and 1970’s, Tech has experienced an extended period of struggles on the ice. When Coach Pearson left his post as Assistant Coach at Michigan and took over the program in 2011 his goal was to return the school to prominence, and in such a passionate community being back on the map is one of the first steps to reviving such a historic program.

 

“The one thing we really talked about is we couldn’t change what happened the last 20 or 25 years, but we had a chance to change and shape the future. It’s getting the players and core people to believe that even though times have changed and the college hockey landscape changed, that we could put a good team on the ice and have success.”

 

From Kero’s perspective, Coach Pearson was the perfect coach to help that turnaround.

 

“First sitting down with him I knew he was the right fit,” Kero said. “You could tell he was really fired up to be back at Tech and really wanted to change the whole atmosphere and thought process of the community that we could be a winning program again.”

 

“It’s always been a special place,” Coach Pearson added. “I had such a great experience as a player [Pearson played at Michigan Tech from 1977-81], got a good education, went to the final four, and to get back to Tech my goal is to get the program back so people can be proud of it and players can have the same type of experience I did.”

 

With so many years involved in college hockey, Coach Pearson can draw on his experience and knowledge of the Houghton community, one proud of its college hockey history as well as its strong academic reputation.

 

“He has a lot of good funny stories, coached so many different players and has so many experiences over the years.” Kero said. “He has such a great knowledge of the game, he has a little feel for every different type of situation we’re in and he helps us stay focused and make sure we’re ready to go.”

 

With those great experiences and coaching so many great players over the years, Coach Pearson knows the importance of leadership, which is why he points to Kero as a perfect leader for this team.

 

“He’s a terrific human being,” said Coach Pearson. “He comes from a real good family, is a serious student, a serious hockey player, and his work ethic is second to none.”

 

It must have been fate to have Kero, who originally committed to Tech under former Head Coach Jamie Russell, enter as a freshman in Coach Pearson’s first year. “He’s the consummate student-athlete. If you’re looking for a guy to build your program around in all facets he’s the type of guy you want to start your program with and start building around.”

 

With both Kero and Coach Pearson entering in rebuild mode in 2011, they have seen successes with the 2012 GLI victory and a 13-3-0 start to the 2014-15 season, but they know their work is far from done.

 

“I feel real good about our first half, I don’t think we could have asked for any more from our players.” Coach Pearson said. “Having said that, there’s still a lot of hockey left and my expectation is to secure a home playoff site and obviously get in the tournament. We need to continue to do what we did in the first half, playing all around good defense and taking advantage of scoring chances, but I like how our team is structured so we’ll have a chance.”

 

It was a 30-year wait for Tech to win the GLI, and it’s been 21 years since they have secured a home playoff site in the WCHA playoffs. Doing so would be one of the next big steps for a program with aspirations of their first Conference Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance since 1981, and their first National Championship since 1975. And yes, if you were wondering, Tech did win the 1974 GLI on their way to that 1975 National Championship.

 

With a bright future for the program ahead, it is fitting to have Kero, a player that fits the vision of the original GLI founders, lead his team into the 50 th Great Lakes Invitational with a team as rich in college hockey history as the tournament they’re playing in.