This week we asked Syracuse Orange fans to vote for the top female and male athlete of 24-25. Both votes went as we expected-one close race and one very clear-cut winner.

For the women, ice hockey goalie Allie Kelly edged out women’s lacrosse standout Emma Muchnick by a slim margin.

Kelley finished her career as the NCAA”s all-time leader in saves and will be a tough person to replace next year. Muchnick will get another chance at taking the top spot for new Orange HC Regy Thorpe.

On the men’s side, Kyle McCord pretended this contest was a Syracuse school passing record and obliterated it. The other guys didn’t stand a chance, no matter how well they did this year and it doesn’t take away from their accomplishments. Kyle was just that damn good in 2024.

Come back next week for another poll and check out FanDuel for your NBA Finals bets

Right as the Stanley Cup Finals are getting underway, some of the NHL’s potential next prospects are getting ready to take the ice in Park City. 

From Friday through Sunday, the North American Hockey League’s Oklahoma Warriors will be making the Park City Ice Arena their home for one of their two pre-draft camps. The other camp was held last weekend in Hudson, Wisconsin. 

The NAHL is more or less the hockey equivalent of baseball’s single A. Most players make it to the Division 1 level, and some, the NHL. The UHSL is right above it in level but below Division 1 college hockey. 

Friday, prospects will check in and have general practices at the arena. Saturday, there will be specific skills exercises and scrimmages. Sunday, there will be further scrimmages and an all-star game to cap off the action. 

Warriors President and Director of Hockey Operations George Chalos, a Parkite, believes the players would love some fans in attendance. He also said he thinks the aspiring hockey players could greatly benefit from seeing this level up close, given it’s several notches above the high school level. Chalos used to help coach the Miners Red and also serves as an assistant for the University of Utah’s team. 

“This is a very, very high level,” Chalos said. “I brought this camp here to Park City because I’d like to give opportunities to the Utah kids.”

While hockey is growing in Utah, Chelos said kids at higher levels often have to leave the state to compete. 

Fellow Parkite Paul Wiczek took the ice for Oklahoma last season, and there will be several other Parkites and Utah-natives competing this weekend for potential draft spots. 

“We have a bunch of Park City kids,” Chalos added. “Eric Jacques. … Justin Bayers. … Fisher Hellman.”

There will be around 60 players coming from all across the country. The NAHL has 35 teams from all over the country. The legendary Patrick Kane sharpened his skills for two years in the league. 

Chalos encouraged fans to come out all three days. He did say however that the scrimmages and all-star game were likely to be fan favorites. 

The Warriors will complete their evaluations Sunday and are set to draft players Tuesday and Wednesday. 

“I don’t know if we’ll take them, but on our draft board are two Utah kids — Beau Blakely and Jack Bishop,” Chalos said. “My excitement levels are off the charts. … For any player or family that likes hockey, they should come this week.”

The camp is part of a trend of major hockey teams popping by Park City. The Utah Mammoth, then the Utah Hockey Club, stopped by the arena twice last summer and fall for prospect development and team practice camps. 

Chalos believes hockey is just starting to take off in Park City and across Utah. 

“I know the City Council has a big ambition about building possibly a two-sheet facility down the road,” said Chalos. “It’s my mission to help grow hockey in the state of Utah.”

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There hasn’t been a direct college presence in the world’s oldest ice hockey tournament since the early 1980s.

That’s about to change.

A select team of NCAA men’s hockey players will compete in the 2025 Spengler Cup, according to sources.

The group will include players, coaches and staff members from Division I programs, both conference-affiliated and independents.

The tournament, which will hold its 97th edition in Davos, Switzerland, from Dec. 26 to Dec. 31, dates to 1923. Minnesota played in it in 1981 and North Dakota followed a year later but there hasn’t been an American-based team in the field since the AHL’s Rochester Americans in 2013.

A college select team’s participation now is possible only because of a 2024 NCAA bylaw change that carved out an exemption to rules prohibiting college players from competing for other teams during the academic year.

Now, men’s hockey athletes also can compete on a team representing College Hockey Inc. in the Spengler Cup.

“Allowing student-athletes to represent College Hockey Inc. will allow more student-athletes to engage in a historic, high-level competition in conjunction with a unique cultural experience without missing class time, as the competition occurs during winter break,” officials wrote in the rationale for the rule amendment, which was adopted by the NCAA Division I Council on June 26, 2024.

“While absences from regular-season intercollegiate competition are possible, such absences are expected to be minimal. Although the Spengler Cup offers prize money for participating teams, existing amateurism legislation would remain applicable.”

The college hockey select team’s logo and uniforms are still being developed, as is the framework for who’ll be on the coaching staff and invited to play. Last year’s tournament allowed team delegations to include 27 players and 12 officials.

The team will get an appearance fee from tournament organizers to cover expenses, according to sources.

HC Davos hosts the tournament and is one of the other five teams in the 2025 field. Team Canada fields a group typically made up of players from North American minor leagues and European pro leagues; former college players often take part.

Defending champion HC Fribourg-Gottéron of Switzerland is returning to the 2025 tournament along with HC Sparta Praha of Czechia and IFK Helsinki from Finland.

The tournament, which takes place Dec. 26-31 each year, includes 11 games over six days, and the recent format has guaranteed each team at least three games.

The 2024 format had two three-team pools, with round-robin play in each over the first three days. The top finisher in each pool advanced to the Dec. 30 semifinals to face the winners of Dec. 29 games between the second-place team from one pool and the third-place team in the other. The New Year’s Eve championship game wraps up the event.