The 46th annual Great Lakes Invitational begins this afternoon at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. This year's GLI features Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan Tech and Colorado College.
The Spartans will look to defend their 2009 title and build some momentum for the second half of the season after struggling down the stretch of the first half. They capped off the first half of the season with an ugly 5-0 loss to Michigan in The Big Chill at the Big House, and currently MSU is only two points away from being in last place in the CCHA.
Michigan will look to continue building its momentum from a pretty strong first half of the season. The Wolverines are only one point out of first place in the CCHA and have a game in hand on first place Notre Dame. Michigan finished the first half of the season with a big win over MSU in Michigan Stadium, and now the GLI will serve as a chance to get the second half of the season started on the right note. Last year, Michigan lost to RPI in the semifinals of the tournament, so this year it will attempt to get to the finals and win the championship just as it did most recently in 2008 and 2007.
Here is a look at the schedule of games for the 2010 Great Lakes Invitational:
Wednesday, Dec. 29
4:00 p.m. - Michigan State vs. Colorado College
7:30 p.m. - Michigan vs. Michigan Tech
Thursday, Dec. 30
4:00 p.m. - Third-Place Game
7:30 p.m. - Championship game