With the holiday break comes a multitude of holiday tournaments for sports fans to look forward to watching. This is the first part of a three-part series that will highlight some of the upcoming matchups and tournaments for area teams coming up next week.

The first edition will preview the Albert Lea boys’ and girls’ hockey teams as the boys travel to Rochester for the Kiwanis Hockey Festival and the girls head to Austin for the Austin Invite. Sunday’s edition will preview the area teams heading to tournaments and Monday’s edition will preview the Tiger Classic for the Albert Lea boys’ and girls’ basketball teams.

The Albert Lea girls’ hockey team returns to the Austin Invite beginning Monday where the Tigers will meet Willmar at 5 p.m. in the first round.

Two years ago Albert Lea won the tournament and last year finished second at the tournament after a 2-1 loss to Northfield.

The tournament has served as a springboard for the Tigers in the past and perhaps it could serve that purpose once again as Albert Lea is in need of some momentum after stumbling out to a 4-6 record. Of those six losses, three have come by one goal and four have come with the Tigers giving up a lead in the game.

Willmar enters the tournament with a 7-4 record and a victory over eighth-ranked Fergus Falls.

If the Tigers move on they would face the winner of New Prague (7-4-1)-Northern Edge in the semifinals. Austin (6-5-1) is in the upper bracket and will face Minneapolis Novas (4-5-2) in the first round. Northfield (3-6-1) faces Tartan (3-8-1) in the other quarterfinal matchup.

If Albert Lea would advance to the championship, it should be a good matchup, assuming the Tigers would face Northfield or Austin. The Packers beat Albert Lea 1-0 in overtime earlier this season and the Raiders beat the Tigers 3-2 in overtime.

The Albert Lea boys’ hockey team gets a big test out of the gate at the Kiwanis Hockey Festival when the Tigers meet 15th-ranked International Falls (4-4) in the opening round at 4:45 p.m.

If Albert Lea wins that game, the Tigers would move on to face the winner of the Dodge County (3-4) and Rochester Lourdes (2-3-1) game.

Last season Fargo South won the Class AA varsity division while International Falls took first in the Class A division.

The Tigers won the tournament in 2004.

The tournament features Mayo, Lourdes, John Marshall, Century, Richfield, Princeton, Richfield, New Richmond, Wis., La Crescent, International Falls, Fargo South, N.D., Duluth Central, Dodge Center, Brainerd and Eastview, which are separated into a Class AA and A division.