INTERNATIONAL INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT SET

Eight teams, including two made up of athletes from the Upper Midwest High School Elite League, will participate in the International Invitational Tournament this weekend at New Hope Ice Arena. 

The showcase will be played as a three-day bracket-style tournament with quarterfinals on Friday followed by both regular and consolation semifinal match-ups on Saturday and championship, third-place, and seventh-place games taking on Sunday. 

The Elite League ‘Red’ Team opens competition on Friday, October 31st, with a game against Chicago Mission at 5 p.m. at the North Rink while the Elite League ‘White’ Team plays at 5:30 p.m. at the South Rink against the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite program. 

Other quarterfinal games on Friday include Culver Academy (Indiana) taking on the Michigan Development Hockey League (MDHL) at 7:30 on the North Rink and Stanstead College (Quebec, Canada) taking on Shattuck-St. Mary’s at 8 p.m. on the South Rink. 

On the two Elite League rosters this year, four athletes were recently listed on the NHL’s Central Scouting preliminary list as watchlist prospects for the 2026 NHL Draft (forwards Peter Murray and Keegan Davis, defenders Cam Merrick and Nicklas Nelson), and there are two current Division I commits on the rosters as well in Max Cullen (Moorhead, Minnesota Duluth) and Nicklas Nelson (Monticello, UConn). Overall Elite League leading scorer Gavin McNeil (Rosemount) will be showcased on a roster this weekend as well. 

Two of the goaltenders from this year’s championship game between The Base and TDS Transportation will be a part of the tournament this weekend in Bryce Francisco (Hermantown) and Joseph Klose (New Prague). Francisco made 46 saves for TDS to win the Founder’s Cup last Sunday while Klose made 50 saves for The Base in the loss. 

The Elite League All-Star team won the International Invitational title last year in 2024 with an overtime victory over Shattuck-St. Mary’s. Elite League teams have won at least a share of nine of the last 12 IIT titles, including four of the last six.