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:
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 44 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.
The tournament will be televised by
NESN through at least 2011, under
a television deal announced in October 2006.
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 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.
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, 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 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.
| 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 |
Source: Game information obtained from
Beanpot
official site
Beanpot finishes
Through 2009 Beanpot
Team records
Through 2009 Beanpot
Championship game goals scored
Through 2009 Beanpot
Source: Goals scored information obtained from
Beanpot
official site
References
- Beanpot official site
http://www.beanpothockey.com/indexmen.html
- Eberly Award winners
http://www.beanpothockey.com/awardseberly.html
- Beanpot MVP award winners
http://www.beanpothockey.com/awards.html
- http://www.boston.com/sports/nesn/aboutus/news/10_26_06/
External links