Beanpot

The Beanpot refers to a men's 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.

Format

The competitors are:

• Boston College Eagles (28-time finalists, 14-time winners; last championship in 2008)
• Boston University Terriers (46-time finalists, 29-time winners; last championship in 2009)
• Harvard University Crimson (24-time finalists, 10-time winners; last championship in 1993)
• Northeastern University Huskies (12-time finalists, 4-time winners; last championship in 1988)

The tournament lasts two rounds, with first-round opponents being rotated from year to year. The second round features the consolation game between the two teams that lose in the first round, and the championship game between the victors. In recent years the existence of the consolation game has been criticized as meaningless, with some looking to turn the final round into a doubleheader with the Women's Beanpot Championship game. The tradition of the tournament has won out each time, allowing all four teams to know exactly how they match up with each other every year.

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 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, and often draws 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. (Ironically, Harvard and Northeastern have historically dominated the Women's Beanpot.)

Boston College dominated the early days of the Beanpot, winning 8 titles in the first 13 years, while Harvard took four and BU just one. But since 1966, the Boston University Terriers have won 28 Beanpots in 43 years, including 12 of the past 15.

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 since taking over as head coach in 1973-74 Parker has won 21 more championships.

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. Northeastern won three more titles in the 1980s, but has failed to capture the Beanpot since 1988. 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 - son of former Boston Bruin Ray Bourque - scored the winning goal.

The 2007 Beanpot took place February 5 and February 12. On February 5, Boston University beat Northeastern 4-0 while Boston College beat Harvard 3-1. On February 12, Northeastern defeated Harvard 3-1 in the Consolation Game and Boston University defeated Boston College 2-1 in OT of the Championship Game. This win gave BU its 28th Beanpot title, more than the other three schools combined.

The 2008 tournament took place February 4 and February 11. On February 4, Harvard beat Northeastern and Boston College beat Boston University in overtime. On February 11, Boston College beat Harvard in overtime, 6-5.

The opening round of the 2009 tournament took place February 2. BU beat Harvard 4-3 after Harvard went up 2-0. Harvard scored what would have been the game-tying goal after regulation had expired, resulting in a BU victory. In the second game, Northeastern crushed BC 6-1. BU and Northeastern entered the Beanpot Championship on February 9th as the #1 and #2 ranked teams in the country in the USA Today Men's Hockey Poll, making the 2009 Championship arguably one of the most anticipated Beanpot games ever played. BU won the game 5-2 thanks to 3 shorthanded goals.

Championship game results

Ten Beanpot championship games have required overtime (indicated by †), although none have gone to multiple overtimes. All championship games have been played in February except where noted by D, J, or M (December, January, or March). Results of each Beanpot game ever played are listed separately.

Year	Winning team		Losing team
1952-53 (D)	Harvard	7	Boston University	4
1953-54 (J)	Boston College	4	Harvard	1
1954-55 †	Harvard	5	Boston College	4
1955-56	Boston College	4	Harvard	2
1956-57 †	Boston College	5	Boston University	4
1957-58	Boston University	9	Northeastern	3
1958-59	Boston College	7	Boston University	4
1959-60	Harvard	3	Boston University	2
1960-61	Boston College	4	Harvard	2
1961-62	Harvard	5	Boston University	0
1962-63	Boston College	3	Harvard	1
1963-64	Boston College	6	Boston University	5
1964-65	Boston College	5	Boston University	4
1965-66	Boston University	9	Harvard	2
1966-67	Boston University	4	Northeastern	0
1967-68	Boston University	4	Harvard	1
1968-69	Harvard	5	Boston University	3
1969-70	Boston University	5	Boston College	4
1970-71	Boston University	4	Harvard	1
1971-72	Boston University	4	Harvard	1
1972-73	Boston University	4	Boston College	1
1973-74	Harvard	5	Boston University	4
1974-75	Boston University	7	Harvard	2
1975-76	Boston College	6	Boston University	3
1976-77	Harvard	4	Boston University	3
1977-78 (M)	Boston University	7	Harvard	1
1978-79	Boston University	4	Boston College	3
1979-80 †	Northeastern	5	Boston College	4
1980-81	Harvard	2	Boston College	0
1981-82	Boston University	3	Boston College	1
1982-83	Boston College	8	Northeastern	2
1983-84	Northeastern	5	Boston University	2
1984-85	Northeastern	4	Boston University	2
1985-86	Boston University	4	Boston College	1
1986-87 †	Boston University	4	Northeastern	3
1987-88	Northeastern	6	Boston University	3
1988-89	Harvard	9	Boston University	6
1989-90	Boston University	8	Harvard	2
1990-91	Boston University	8	Boston College	4
1991-92	Boston University	5	Harvard	2
1992-93	Harvard	4	Boston University	2
1993-94 †	Boston College	2	Harvard	1
1994-95	Boston University	5	Boston College	1
1995-96	Boston University	11	Northeastern	4
1996-97	Boston University	4	Boston College	2
1997-98 †	Boston University	2	Harvard	1
1998-99	Boston University	4	Northeastern	2
1999-00	Boston University	4	Boston College	1
2000-01	Boston College	5	Boston University	3
2001-02	Boston University	5	Northeastern	3
2002-03	Boston University	3	Boston College	2
2003-04 †	Boston College	2	Boston University	1
2004-05 †	Boston University	3	Northeastern	2
2005-06	Boston University	3	Boston College	2
2006-07 †	Boston University	2	Boston College	1
2007-08 †	Boston College	6	Harvard	5
2008-09	Boston University	5	Northeastern	2
2009-10	Boston College	4	Boston University	3

Beanpot finishes

Through 2010 Beanpot

School	1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place	4th Place
Boston University	29	19	7	3
Boston College	15	15	22	6
Harvard	10	15	13	20
Northeastern	4	9	16	29

Team records

Through 2010 Beanpot

School	Won	Lost	Win Pct	GF	GA
Boston University	84	32	.724	541	357
Boston College	67	49	.578	483	413
Harvard	48	68	.414	425	461
Northeastern	33	83	.284	356	574

Championship game goals scored

Through 2009 Beanpot

School	Championships	Appearances	Goals	Avg Goals/Appearance
Boston College	14	30	92	3.29
Boston University	29	47	194	4.22
Harvard	10	24	69	2.88
Northeastern	4	13	39	3.25
Total	57	114	394

Source: Goals scored information obtained from Beanpot official site

External links

• Beanpot Tournament