Beanpot (Ice Hockey)

The Beanpot refers primarily 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 University Terriers (46-time finalists, 28-time winners; last championship in 2007)
*Boston College Eagles (28-time finalists, 14-time winners; last championship in 2008)
*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 Banknorth 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.

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 27 Beanpots in 43 years, including 11 of the past 14.

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 20 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 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 tournament will be televised by NESN through at least 2011, under a television deal announced in October 2006. [http://www.boston.com/sports/nesn/aboutus/news/10_26_06/]

Other Beanpots

The success of the men's ice hockey tournament has spawned "Beanpot" tournaments in other sports, including women's ice hockey, baseball (with the University of Massachusetts at Amherst replacing Boston University, which dropped many men's sports in 1996 to comply with Title IX regulations, for the event), softball, men's and women's soccer, 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.

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

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, Business 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. 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 2 spots 4 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.

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.

Championship game goals scored

Through 2007 BeanpotSource: Goals scored information obtained from [http://www.beanpothockey.com/results.html Beanpot official site]

treaks and statistics

*The 2007 tournament was the lowest scoring Beanpot in history. The four teams combined for just 15 goals.
*Since the tournament moved to the TD Banknorth Garden in 1996, Harvard is 5-21.
*Northeastern has not defeated either Boston College or Boston University in the tournament since defeating the Eagles in the 1993 consolation game.
*Boston University has beaten Boston College in 18 of their last 21 meetings.
*Boston University had a streak of 13 consecutive appearances in the championship game broken by their overtime loss to Boston College in the 2008 tournament.

ee also

*Boston College Eagles
*Boston University Terriers
*Harvard Crimson
*Northeastern Huskies

External links

* [http://www.beanpothockey.com/ Beanpot Tournament]