Beanpot (Ice Hockey)

The Beanpot is an ice hockey tournament among the four major college hockey schools of the Boston, Massachusetts area, held annually since the 1952–53 season. 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 frantic crowds from all four schools in annual sellouts.

The competitors are:

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.

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 second through 43rd Beanpots (1954 through 1995) were held at the old Boston Garden. Since 1996, the Beanpot has been held at the Garden's replacement, currently called the TD Garden. The competition generally takes place on the first and second Mondays in February.

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.

Boston College controlled the early years of the Beanpot, winning eight titles in the first thirteen tournaments, with Harvard taking four and BU just one. Between 1966 and 2009, however, the Boston University Terriers historically dominated the Beanpot, winning 28 out of 43 titles, prompting fans to nickname the contest the "BU Invitational". However, in recent years, the balance of power has again come under the Eagles of Boston College, who have won six titles in seven years between 2010–2016. In that stretch, BC won five consecutive titles from 2010-2014, losing out in the first round in 2015, and regaining the title most recently in 2016.

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