A team of elite young players from Russia, Latvia and Belarus known as the "Red Stars" is travelling to the United States to play three exhibition games against NCAA college teams over the holiday. The Red Stars will consist of players selected from different teams in the Russian Junior Hockey League (RJHL). The RJHL is the 29-team developmental junior league organized in 2009 by Russian professional hockey clubs playing in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Players in this junior league are between the ages of 16 and 21. The majority of the players on the Red Stars roster are ages 19-21.

The team will be coached by Alexander Semak, current head coach of Tolpar Ufa and a former star player from Dynamo Moscow and several international teams for Russia. Between 1990 and 1997, Semak played a total of 289 games in the NHL with New Jersey, Tampa, Vancouver and the New York Islanders.

The Red Stars will be playing exhibition games against the following NCAA teams:

Holy Cross- Monday, December 27th (7:00 pm) in Worcester, MA
Army- Tuesday, December 28th (7:00 pm) in West Point, NY
Yale- Wednesday, December 29th (7:00 pm) in New Haven, CT.

For tickets to these games or other information, go the websites of the respective host schools.