BLOG: 3 Lessons Minnesotans Can Learn From Connecticut Ice (And Vice Versa)

"We should run this tournament every year for the next 30-40-50 years," said Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold, discussing last weekend's Connecticut Ice festival.

Minnesotans know those words all too well. Six years and 1100 miles separate the same excitement at Xcel Energy Center following what was considered a successful first edition of the North Star College Cup.

Of course, the North Star College Cup no longer exists. An event meant to showcase the bonds of Minnesota's college hockey programs instead showed the cracks in its relationships. After four iterations, the schools decided to go their separate ways.

The situation's origins repeat itself in Connecticut, where the four in-state schools came together for an in-season tournament. Year 2 is guaranteed but after that, no deals have currently been made.

In a different state, the names changed with both sharing similar situations are character archetypes.
There's the longtime blue blood in Minnesota Yale. The younger program making national headway in St. Cloud State Quinnipiac. The smaller school trying to compete with others in Bemidji State Sacred Heart. The school moving into a big conference on the cusp of taking the next step yet unable in Minnesota State UConn.

Okay, that last comparison works only pre-Hastings, but you get the point.

As the only person who attended both tournaments, it's hard not to live in the similarities. There are some lessons Minnesotans can take from Connecticut's first in-state tournament and ones Connecticut can learn from the North Star College Cup's failures (RIP).

Here are three for each:

Feature: The Future Was On Display At Inaugural Connecticut Ice Tournament

Bridgeport served as host to the inaugural Connecticut Ice festival. Webster Bank Arena, next door to P.T. Barnum's museum, brought out the three-ring circus with a weekend fully dedicated to hockey in the Nutmeg State. A new in-season tournament 15 years into the making featuring the four Division 1 men's hockey teams in the state of Connecticut saw Sacred Heart taking home the crystal trophy Sunday night.

"This would be right up near the top, if not the top," Sacred Heart head coach C.J. Marottolo said about where the weekend personally ranked for him. "Playing in an environment where you have four Connecticut schools, it's the first so that probably puts it over the top."

Photo Credit: Gregory Vasil/SNY

Connecticut Ice was the latest attempt at in-state bragging rights. Just as it exists in Boston each February. Just as it exists in Michigan in December. Just as Minnesota attempted to do for four years on the same weekend Connecticut is currently.

As those states celebrate history alongside trophies, inside Bridgeport, the future was on display. Almost out of necessity. Quinnipiac's rivalry with Yale - one showcased nationally in the 2013 national championship game - is well known. However, Sunday only marked the third time the Bobcats faced Sacred Heart since leaving Atlantic Hockey in 2005. The two schools sit 25 miles apart from one another.