The Beanpot in Northern Ireland? It sounds crazy, but if Boston Mayor Marty Walsh gets his way, it could very well happen. While visiting the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, which became a sister city of Boston earlier this year, Walsh expressed his support for bringing the annual college hockey tournament to the city in 2016.
“In the 62 years since its inception it has become the official battle for Boston’s hockey bragging rights and is widely known as the ‘social event of the winter season’,” Walsh said, according to the BBC.
“In light of the recent Sister City twinning between Belfast and Boston, which is underpinned by a longstanding connection between the two cities through ice hockey, I think it would be wonderful to bring the Beanpot to Belfast and am lending my support to the campaign.”
The Beanpot, which features Boston College, Boston University, Harvard and Northeastern, has never been held outside the city of Boston. The first one was held at Boston Arena (now Matthews Arena) in December 1952, the next 42 were held at the old Boston Garden, and the last 19 have been held at TD Garden.
According to the BBC, Walsh will host a delegation from the Odyssey Trust and Belfast Giants in Boston in early October. They will meet with the NCAA and representatives from the four Beanpot schools to further discuss the idea.
“Bringing this tournament to the Odyssey Arena is ice hockey’s answer to bringing Notre Dame to Croke Park,” Walsh said. “The impact would be massive and would bring a major economic boost not only to local sport, but to hospitality, tourism and culture in Northern Ireland.
“Ice hockey has played an important role in fostering strong relationships between Belfast and Boston and bringing this high-profile tournament to Northern Ireland would further cement that relationship and celebrate the links between the two cities.”
The coaches from the four Beanpot schools were not immediately available for comment, but Steve Nazro, vice president of events for TD Garden, said he was just as surprised by Walsh’s comments as anyone else.
“This is the first we’ve heard of it, so we’re trying to work through it,” Nazro told WEEI.com. “It caught us totally by surprise. That’s really all I can say for now.”
It will be interesting to see where the schools stand on this idea. Bringing college hockey to a new audience is an admirable idea, and the Beanpot makes sense in the context of the Boston-Belfast city twinning, but the idea is already being panned by fans of the Beanpot schools on Twitter. Needless to say, it would be difficult for them to attend, which would kill the atmosphere that helps make the tournament so special.
Another point to consider is that the Beanpot fills (or comes close to filling) a 17,565-seat building here because it is special for the four schools and the city as a whole. It would not be nearly as special for the people of Belfast, so it’s hard to imagine that the Beanpot would sell significantly more tickets than any other set of games that could be brought to the city. Odyssey Arena has a capacity of 8,700.
UPDATE: On Friday afternoon, the mayor’s office clarified Walsh’s remarks and said he meant to suggest a tournament similar to the Beanpot would go to Belfast, not the Beanpot itself. The following statement comes from his press secretary, Kate Norton:
“Today Mayor Walsh expressed his support for a ‘Belfast Beanpot’ – an initiative proposed by the Odyssey Trust, to host 4-6 college hockey teams from the Boston area to play a tournament in Northern Ireland. The tournament would not replace the Beanpot. This would not be an effort to ‘move’ the Beanpot out of Boston.
“I spoke with the Mayor following the impressive press and social media firestorm that followed his interview earlier today. He conveyed to me, in no uncertain terms, that – particularly as a Boston College grad and a hockey fan – he would never move a classic Boston event like the Beanpot out of our City.”