For the first time in the 102-year history of the Spengler Cup, a team comprised entirely of college hockey players will descend upon Davos, Switzerland to compete for the championship. Over the last few weeks, players selected for the team have slowly been announced by College Hockey Inc for the team called US Collegiate Selects, and today it was announced that Northeastern defenseman Vinny Borgesi will play for the team for the 2025 tournament.
Borgesi has been a stalwart for the Northeastern blue line for all four years he has been on Huntington Avenue, and started to gain national acclaim last season as a workhorse who never leaves the ice. He led the nation in time-on-ice last year, averaging 28:04 minutes, and once again paces the nation in TOI this year, averaging 27:14. He has three points (one goal) in six games this year as captain of the Huskies, and has been extremely effective in the Huskies’ defensive zone in shutting down transition chances.
Borgesi will be the first Northeastern player to play in the Spengler Cup since Jeremy Davies and Dylan Sikura played for Team Canada in 2017, helping Canada win the Cup to cap off the country’s second three-peat in tournament history, and the sixth three-peat in tournament history.
The other defensemen named to the US Collegiate Selects team for the tournament include Mac Gadowsky of Penn State; Eric Pohlkamp of Denver; Jake Livanavage of North Dakota. Guy Gadowsky of Penn State will be the team’s head coach, assisted by New Hampshire’s Mike Souza and Niagara’s Jason Lammers. Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf serves as the team’s general manager. The tournament will run from December 26-31. Teams will play a minimum of three games and maximum of five during the tournament. The Huskies return to game action January 2nd against Army, so it stands that Borgesi could return to the lineup in time for that game as well.
Congratulations to Vinny on an honor well-deserved!
As always, go Huskies!