Women’s Ice Breaker Tournament


St. Cloud State won the 2023 Ice Breaker at Sacred Heart (Photo: Joshua Gee).

The annual Women’s Ice Breaker Tournament marks the traditional start to the college hockey season. Celebrating its fourth tournament in 2024-25, the Ice Breaker brings together four of the nation’s top teams, typically from different conferences.

The Ice Breaker Tournament was created by the Hockey Commissioners Association in order to celebrate the start of the season with teams from a variety of NCAA Division I conferences. The event has a legislative exemption from the NCAA which allows the four participants to play two additional games above the normal limit of 34.

The 2024 Ice Breaker Tournament will be hosted by defending NCAA champion Ohio State at The Schottenstein Center . The other participants include Cornell, Penn State and Stonehill.


Women’s Ice Breaker Tournament History

Year Host Site Participants (Champion in Boldface)
2019 Mercyhurst Buffalo Harbor Center (Buffalo, N.Y.) Colgate, UConn, Mercyhurst, Minnesota Duluth
2020 Not held because of COVID-19
2021 Not held because of COVID-19
2022 Neutral Site 1980 Rink Herb Brooks Arena (Lake Placid, N.Y.) Clarkson, Holy Cross, St. Lawrence, Syracuse
2023 Sacred Heart Martire Family Arena (Fairfield, Conn.) Lindenwood, Northeastern, Sacred Heart, St. Cloud State
2024 Ohio State Schottenstein Center (Columbus, Ohio) Cornell, Ohio State, Penn State, Stonehill