| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Sport | College ice hockey |
| Location | Boston, Massachusetts |
Number of tournaments | 17 |
| Format | Single-elimination, round-robin |
| Venue | Boston Arena |
| Teams | 4–9 |
| 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.
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.
Note: The tournament was not held in 1963.
| 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 | ||||||
Round Robin
| Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 27 | McGill | 6 | Boston College | 3 |
| December 27 | Brown | 3 | Boston University | 0 |
| December 27 | Harvard | 3 | St. Lawrence | 2 (OT) |
| December 28 | Tufts | 10 | Boston University | 5 |
| December 28 | St. Lawrence | 6 | Brown | 3 |
| December 28 | McGill | 2 | Harvard | 1 |
| December 29 | Harvard | 8 | Boston College | 2 |
| December 29 | McGill | 5 | Brown | 3 |
Round Robin
| Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 26 | Boston College | 5 | Brown | 3 |
| December 26 | Boston University | 14 | Providence | 3 |
| December 27 | St. Lawrence | 6 | Boston University | 0 |
| December 27 | Brown | 10 | Tufts | 2 |
| December 27 | Dalhousie | 6 | Providence | 5 (OT) |
| December 28 | St. Lawrence | 6 | Boston College | 2 |
| December 28 | Clarkson | 11 | Harvard | 5 |
| December 28 | Providence | 10 | Tufts | 7 |
| December 29 | Dalhousie | 7 | Brown | 2 |
| December 30 | St. Lawrence | 3 | Harvard | 1 |
| December 30 | Clarkson | 7 | Boston College | 6 |
| December 31 | Clarkson | 10 | Boston University | 5 |
| December 31 | Dalhousie | 6 | Harvard | 5 |
| 5th place match December 29 | 5th – 8th place play-offs December 28 | Quarterfinals December 27 | Semifinals December 28 | Championship December 29 | ||||||||||||||
| Boston University | 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| Dartmouth | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Dartmouth | 6 | Boston University | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| Army | 2 | Harvard | 5 | |||||||||||||||
| Harvard | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Army | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Dartmouth | 2 | Harvard | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| Providence | 8 | Boston College | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| Boston College | 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| Providence | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Seventh place | Providence | 10 | Boston College | 6 | Third place | |||||||||||||
| Northeastern | 2 | Brown | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| Army | 2 | Brown | 6 | Boston University | 6 | |||||||||||||
| Northeastern | 7 | Northeastern | 4 | Brown | 1 | |||||||||||||
Round Robin
| Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 26 | Brown | 6 | Northeastern | 4 |
| December 26 | Boston College | 4 | Dartmouth | 2 |
| December 26 | Boston University | 7 | Providence | 3 |
| December 27 | Boston College | 4 | Brown | 3 |
| December 27 | Boston University | 5 | Dartmouth | 2 |
| December 27 | Providence | 10 | Northeastern | 2 |
| December 28 | Boston University | 10 | Brown | 3 |
| December 28 | Boston College | 5 | Providence | 2 |
| December 28 | Dartmouth | 2 | Northeastern | 1 |
Round Robin
| Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 26 | Boston University | 8 | Brown | 3 |
| December 26 | Michigan State | 7 | Northeastern | 1 |
| December 27 | Boston University | 6 | Providence | 4 |
| December 28 | Michigan State | 6 | Boston College | 0 |
| December 29 | Boston College | 7 | Providence | 2 |
| December 29 | Brown | 5 | Northeastern | 3 |
| December 30 | Michigan State | 3 | Boston University | 2 |
Round Robin
| Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 28 | Brown | 3 | Boston University | 2 |
| December 28 | Toronto | 4 | Colby | 2 |
| December 28 | Harvard | 8 | Northeastern | 2 |
| December 29 | Boston University | 5 | Colby | 1 |
| December 29 | Toronto | 3 | Brown | 2 |
| December 29 | Harvard | 5 | Providence | 4 (OT) |
| December 30 | Boston University | 9 | Northeastern | 4 |
| December 30 | Providence | 2 | Brown | 1 |
| December 30 | Toronto | 7 | Harvard | 2 |
Round Robin
| Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 27 | Providence | 3 | Army | 2 |
| December 27 | Boston University | 10 | Brown | 0 |
| December 27 | Dalhousie | 10 | Northeastern | 2 |
| December 28 | Boston University | 4 | Army | 3 |
| December 28 | Northeastern | 6 | Brown | 0 |
| December 28 | Providence | 5 | Dalhousie | 4 |
| December 29 | Dalhousie | 6 | Boston University | 5 |
| December 29 | Army | 5 | Brown | 2 |
| December 29 | Providence | 10 | Northeastern | 3 |
| 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 | ||||||
Round Robin
| Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 26 | Colorado College | 5 | Boston University | 4 |
| December 26 | Harvard | 11 | Northeastern | 6 |
| December 27 | Harvard | 10 | Boston University | 3 |
| December 27 | Colorado College | 5 | Northeastern | 3 |
| December 28 | Boston University | 7 | Northeastern | 5 |
| December 28 | Harvard | 3 | Colorado College | 2 (OT) |
Round Robin
| Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 28 | Northeastern | 4 | Boston University | 3 |
| December 28 | Michigan | 4 | Harvard | 2 |
| December 29 | Boston University | 8 | Harvard | 0 |
| December 29 | Michigan | 7 | Northeastern | 2 |
| December 30 | Michigan | 4 | Boston University | 3 |
| December 30 | Harvard | 5 | Northeastern | 1 |
Round Robin
| Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 27 | Boston University | 7 | Michigan | 2 |
| December 27 | Michigan Tech | 8 | Northeastern | 5 |
| December 28 | Boston University | 4 | Northeastern | 1 |
| December 28 | Michigan Tech | 7 | Michigan | 6 |
| December 29 | Michigan Tech | 5 | Boston University | 2 |
| December 29 | Michigan | 6 | Northeastern | 2 |
Round Robin
| Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 28 | Boston University | 7 | Harvard | 5 |
| December 28 | Cornell | 4 | Northeastern | 2 |
| December 29 | Boston University | 6 | Northeastern | 1 |
| December 29 | Cornell | 4 | Harvard | 1 |
| December 30 | Boston University | 3 | Cornell | 3 (2OT) |
| December 30 | Harvard | 5 | Northeastern | 4 (OT) |
Round Robin
| Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 28 | Boston University | 8 | Merrimack | 1 |
| December 28 | St. Francis Xavier | 5 | Northeastern | 2 |
| December 29 | Boston University | 8 | Northeastern | 4 |
| December 29 | St. Francis Xavier | 5 | Merrimack | 4 |
| December 30 | Boston University | 7 | St. Francis Xavier | 2 |
| December 30 | Northeastern | 6 | Merrimack | 5 (2OT) |
| 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 | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
| Team | # of times participated | Titles |
|---|---|---|
| Boston University | 17 | 6 |
| Harvard | 8 | 2 |
| Michigan State | 3 | 2 |
| Providence | 3 | 1 |
| St. Lawrence | 3 | 1 |
| Clarkson | 2 | 1 |
| Michigan | 2 | 1 |
| Cornell | 1 | 1 |
| McGill | 1 | 1 |
| Michigan Tech | 1 | 1 |
| Toronto | 1 | 1 |
| Northeastern | 14 | 0 |
| Brown | 7 | 0 |
| Boston College | 6 | 0 |
| Army | 2 | 0 |
| Dalhousie | 2 | 0 |
| Dartmouth | 2 | 0 |
| Tufts | 2 | 0 |
| Colby | 1 | 0 |
| Colorado College | 1 | 0 |
| Merrimack | 1 | 0 |
| Middlebury | 1 | 0 |
| New Hampshire | 1 | 0 |
| Notre Dame | 1 | 0 |
| Queen's | 1 | 0 |
| St. Francis Xavier | 1 | 0 |