August 25, 2021

MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Gazelle Group is pleased to announce that Kwik Trip, the family owned convenience store serving Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois, will be the title sponsor of the the inaugural "Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off" college hockey tournament.

“We are excited to be part of the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off taking place at the Fiserv Forum. This will bring a great sporting event to the state for loyal college hockey and Kwik Trip fans. We are proud to serve all fans, players and coaches as they travel to be part of the exciting event,” said Teresa Clark, Marketing Projects Supervisor at Kwik Trip.

The event will be played on December 28 and 29, 2021 at Fiserv Forum, home of the reigning NBA Champion Milwaukee Bucks. The field consists of Wisconsin, Providence, Bowling Green, and Yale. Semifinal play will take place on Tuesday, December 28 with the Championship game and third-place game on Wednesday, December 29. Matchups and game times will be announced at a later date.

"We are thrilled to welcome Kwik Trip as our title sponsor," said Rick Giles, President of Gazelle Group. "Kwik Trip's support will increase the reach of the event through their network of convenience stores throughout the region."


THE FIELD

Wisconsin (Head Coach: Tony Granato, Big Ten Conference)
2021 and 2017 Big Ten Coach of the Year and 2018 U.S. Olympic Team coach Tony Granato leads his alma mater in his sixth season as Wisconsin head coach … six-time national champions, the Badgers are the defending Big Ten regular-season champions entering the 2021-22 season … Cole Caufield, the 2021 Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner as the nation’s top player in 2021 led the nation in goals and points before helping the Montreal Canadiens to the Stanley Cup semifinals that are currently taking place … UW returns seniors Tarek Baker, Tyler Inamoto and Josh Ess for a fifth season and welcomes 10 newcomers including 2021 NHL Draft first-round prospect Corson Ceulemans … the Badgers also return Big Ten All-Rookie Team goaltender Cameron Rowe, a 2021 Mike Richter Award nominee for the nation’s best goaltender

Providence (Head Coach: Nate Leaman, Hockey East)
Nate Leaman finished his 10th season as head coach of the Friars in 2020-21, where he has guided the Friars to nine-consecutive winning seasons, 203 victories, two Frozen Four appearances (2015, 2019) and one national championship (2015). Providence will welcome back two of its three top scorers from last season – Parker Ford (7-12-19) and Patrick Moynihan (6-9-15). In goal, Jaxson Stauber started the final 23 games in 2020-21 – posting a 2.24 GAA and .916 save percentage with four shutouts in being named a Mike Richter Award finalist. Two-time captain Michael Callahan will return for his senior season, leading a defensive group that returns all six starters from a year ago.

Bowling Green (Head Coach: Ty Eigner, WCHA)
Ty Eigner will embark on his third season at the helm of the Falcons in the 2021-22 season, taking over the role prior to the 2019-20 campaign after serving as an assistant on the staff for nine seasons. During the 2020-21 season, Bowling Green reached as high as No. 5 in the polls and has been able to tally at least 20 wins in each of the last seven seasons. The Falcons will compete in the newly reestablished CCHA this season with a slightly new look on the bench with the addition of Assistant Coach Stavros Paskaris, as well as having 11 new players join the program, consisting of eight freshman and three transfer.

Yale (Head Coach: Keith Allain, ECAC Hockey)
The Bulldogs, who did not compete in 2020-21, last played in March of 2020, ending the season with an ECAC Hockey playoff series victory over Union at New Haven. Yale, the 2013 NCAA Champions, recently named senior blueliner Graham Lillibridge as its 2021-22 captain. The team from New Haven has a long history of playing holiday tournaments in the Cheese State. The last time the Bulldogs skated in Wisconsin, they beat Ferris State and then tied the Badgers 2-2 in the 2010 Badger Showdown Championship Game at Madison. Yale’s last appearance at Milwaukee was the 1998 Badger Showdown at the Bradley Center, where the Elis beat Wisconsin 4-2 and then fell to Bowling Green in the Championship contest.

About the Gazelle Group
The 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 Holiday Face-Off, Gazelle produces numerous nationally-recognized college basketball events, such as the Empire Classic benefiting Wounded Warrior Project, the Legends Classic presented by Old Trapper , the Gotham Classic, the Sunshine Slam, and the College Basketball Invitational. For more information on the Gazelle Group, please visit www.gazellegroup.com.

About Kwik Trip
Kwik Trip is a family-owned company founded in 1965. Kwik Trip operates 775 stores and employs 31,000 co-workers in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. The stores receive daily deliveries of fresh baked goods, dairy products, soups, salads, fruit, produce, sandwiches and sell 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 9 million guests per week. The C-store chain consistently ranks as a Top Workplace in each of its market areas.

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 17,385 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’s Bucks and the Marquette University men’s basketball team and also 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. Founding Partners for Fiserv Forum include Fiserv, BMO Harris Bank, Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, Johnson Controls, MolsonCoors and Motorola.

For more information on Fiserv Forum, please visit: fiservforum.com.