GRAND RAPIDS >> Back when Adam Nightingale was a kid, the Michigan State hockey coach remembers his family packing into the car and heading down to Detroit for an annual pilgrimage to the Great Lakes Invitational.

For a family of college hockey fanatics, this was a premier event. And as stars on all four teams played in front of sold-out Joe Louis Arena crowds, he and his brothers would memorize their names.

Those golden years are a long, long time ago for the GLI. Multiple venue changes, a pandemic and anchor school Michigan’s departure once left the tournament in crisis. Yet this week in Van Andel Arena, the 58th annual GLI looked something like those tournaments of yesteryear. The GLI might not be what it once was, but the 2024 tournament showed that a Michigan hockey tradition is still sustainable.

“If I’m a college hockey team, I’m begging Michigan Tech to be in this tournament,” Nightingale said. “I think it’s an unbelievable experience for your guys.”

Big crowds watched as Nightingale’s nation-leading Spartans won their first GLI in 15 years. That title came in a matchup of the No. 1- and No. 4-ranked teams in the country, a caliber of game usually seen in the NCAA Tournament, usually in the Frozen Four. Michigan Tech won a rivalry game against Northern Michigan that went to overtime for third place. And the lively fans erupted for performances by Spartans forward Isaac Howard, Broncos forward Alex Bump and MSU goaltender Luca Di Pasquo.

Go back a few years and such a strong tournament would’ve merely been a dream. In 2021, the GLI was canceled due to COVID-19.

Teams played the 2021 tournament as a showcase on campus sites. Then the hits just kept on coming.

After a controversial decision to sit out a top-10 matchup with Western Michigan in 2021, anchor school Michigan left the tournament in June 2022. With stars gone at the World Junior Championship in late December, the program found it too difficult to field a winning roster for the games. Seeing no reason to play games too hard to win, and after requests to change the time frame of the GLI went nowhere, the Wolverines packed up and backed out of a five-decade tradition.

What could’ve been a knockout blow wasn’t so. The remaining anchor, Michigan Tech, sprung into action. Its athletic directors Suzanne Sanregret and Joel Isaacson signed the tournament forward to a new city, new venue and some new participants.

“They didn’t want it to die,” Michigan Tech coach Joe Shawhan said Sunday.

“And then you come out with the COVID thing, and you come out with one of the anchors in it (Michigan) saying ‘we don’t wanna do that anymore’ — you know, you do what you do. That’s fine.

But what I’m saying is, it’s strong right now.”

A sold-out, 9,900-person crowd at Sunday’s semifinal backed up Shawhan’s assertion.

Even Monday, splitting priority with both New Year’s Eve travel and the Detroit Lions game on Monday Night Football, the crowd filled the majority of Van Andel Arena. Its volume filled up the rest of it.

This GLI atmosphere felt like that of a premier tournament, and the product on the ice looked the part, too.

Michigan State and Western Michigan traded high-flying chances in a game that came down to the third period.

Even Northern Michigan, a team with one win on the season, took Michigan Tech down to the wire in an overtime thriller. Even if it looked a little different, this was the kind of tournament Nightingale and so many others went to years ago.

“I think that’s what made it special this year,” Nightingale said of the crowds. “You look at the four schools, each one of them has a passionate fan base, and you can feel the energy in the building. But I think when they started talking about one in Grand Rapids, everyone knew it was going to take some time, and it’s good to see it taking.”

But the GLI’s challenges aren’t completely over, and they actually look a lot like the problems the GLI just survived. After making a deal with Notre Dame — coached by longtime Lake Superior State coach Jeff Jackson — to play in the 2026 games, that deal is off the table after Jackson retires this offseason. That’s a strong, crowd-drawing opponent off the docket. Michigan Tech and Michigan State are onboard until 2026 with an optional 2027 extension, but there’s also a lot of scheduling to figure out in order to keep this tournament healthy. What comes next to sustain this tournament’s momentum will be just as important as the work to build up to this level.

Yet, the schools involved as participants gave rave reviews for what the GLI has become. For Western Michigan, participation is optional on an invitation basis. Coming off its second title game appearance in three years, Broncos coach Pat Ferschweiler is ready for more.

“We’ll be in this event anytime they invite us and it fits into our schedule,”

Ferschweiler said after Monday’s loss. “I think it’s a tremendous event, and I think it’s growing each year. With these fan bases so close, it makes it real easy to come to.”

The GLI might not be the same tournament of its prime years. The venue is different, and so are some teams involved. But the star power showed in 2024’s tournament, and so did the crowds. While the future remains hazy, the present shows the GLI has the legs to stick around.