College hockey stars gather in Boston for first Spengler Cup practice

Dec. 22—GRAND FORKS — Jake Livanavage and Abram Wiebe landed in Boston on Sunday afternoon.

The UND junior defensemen were fitted with their U.S. College Selects team gear upon arrival and began mingling with some of the top college hockey players around the country.

Their Christmas adventure is officially underway.

The NCAA all-star team, which will compete in the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland, from Dec. 26-31, is now together in Boston.

The U.S. College Selects practiced Monday morning at Dexter Southfield, a prep school in Brookline, Mass.

They ran through flow drills, 2-on-1s and held a 5-on-5 scrimmage to end their first skate as a team.

"It was good," Livanavage said. "It was fast-paced. We have the best players around college hockey on the ice together, so..."

The Selects will skate one more time at Walter Brown Rink at 11 a.m. Tuesday, then depart for Switzerland at 9 p.m. They have a direct flight from Boston to Zurich. They'll arrive Wednesday morning.

The U.S. College Selects will practice in Davos on Christmas Day.

"I'm super excited," Wiebe said. "Obviously, it's my first time outside of North America. It's a really cool experience. I'm excited to play in that rink. I've heard it's quite a place and the fans are crazy."

The Selects open against Team Canada at 1:15 p.m. Central on Friday. Team Canada is expected to be an all-star team of Canadians who are playing professionally in Europe. They participate annually.

The other four teams are professional squads — HC Sparta Praha (Czechia), IFK Helsinki (Finland), HC Fribourg-Gottéron (Switzerland) and HC Davos, the host.

This is the first time college hockey has sent an all-star team to the Spengler Cup, an annual event dating back to 1923.

"I've never been a part of something like this, where you play with players from all around college hockey," Wiebe said. "It's a really cool experience to play with some of the best players from college hockey. I'm just trying to take advantage of it. It's a really good group of guys and a great experience."

Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky is the head coach of the U.S. College Selects.

Gadowsky said he's been impressed with Livanavage and Wiebe early on.

"One thing I've noticed, and I'll give coach (Dane) Jackson a lot of credit for this, is that they come early, they come prepared and they come ready to go," Gadowsky said. "They've been excellent to have on the team."

First impressions of the team have been strong, too.

"I think a lot of guys are very excited for this experience," Gadowsky said. "Goodness, there's a lot of talent out there as well."