DENVER – University of Denver Associate Director of Sports Medicine Aaron Leu has been named to the support staff for the United States Collegiate Select hockey team for the 2025 Spengler Cup.
 
Leu will serve as the head athletic trainer for the squad that will be made up of NCAA players and will play in the 97th edition of the prestigious international tournament in late December in Davos, Switzerland.
 
In his 22nd year overall in the DU Sports Medicine Department and 21st with the men's hockey program, Leu has been a part of three NCAA national championships with the Pioneers. He has been the associate director of the department for the past 17 years and is also the head trainer for women's golf, which has won each of the last six Summit League titles (2020-2025).
 
Leu earned his bachelor's degree in exercise science from Creighton University in 1994 and his master's degree in exercise science from the University of Nebraska at Kearney in 1996. He is an active member of the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA), the Rocky Mountain Athletic Trainers Association (RMATA) and the Colorado Athletic Trainers Association (CATA).
 
The U.S. Collegiate Select team will be made up of 25 student-athletes from across NCAA men's ice hockey, with each conference being represented. The competition runs from Dec. 26-31, with the six participating teams playing a minimum of two contests apiece. Along with the College Selects, host HC Davos, Team Canada, HC Fribourg-Gotteron, Sparta Praha and IFK Helsinki will be taking part in the 2025 tournament.
 
This will be the second time an American-based select team has taken part in the Spengler Cup, following a U.S. squad that won the tournament in 1988.
 
Two Denver players have suited up for Team Canada at the Spengler Cup in recent years while a student-athlete, with Massimo Rizzo doing so in 2023 and Ian Mitchell in 2019.
 
For more information on the Spengler Cup, visit www.spenglercup.ch/en.
 

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