When people think of Northern Ireland’s association with sport, their minds usually go to competitions such as hurling, Gaelic Football and rugby.
Rarely do they think of ice hockey.
Boston University and Merrimack are trying to change that, at least for one weekend, as the two Hockey East schools will participate in the seventh Friendship Four tournament in Belfast, facing each other on Friday at 9 a.m. Eastern.
“You think of hockey, you think of the Power (6) countries (USA, Canada, Czechia, Finland, Russia and Sweden), and you go to Ireland, you think of different stuff,” said BU freshman forward Cole Eiserman. “Dancing, soccer, maybe rugby, something like that. For us to have hockey there, and for them to see it, to see how cool it is, I think that’s going to grow the game.”
Harvard (ECAC Hockey) and Notre Dame (B1G) will play in Friday’s second game at 2 p.m. The consolation round and championship game will be at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Eastern on Saturday. Friday’s games will be televised on ESPN-plus and NESN, while Saturday’s action will be on ESPN-plus.
Merrimack coach Scott Borek was a member of the Providence coaching staff when the Friars participated in the 2017 event. He said that in addition to performing well hockey-wise, he hopes his team will view their time in Northern Ireland as an educational experience.
“In Ireland, a lot of the history that’s been difficult has happened in my lifetime, the 70s and 80s,” Borek said. “I think that will be an eye-opening experience for the guys. The hockey’s a great thing — obviously, there are three great teams we’re going to go over there with. But that (history) piece of it, I think, we can’t lose that. It’s really important that our guys appreciate that. I’m looking forward to that opportunity to build our team, get them to understand what really matters.”
The Friendship Four has been held since 2015 at SSE Arena Belfast, with the winner receiving the Belpot Trophy. It is currently the only college hockey tournament to take place outside of the United States.
For many players, the tournament will mark their first time visiting Northern Ireland.
“It will be great for the sport, and it will be great to grow the game,” said BU senior forward Matt Copponi. “I’m really excited to go out there and learn all about it.”
The first six Friendship Four tournament fields featured a pair of Hockey East schools and two from ECAC Hockey. Notre Dame’s participation will be the first for a B1G team. Next year’s Friendship Four will buck tradition entirely, as Miami (NCHC), RIT and Sacred Heart (Atlantic Hockey America) and Union (ECAC Hockey) are scheduled to take part.
This will be Merrimack’s first appearance at the Friendship Four, and Boston University’s second, having last appeared in 2018 when it lost in the final to Union.
For BU and Merrimack, the trip to Northern Ireland will be a huge break from routine, far different from an ordinary bus ride on a Hockey East weekend. The teams will spend multiple days in the country, and the excursion will include visits to local schools, where the players and coaches are expected to share their experiences playing hockey at a high level.
“We’re really looking forward to playing some good hockey down there,” said Merrimack freshman forward Caelan Fitzpatrick. “We think it will be a really cool experience to see what Ireland is all about and get to experience that as a team.”
The Friendship Four was played five consecutive years from 2015 to 2019, but has been played just once (2022) since then due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Past Hockey East participation includes Northeastern (2015, 2019), UMass (2016, 2022), Maine (2017), Connecticut (2018), New Hampshire (2019), Providence (2017) and UMass Lowell (2015, 2022). UMass Lowell (2015), Vermont (2016) and Northeastern (2019) are the Hockey East schools to have won the tournament.
