College hockey is heading to Belfast.
Boston mayor Marty Walsh and Councillor Arder Carson, Lord Mayor of Belfast, Northern Ireland, announced Friday at TD Garden that four NCAA teams will travel across the Atlantic over Thanksgiving weekend to play in “The Friendship Four,” an international college hockey tournament in Belfast.
UMass-Lowell and Northeastern from Hockey East, as well as Brown and Colgate, will compete for the Belpot Trophy in the Northern Ireland capital’s first major college ice hockey tournament on Nov. 27 and Nov. 28.
Mayor Walsh traveled to Ireland last September and signed his first sister city agreement with Belfast.
“During my time in Ireland, I saw firsthand how sports, and hockey in particular, play an incredible role in bridging communities,” Marty Walsh said. “I am thrilled to announce the first tournament for the Belpot Trophy this fall. I would like to thank former mayor of Belfast Máirtín Ó Muilleoir for his original partnership in this ambitious exchange and his continued hospitality towards Boston, and Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Arder Carson, and the Belfast City Council for their commitment to making this tournament become a reality.”
The four teams will square off at the Belfast Giants’ Odyssey Arena. The Giants compete in the Elite Ice Hockey League.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@Colgate_Hockey
