The Friendship Four is an annual mid-season college ice hockey tournament that has been held since 2015 at SSE Arena Belfast in Belfast, Northern Ireland with the winner receiving the Belpot Trophy. It is currently the only college ice hockey tournament to take place outside of the United States.
History The tournament began as a way to foster stronger economic development, trade and investment, tourism, cultural exchange, and educational linkages between the sister cities of Boston and Belfast. Each year four teams are selected to participate in the tournament which is typically held on the same weekend as Thanksgiving in the United States. As of 2024, all games have been played at the SSE Arena Belfast while all participating schools came from the eastern region between 2015 and 2024. While only two participating universities have come from Boston, many more have come from the same general region.
After the 2020 and 2021 series were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2022 Friendship Four was announced on December 4, 2021. The series continued in 2024, and was played as a full women's tournament for the first time in 2026 after three previous two-team women's contests in 2019–20 and 2024.
Yearly results
Men's Tournament Year Champion Runner-up Third place Fourth place Ref 2015 Massachusetts–Lowell Brown Northeastern Colgate 2016 Vermont Quinnipiac Massachusetts and St. Lawrence (tie) 2017 Clarkson Providence Maine Rensselaer 2018 Union Boston University Yale Connecticut 2019 Northeastern Colgate New Hampshire Princeton 2022 Quinnipiac Massachusetts Massachusetts Lowell Dartmouth 2024Boston UniversityNotre DameHarvardMerrimack2025MiamiUnionSacred HeartRIT
Women's Tournament Year Champion Runner-up Third placeFourth Place Ref 2019 Northeastern ClarksonOnly two women's teams contestedthe Friendship Series between 2019–2024. 2020 Quinnipiac Merrimack2024PrincetonProvidence2026Boston UniversityHarvardQuinnipiacMinnesota Duluth
Upcoming tournaments
Men's Tournament Year Team 1 Team 2 Team 3 Team 4 Ref2026ColgateMinnesota DuluthProvidenceUConn2027North DakotaNortheasternQuinnipiacWisconsin2028DartmouthMaineNotre DameOmaha
Women's Tournament Year Team 1 Team 2 Team 3 Team 4 RefFuture women's tournaments have yet to be announced.
References
External links