Beanpot (ice Hockey)

The Beanpot is an annual ice hockey tournament among the four major US college hockey schools of the Boston, Massachusetts area, usually held during the first two Mondays in February at TD Garden.

The tournament has been held annually since the 1952–53 season and has been held at its current location since 1996. The tournament gives the winner bragging rights over its cross-town rivals, and the quest for this highly sought-after trophy is contested in front of sell-out crowds from all four schools.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Beanpot was not held in 2021, marking the first year the tournament has not been played since its inception.

Format

The competitors are:
*Boston University Terriers (54-time finalists, 31-time winners; last championship in 2022)
* Boston College Eagles (36-time finalists, 20-time winners; last championship in 2016)
* Harvard University Crimson (26-time finalists, 11-time winners; last championship in 2017)
* Northeastern University Huskies (20-time finalists, 7-time winners; last championship in 2020)

The tournament lasts two rounds, with first-round opponents being rotated from year to year. The second round features the consolation game and the championship game.

In addition to the tournament trophy, two individual awards are given out each year. The Eberly Trophy goes to the goaltender with the highest save percentage who plays in both of his team's games, while the Beanpot MVP is awarded to tournament's most valuable player.

History

The first Beanpot was contested at Boston Arena in December 1952. No tournament was played during the 1953 calendar year. The next two tournaments were held in January (1954 and 1955). All subsequent Beanpot games have been played in February (except 1978; see below).

The tournament quickly outgrew the 4,500 seating capacity of the Boston Arena and the second through 43rd Beanpots (1954 through 1995) were held at the old 14,000 seat Boston Garden. Since 1996, the Beanpot has been held at the Garden's replacement, the 17,500 seat TD Garden. The competition generally takes place on the first and second Mondays in February and often draws one of the largest crowds of the college hockey season outside of the Frozen Four.

The 1978 Beanpot has taken a mythic place in Boston sports lore, as several hundred fans were stuck in the Garden for several days after the Blizzard of 1978 dumped more than two feet of snow during the night of the first-round games. The championship and consolation games were moved to Wednesday, March 1.

Every championship game to date has featured either Boston College or Boston University, or both; Harvard and Northeastern have never met in the Beanpot final.

None of the four competing teams have won the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship without first winning the Beanpot trophy that season. With the exception of the 1949 Boston College Eagles (as the tournament had yet to be created), all five Boston University NCAA championships (1971, 1972, 1978, 1995, 2009), Boston College's four other NCAA championships (2001, 2008, 2010, 2012), and Harvard's sole 1989 NCAA championship, were all accompanied by a victory in the Beanpot title game. Northeastern has not yet won an NCAA championship. This phenomenon has led fans of the Beanpot schools to believe dreams for a national title hold water if they indeed succeed in February. Boston College head coach Jerry York has often referred to the beginning of February as "Trophy Season," in which the Beanpot title is the first of three trophies that he wishes his team to attain, the others being the Hockey East tournament trophy, and the NCAA tournament trophy.

Since the Beanpots' 1952 inception, the team rosters, once dominated by New Englanders and Canadians, have gradually evolved to include a greater cross section of the United States as well as other countries. The 2020 Beanpot included players from Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Nevada, and Texas. Reflecting a trend across college hockey, where 117 European students were playing at the NCAA Division I level in 2020, the Boston University Terriers roster included Kasper Kotkansalo from Finland and Wilmer Skoog from Sweden who scored the winning goal in Boston University's overtime goal in their upset win against Boston College in the 2020 Beanpot semi-final. After the game, Skoog said "It was the biggest game of my life."

Boston University

Between 1966 and 2009, the Boston University Terriers historically dominated the Beanpot, winning 28 out of 43 titles. Owing to this phenomenon, fans have nicknamed the contest the "BU Invitational", an apt name as BU has made it to the title game 55 of 69 years (as of 2022), winning their most recent title in 2022. Despite historical dominance, recent years have been less successful for the Terriers, winning only twice out of eight championship appearances since 2009.

The beginning of BU's Beanpot dominance was also the first year on the ice for Jack Parker. Parker won titles in each of the three years he played for the Terriers, and after taking over as head coach in 1973–74, Parker won 21 more championships.

Boston College

Boston College controlled the early years of the Beanpot, winning eight titles in the first thirteen tournaments. Following BU's dominance, the balance of power tipped back towards the Eagles for about a decade, when they won six titles in seven years between 2010–2016. During that stretch, BC won five consecutive titles from 2010–2014, losing out in the first round in 2015, and regaining the title in 2016. However, they have failed to secure a title in four consecutive seasons, and only once made the championship game during that time.

Harvard

Harvard shared some success with Boston College in the early years of the tournament, winning four titles in the first 10 years, as well as making the title game each of the first four tournaments and winning the very first title game. However, they have only seen sporadic success since, winning 11 titles in the tournament's history, most recently ending a 24-year championship drought in 2017. They had only made the title game three times since their previous victory in 1993: '94, '98, and '08.

Northeastern

Northeastern, the only Beanpot team that has never won an NCAA hockey title, failed to win a Beanpot until 1980, when an overtime goal by Wayne Turner against Boston College gave the Huskies a win. Turner's wrist shot has often been called the most important goal in Northeastern history, and is generally considered the marquee sporting moment for the university. It is also known as the "Shot Heard Round the Beanpot".

Northeastern won three more titles in the 1980s, but failed to capture the Beanpot for 30 years. The Huskies came close to winning their fifth title in 2005 when they rallied from a 2–0 goal deficit to tie BU, but fell in overtime when Chris Bourque scored the winning goal. They made it to championship game four times from 2011-2015 but fell each time, to Boston College in '11, '13, and '14 and to Boston University in '15.

Northeastern won their drought-breaking championship in 2018 with a dominating 5–2 victory over BU, in a rare year where the Huskies were the strongest team in the field, having come into the tournament ranked highest in the pairwise over the other three Beanpot schools. This would be the case again in 2019, where Northeastern again won the championship with a 4–2 victory over BC. In 2020, the Huskies would win their third straight championship against BU in double overtime, solidifying their legacy as a 21st-century Beanpot dynasty and effectively ending their reputation as the underdogs of the tournament. Before 2018, the Huskies had been to only 17 title games, and won only 4 of those. Earning three championships in a row from 2018-2020 proved their newfound parity with their other Beanpot schools, where they hoped to continue their success in the coming years. In 2022, Northeastern lost their three year streak to BU after a long standoff in the three periods.

Recent tournaments

This section explains in detail the results of the previous five Beanpot tournaments as of February 2020.

2016

The 2016 Beanpot took place on February 1 and 8. The first round of the tournament saw Boston College defeat Harvard 3–2 and Boston University defeat Northeastern 3–1. Northeastern defeated Harvard 5–1 in the consolation game and, for the 22nd time in the history of the tournament, BC and BU competed for the Championship, with the Eagles winning a 1–0 overtime contest. This was BU's second consecutive title game and BC's first since winning five in a row from 2010–2014. Northeastern failed to make the title game for the first time since 2012, whereas Harvard had not been to the title game since 2008. The 1–0 Championship game was the first ever 1–0 result in the history of the tournament. The championship game was also the sixth of the previous eleven title games to go to overtime.

2017

The 2017 Beanpot took place on February 6 and 13. The first round of the tournament saw Harvard defeat Northeastern 4–3 and Boston University defeat Boston College 3–1. Northeastern defeated Boston College 4–2 in the consolation game and Harvard and BU competed for the Championship, with the Crimson winning their 11th title and first since 1993 by a score of 6–3. This was BU's third consecutive title game and Harvard's first since 2008. Boston College's loss to Northeastern placed them 4th for the first time since 1993 and was only their seventh 4th-place finish in tournament history. Harvard's victory also marked the first non-BC or BU title since Harvard's 1993 victory, a 24- year span.

2018

The 2018 Beanpot took place on February 5 and 12. The first round of the tournament saw Northeastern shutout Boston College 3–0 and BU defeat Harvard in double overtime, 3–2. Harvard defeated Boston College 5–4 in overtime of the consolation game and Northeastern met Boston University in the championship, with the Huskies ending their 30-year drought, winning their 5th title and first since 1988, by a score of 5–2. This was BU's fourth consecutive title game and Northeastern's first since going to three straight between 2013–15. BC's loss to Harvard placed them 4th for the second consecutive year, an occurrence that only happened once before in tournament history between 1974–75. The Huskies victory also marked a championship for each tournament school in consecutive years - BU in 2015, BC in 2016, Harvard in 2017, and Northeastern in 2018 - an occurrence that happened only once before between 1980–83.

2019

The 2019 Beanpot took place on February 4 and 11. The first round of the tournament saw Boston College defeat Harvard 2–1 and Northeastern defeat Boston University 2–1 in overtime. Harvard defeated Boston University 5–2 in the consolation game, and Northeastern defeated Boston College 4–2 in the Championship for their second straight title and 6th overall. This was the second time Northeastern has won back-to-back titles, the first time being in 1984–85. Boston College made their 36th appearance in the Championship, but failed to capture their 21st title. Boston University finished 4th for just the 7th time in tournament history, with 4 of these having come in the last decade (2011, '13, '14 & '19). Their previous 3 last-place finishes occurred in 1961, '63 & '80. Combined with Harvard's victory in 2017, this also marked the first time in tournament history that three straight tournaments were not won by BU or BC. Two straight seasons without a BU or BC title occurred three times, in '80-'81, '84-'85, and '88-'89.

2020

The 2020 Beanpot took place on February 3 and 10. The first round of the tournament saw Northeastern defeat Harvard 3–1 and Boston University defeat Boston College 5–4 in double overtime.^* Boston College defeated Harvard 7–2 in the consolation game, and Northeastern defeated Boston University 5–4 in double overtime^* of the Championship for their third straight title and 7th overall. This was the first time in tournament history Northeastern won three straight titles. Boston University made their 54th title appearance, but failed to capture their 31st title. This year's result ties the second longest title drought for BU, having not won since 2015. They previously had a 5-year drought between 2010-14 – when BC won five straight championships – however, their 7-year span during 1959-65 is the most years in a row the Terriers went without the Beanpot title.

New NCAA rules put in place in 2020 meant all tournament games would have a new overtime format, in which a single 5-minute period would be played and then, if still scoreless, continual overtime with 20-minute periods would be played to determine tournament placement. If no score is reached before the 5-minute period ends, the game is considered a tie and all statistics recorded in the additional overtime periods are not counted. This was put in place to standardize tournament results (across the NCAA, not just the Beanpot) for use with the pairwise ranking system, which determines NCAA tournament seeding.

Other Beanpots

The success of the men's ice hockey tournament has spawned "Beanpot" tournaments in other sports, including basketball, for 14 years ending in 1976, women's ice hockey, baseball (with the University of Massachusetts Amherst replacing Boston University, which does not offer varsity baseball), softball, men's and women's soccer, women's rowing (which also features MIT) and cycling.

The Women's Ice Hockey Beanpot takes place each year on the first two Tuesdays in February, one day after their male counterparts. Northeastern and Harvard have historically dominated the tournament, with 14 and 11 titles respectively, but Boston College has won the title two years in a row. Notably, they advanced to the 2007 final with a 4–3, triple overtime victory over nationally ranked Harvard, in a game that drew national attention. BC's freshman goalie Molly Schaus set an NCAA record with 73 saves in the contest. In recent years, an informal "Pep Band" beanpot has been held between the two games of the first round of the women's beanpot, with the bands from each school performing a unique piece. Maggie Brennolt was a back to back Beanpot Champ, beating Harvard.

The final round of the baseball Beanpot is played at Fenway Park.

A Beanpot for women's rowing was established in 2007, with the crews from Boston College, Boston University, Harvard University (Radcliffe), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Northeastern University competing.

The first Men's Lacrosse Beanpot was held October 19, 2008 at Harvard University. Harvard's Men's Club Team hosted Boston University, Boston College and Northeastern University.

There are also many non-athletic events attached to the Beanpot. These typically occur the same time of year as the hockey beanpot. There is a Concert Band Beanpot, Pep Band Beanpot, Beanpot of Comedy, and a Rice and Beanpot burrito-eating contest, sponsored by Qdoba. The Concert Band Beanpot and Beanpot of Comedy are non-competitive events.

Also, there is the B-School Beanpot Competition, an annual case analysis competition held at Boston University's School of Management since 1996. Undergraduate business schools from the Greater Boston area participate for cash prizes.

The Concert Band Beanpot and Rice and Beanpot participants are the same schools as the men's hockey tournament. The Beanpot of Comedy, hosted by NU & Improv'd of Northeastern University, features sketch and improvisational comedy groups from different schools each year. Past participants have included Boston College, Boston University, Salem State College, Suffolk University, Clark University, and Tufts University. The Business Beanpot participants are Babson College, Boston University, Bentley College, Northeastern University, and Suffolk University. Northeastern University has won ten of the twelve Business Beanpots since 1996, and has taken the top two spots four times. The most recent 1–2 sweep for Northeastern was in 2008.

The Boston College Office of Undergraduate Admission and the Boston University Office of Undergraduate Admission also play in the annual Beancan softball tournament, usually held in July.

On September 26, 2014, the BBC
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