Thanksgiving is a holiday filled with time with family. For local collegiate hockey clubs, part of that family are those you go into battle with on the ice.

While the the rest of us are digesting from a Thanksgiving meal, the Vermont State University Castleton, Norwich University and Middlebury College men’s hockey teams and the Middlebury College women’s hockey team will be putting in final preparation for their respective holiday tournaments over the weekend.

Castleton hosts the Terry Moran Invitational on Friday and Saturday, while the Norwich and Middlebury men compete in the LayerEight Shootout on Friday and Saturday. The Middlebury women are in the Panther/Cardinal Classic on Saturday and Sunday.

Let’s take a look at those three holiday tournaments.

The VTSU Castleton men’s hockey team will be looking to defend its Terry Moran Invitational title, having outlasted King’s College in a 7-6 overtime thriller last year.

Castleton plays in the nightcap on the first day of the tournament on Friday at Spartan Arena, taking on Lebanon Valley College at 7 p.m. SUNY Brockport and St. John Fisher play at 4 p.m.

The winners of those games play in the championship game on Saturday at 4 p.m. and the losers in the consolation at 1 p.m.

Castleton enters the tournament with a 3-4-1 mark, having won both of its games last weekend, scoring a combined 13 goals. The Spartans buried nine goals in their most recent contest, against UMass Dartmouth.

Castleton has had a heavy dose of newly-minted Little East Conference play and have faired well at 3-3 against those foes.

The Spartans have had a balanced offensive attack this year, led by Emmett McHardy and Luke Chakrabarti, both with 5 goals. McHardy leads the team with 8 assists as well. Chakrabarti is the reigning LEC Player of the Week having scored four goals and dished out four assists last weekend.

Trevor Castino has 4 goals, Josef Vyvial 3 goals and Marcus Bellomo 3 goals for Castleton as well.

Lebanon Valley heads into the tournament with a 3-5 mark and like Castleton won both of its games last weekend, 5-3 and 3-2 against Alvernia.

Owen Ames has led the Dutchmen’s attack with 6 goals this season and he scored a goal in both of their games last weekend. John King follows him with 3 goals, while four other guys have scored twice.

SUNY Brockport comes in with a 2-6 record. The Golden Eagles have had their early-seasons struggles, but snapped a five-game losing skid by beating Chatham University on Saturday, notching their first conference win.

Manny Sanchez leads the team with 7 points, on the back of his 5 assists. Sanchez is one five players with multiple goals.

Nick Reif leads the team with 4 goals, with all of those coming in the first two games of the season. He had two assists last weekend.

St. John Fisher is the only team with a winning mark competing at Spartan Arena this weekend, sporting a 5-3 record.

The Cardinals split with an opponent Castleton is very familiar with, Albertus Magnus, last weekend.

Freshman Sam Ciappa has been an instant difference maker for St. John Fisher with 6 goals and 6 assists, both team highs. Ian Emery and Brendan Merriman follow him with 4 goals apiece.

The Norwich University men’s hockey team hosts the LayerEight Shootout on Friday and Saturday at Kreitzberg Arena.

The Cadets play in the nightcap against Stevenson University at 7 p.m., while Middlebury and Plattsburgh compete at 4 p.m. The winners play in the championship on Saturday at 7 and the losers the consolation at 4.

Since a blowout loss on George Commo Night, Norwich has been rolling since winning four of its last six games to sport a 4-3 mark heading into the tournament.

Norwich is 4-2 in LEC play, suffering its second conference loss on Saturday in an overtime thriller against UMass Boston.

Collin Elliott and Ocean Fancy lead the Cadets with 3 goals apiece. Jed Brazo and Zach Ophoven have 2 goals apiece.

Stevenson comes into the tournament with a 5-2 record and is a winner of four straight contests.

The Mustangs’ offense has been rolling during that four-game run, scoring 28 goals.

Blake Benson leads the team with 6 goals, along with 7 assists. John Musella is tops on the team in points with 16, scoring 5 goals with 11 assists. Matt Yeager has 5 goals and Caden Smith 4 as part of a very balanced attack.

Middlebury got a later start than most to its regular season and comes in with a 2-2 record.

The Panthers got into the win column with a pair of wins last weekend against conference foes Tufts and Connecticut College.

Dante Palombo has buried two of Middlebury’s seven goals through four games. Six other Panthers have scored as well. Jake Stevens hasn’t found the back of the net, but has a team-high 3 assists.

Plattsburgh State comes into the tournament at 3-3. The Cardinals hit a rough patch after winning their first two games, but snapped a three-game skid on Saturday, hosting Cortland.

Aaron Catron and Jake Sacratini have 3 goals apiece to lead Plattsburgh, while Gabriel Filion and Blake Hall have both scored twice.

The Middlebury College women’s hockey team hosts the Panther/Cardinal Classic on Saturday and Sunday at Chip Kenyon Arena.

The tournament will be a showcase of some of the best Division III women’s teams in the country. No. 3 Middlebury plays No. 9 Endicott College at 3 p.m. on Saturday, followed by No. 1 University of Wisconsin-River Falls taking on No. 6 Plattsburgh at 6 p.m. The winners play Sunday at 5 p.m. and the losers at 2 p.m.

Middlebury comes into the tournament with a 4-0-1 mark, including a dominant win in Castleton.

The Panthers have had their share of those close contests, with their most recent being a 3-2 overtime win against Wesleyan on Sunday.

Avery McInerny leads the team with 4 goals, along with 4 assists. Trinity Walsh and Olivia McManus have 5 assists apiece for Middlebury. Walsh, Caroline Thomas, Kate Flynn and Susannah Ward have 2 goals apiece.

Endicott sports a 5-1 record and has won its last three contests after losing to Western New England by a trio of goals back on Nov. 14.

Five women have scored multiple goals for the Gulls, led by Teaghan Hall with 3 goals.

Top-ranked UW-River Falls heads into the tournament at 5-1 and earned a tight 2-1 win on Tuesday over St. Olaf. The win was a big bounce back from the Falcons after they had dropped their first game of the year on Saturday, 3-0 against UW-Eau Claire.

Megan Boudreau leads the team with 6 goals and 5 assists. Sophia Hess has 3 goals, with four others having scored twice.

Plattsburgh comes into the tournament at 5-1 with its lone loss coming to fellow tournament competitor Endicott.

The Cardinals have won four straight games, three of which shutouts, since that loss to the Gulls.

Tessa Morris has been the team’s top scorer, with 5 goals. Morris has scored in four of her team’s six games. Kayson Ruegge, Brooke Terry and Emily Kasprzak have 2 goals apiece.