Boston Arena Christmas Tournament
Tournament information
SportCollege ice hockey
LocationBoston, Massachusetts
Number of
tournaments
17
FormatSingle-elimination, round-robin
VenueBoston Arena
Teams4–9
Final champion
Boston University

The Boston Arena Christmas Tournament was a mid-season college ice hockey tournament with the first iteration played in late December 1953. It was held 17 times over an 18-year span and was discontinued after the 1970 edition.

History

The Boston Arena, which had served as a home for several college ice hockey programs, began hosting a tournament held between Christmas and new year's starting in 1953. Boston University, which then played its home games at the Arena, served as the host for the tournament. After a few years, Northeastern, who also played its home games at the Boston Arena, joined in on the tournament and served as co-host for the remainder of its existence.

During the first few years, the tournament format and even the number of teams changed annually. The first iteration was a simple, 4-team, single-elimination tournament. The following year, seven team participated but did not play an equal number of games. Two more teams were added for the third event while the fourth edition reverted to a more common 8-team tournament format. In years five and six, 6 teams were invited, however, the fifth version had all participants playing three games while the following year each team played two games with a tie-breaker being held between the two top teams on the final day. After 1960, the tournament settled down and became a more common 4-team tournament. After one year with a single-elimination format, it converted into a round-robin series and remained that way for several years. The tournament was last held in December 1970, after which, Boston University moved into the Walter Brown Arena.

Perhaps the most memorable game in the history of the tournament came in 1966 when Boston University met Cornell. Both teams were undefeated at the time and were widely regarded as the top two squads in the nation. The two played to a 3–3 tie after regulation and then went scoreless for 40 minutes of overtime. After the second extra period the head coaches for both teams met and agreed to call the game a draw as their respective teams were worn out and both had already proven to be the equal of the other.[1] The two were named co-champions of the tournament.

Results

YearChampionRunner-upThird placeFourth placeFifth placeSixth placeSeventh placeEighth placeNinth place
1953St. LawrenceBoston UniversityBoston CollegeMiddlebury-----
1954McGillHarvardTuftsSt. LawrenceBrownBoston UniversityBoston College--
1955ClarksonSt. LawrenceDalhousieBoston UniversityBoston CollegeBrownProvidenceHarvardTufts
1956HarvardBoston CollegeBoston UniversityBrownProvidenceDartmouthNortheasternArmy-
1957Boston UniversityBoston CollegeProvidenceBrownDartmouthNortheastern---
1958Michigan StateBoston UniversityBoston CollegeBrownProvidenceNortheastern---
1959TorontoBoston UniversityHarvardProvidenceBrownColbyNortheastern--
1960ProvidenceDalhousieBoston UniversityNortheasternArmyBrown---
1961Michigan StateQueen'sNortheasternBoston University-----
1962HarvardColorado CollegeBoston UniversityNortheastern-----
1964MichiganBoston UniversityHarvardNortheastern-----
1965Michigan TechBoston UniversityMichiganNortheastern-----
1966Boston University / CornellHarvardNortheastern-----
1967Boston UniversitySt. Francis XavierNortheasternMerrimack-----
1968Boston UniversityHarvardClarksonNortheastern-----
1969Boston UniversityNew HampshireMichigan StateNortheastern-----
1970Boston UniversityNotre DameProvidenceNortheastern-----

Note: The tournament was not held in 1963.

Game results

1953

Semifinals
December 29
Championship
December 30
    
Boston University 3
Middlebury 2
Boston University 2
St. Lawrence 14
Boston College 1
St. Lawrence 4 Third place
Boston College 5
Middlebury 2

1954

Round Robin

DateWinning TeamScoreLosing TeamScore
December 27McGill6Boston College3
December 27Brown3Boston University0
December 27Harvard3St. Lawrence2 (OT)
December 28Tufts10Boston University5
December 28St. Lawrence6Brown3
December 28McGill2Harvard1
December 29Harvard8Boston College2
December 29McGill5Brown3

1955

Round Robin

DateWinning TeamScoreLosing TeamScore
December 26Boston College5Brown3
December 26Boston University14Providence3
December 27St. Lawrence6Boston University0
December 27Brown10Tufts2
December 27Dalhousie6Providence5 (OT)
December 28St. Lawrence6Boston College2
December 28Clarkson11Harvard5
December 28Providence10Tufts7
December 29Dalhousie7Brown2
December 30St. Lawrence3Harvard1
December 30Clarkson7Boston College6
December 31Clarkson10Boston University5
December 31Dalhousie6Harvard5

1956

5th place match
December 29
5th – 8th place play-offs
December 28
Quarterfinals
December 27
Semifinals
December 28
Championship
December 29
Boston University6
Dartmouth2
Dartmouth6Boston University2
Army2Harvard5
Harvard4
Army3
Dartmouth2Harvard4
Providence8Boston College2
Boston College6
Providence2
Seventh placeProvidence10Boston College6Third place
Northeastern2Brown2
Army2Brown6Boston University6
Northeastern7Northeastern4Brown1

1957

Round Robin

DateWinning TeamScoreLosing TeamScore
December 26Brown6Northeastern4
December 26Boston College4Dartmouth2
December 26Boston University7Providence3
December 27Boston College4Brown3
December 27Boston University5Dartmouth2
December 27Providence10Northeastern2
December 28Boston University10Brown3
December 28Boston College5Providence2
December 28Dartmouth2Northeastern1

1958

Round Robin

DateWinning TeamScoreLosing TeamScore
December 26Boston University8Brown3
December 26Michigan State7Northeastern1
December 27Boston University6Providence4
December 28Michigan State6Boston College0
December 29Boston College7Providence2
December 29Brown5Northeastern3
December 30Michigan State3Boston University2

1959

Round Robin

DateWinning TeamScoreLosing TeamScore
December 28Brown3Boston University2
December 28Toronto4Colby2
December 28Harvard8Northeastern2
December 29Boston University5Colby1
December 29Toronto3Brown2
December 29Harvard5Providence4 (OT)
December 30Boston University9Northeastern4
December 30Providence2Brown1
December 30Toronto7Harvard2

1960

Round Robin

DateWinning TeamScoreLosing TeamScore
December 27Providence3Army2
December 27Boston University10Brown0
December 27Dalhousie10Northeastern2
December 28Boston University4Army3
December 28Northeastern6Brown0
December 28Providence5Dalhousie4
December 29Dalhousie6Boston University5
December 29Army5Brown2
December 29Providence10Northeastern3

1961

Semifinals
December 26
Championship
December 28
    
Boston University 3
Queen's 5
Queen's 1
Michigan State 6
Michigan State 13
Northeastern 4 Third place
Boston University 6
Northeastern 9

1962

Round Robin

DateWinning TeamScoreLosing TeamScore
December 26Colorado College5Boston University4
December 26Harvard11Northeastern6
December 27Harvard10Boston University3
December 27Colorado College5Northeastern3
December 28Boston University7Northeastern5
December 28Harvard3Colorado College2 (OT)

1964

Round Robin

DateWinning TeamScoreLosing TeamScore
December 28Northeastern4Boston University3
December 28Michigan4Harvard2
December 29Boston University8Harvard0
December 29Michigan7Northeastern2
December 30Michigan4Boston University3
December 30Harvard5Northeastern1

1965

Round Robin

DateWinning TeamScoreLosing TeamScore
December 27Boston University7Michigan2
December 27Michigan Tech8Northeastern5
December 28Boston University4Northeastern1
December 28Michigan Tech7Michigan6
December 29Michigan Tech5Boston University2
December 29Michigan6Northeastern2

1966

Round Robin

DateWinning TeamScoreLosing TeamScore
December 28Boston University7Harvard5
December 28Cornell4Northeastern2
December 29Boston University6Northeastern1
December 29Cornell4Harvard1
December 30Boston University3Cornell3 (2OT)
December 30Harvard5Northeastern4 (OT)

1967

Round Robin

DateWinning TeamScoreLosing TeamScore
December 28Boston University8Merrimack1
December 28St. Francis Xavier5Northeastern2
December 29Boston University8Northeastern4
December 29St. Francis Xavier5Merrimack4
December 30Boston University7St. Francis Xavier2
December 30Northeastern6Merrimack5 (2OT)

1968

Semifinals
December 27
Championship
December 28
    
Boston University 9
Northeastern 1
Boston University 2
Harvard 1
Harvard 7
Clarkson 2 Third place
Northeastern 4
Clarkson 6

1969

Semifinals
December 29
Championship
December 30
    
Boston University 7
Northeastern 3
Boston University 7
New Hampshire 3
New Hampshire 6
Michigan State 5 Third place
Northeastern 5
Michigan State 6

1970

Semifinals
December 28
Championship
December 29
    
Boston University 4
Providence 1
Boston University 7
Notre Dame 3
Notre Dame 4
Northeastern 1 Third place
Providence 5
Northeastern 1

Participating teams

Team# of times participatedTitles
Boston University176
Harvard82
Michigan State32
Providence31
St. Lawrence31
Clarkson21
Michigan21
Cornell11
McGill11
Michigan Tech11
Toronto11
Northeastern140
Brown70
Boston College60
Army20
Dalhousie20
Dartmouth20
Tufts20
Colby10
Colorado College10
Merrimack10
Middlebury10
New Hampshire10
Notre Dame10
Queen's10
St. Francis Xavier10

References

  1. "Skaters, B.U. Play 3-3 Tie in Boston Tournament Finale". Cornell Daily Sun. January 5, 1967. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
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