What does the future hold for Connecticut Ice?

This weekend, the state’s four Division I men’s hockey programs will descend on Yale’s Ingalls Rink to battle for supremacy in the Connecticut Ice tournament. UConn is coming off its first-ever crown in 2025 after knocking off Quinnipiac with a last-second goal in the opener, followed by a white-knuckle 1-0 victory over host Sacred Heart in the final.

This will be the sixth edition of the tournament, though also the final chapter in this iteration. In 2022, the four schools — UConn, Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart, and Yale — agreed to a four-year contract that moved CT Ice to home rinks. At the time, it was necessary just to keep it alive after SNY, which ran the tournament in its first two years (2020 and 2022) at Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, pulled out.

After this weekend, that agreement expires. With nothing agreed upon yet for next year, leaving the future of CT Ice uncertain.

When asked if he’s confident it’ll be played in 2027, UConn head coach Mike Cavanaugh replied, “I hope so.”

Still, Cavanaugh and the other two permanent head coaches — Quinnipiac’s Rand Pecknold and Sacred Heart’s CJ Marottolo — have consistently supported the tournament. That enthusiasm should help.

“I certainly want to see it continue,” Cavanaugh said on Thursday. “Speaking with CJ Marottolo and Rand, who have been involved in the tournament since the genesis there… I know that they're very eager to continue this tournament.”

Yale’s position will be clearer once the school hires a new head coach. Joe Howe is serving as the interim after Keith Allain retired in the fall. For the tournament to work, all four schools need to be committed.

They also have to agree on where to host it.

Ever since the CT Ice’s inception, Cavanaugh has pushed for it to be held at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford. He finally got his wish during UConn’s turn through the rotation and was vindicated with a crowd of 6,429 for the championship — more than any of the four on-campus rinks can hold.

As someone who grew up around and coached in the Beanpot in Boston, Cavanaugh believes the best way for CT Ice to reach its potential is to hold it at the state’s biggest arena.

“I've had talks with people in the state, that I do personally think it should be moved to PeoplesBank Arena. I think that the majority of the teams are on board with that as well,” Cavanaugh said. “Why would we shortchange ourselves?”

That idea has some pushback, though. UConn usually plays four games per season at PeoplesBank Arena, which used to serve as its full-time home. Not everyone views it as a neutral site.

It’s not as if returning to Total Mortgage Arena would work as a compromise, either. One school wants to keep it at home sites so it can host every four years. Whether or not that’s a deal-breaker will be revealed over the next year.

At this point, CT Ice has proven that it can work from a hockey perspective. The interest has steadily increased thanks to the much-needed stability created from the move to home sites. Now, it’s up to the schools to figure out the future.

One solution? Let a neutral board run the tournament. The Beanpot, for example, is organized by the TD Garden but allows the participants to provide input. A similar setup would do wonders for CT Ice.

“Ideally, there should be some group — one, two, or whatever it is, three people — that run it,” Cavanaugh said. “But there has to be input from the schools as well.”

Those are the questions that linger over the tournament this weekend. Whoever comes out on top — whether it be UConn aiming to repeat, Quinnipiac trying to get back on top, Sacred Heart looking to capture another after winning the inaugural crown, or Yale searching for its first — hopefully won’t be the last champions of CT Ice.