University of Connecticut Athletics
Hockey Travels to Belfast For Unique Experience
11/19/2018 9:46:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Alyssa Cantisani
The UConn men's hockey team embarked on a seven-day trip to Northern Ireland on Sunday, to take part in the Northern Irish Connections Friendship Four tournament with Hockey East foe Boston University, Union and Yale.
This year marks the fourth annual Friendship Four tournament held at the SSE Arena, home rink to the Belfast Giants of the Elite Ice Hockey League. The tournament is comprised of teams from NCAA Division 1 Men's Ice Hockey giving four teams each year the chance to travel to Belfast to compete for the prestigious Belpot Trophy.
The University of Massachusetts, Lowell won the inaugural tournament in 2015, University of Vermont in 2016 and Clarkson University taking the 2017 edition.
Hockey East has been a significant partner in all four years, sending two teams each year and bringing two of the three Belpot Trophy's home.
Above playing the game outside of the states, the tournament offers players a unique opportunity to engage with the local community, spend a week in a historic Irish city and learn the ways in which another culture lives.
"It's an event that works on so many levels," said Hockey East commissioner, Joe Bertagna. "We want to show off excellence, we want to give our athletes a chance to play after they graduate, we want to win over new fans and we want to remind our student-athletes that they are both students and athletes and this particular week does all of that."
Not only will the tournament be a learning opportunity for the athletes and a chance to compete in league games for a trophy but also give the local ice hockey fans in Belfast an opportunity to watch the only NCAA hockey tournament that takes place outside of the United States.
Over 20,000 spectators are expected to head to the SSE Arena to watch the action unfold on Friday November 23rd and Saturday November 24th.
"I think it's special any time you can compete for a trophy," said head coach Mike Cavanaugh, "But being able to go to Ireland is going to be one of those truly unique experiences. When you come to college you get to experience a lot of different things. I think traveling overseas, spending the week there and learning about Irish history is going to be an experience that they'll remember forever."
The fans, the history and the level of intensity all have a significant role in what makes college hockey in New England so special and the Huskies are given an opportunity to bring that to Ireland.
"You don't get to play in Ireland every day," said sophomore defenseman Adam Karashik (Ridgefield, Conn.). "So that's something really special. It's different and it's expanding the game in so many ways. I have a couple buddies who play for Providence and they said last year for them was a great experience so I'm extremely excited to be there, all the guys are."
It's easy to become swept away in the excitement of traveling to a new country with your teammates but the most important thing for UConn will be to remember what they are there for and that is to compete.
"We have to play our game and we can't get too excited," said junior defenseman Wyatt Newpower (Hugo, Minn.). "It's going to be a lot to take in right away but we still have to play UConn hockey and that's getting the puck deep and playing hard. We have to take that to every team out there."
Not only is a trophy at stake but a league game against Boston University will take place on night one of the tournament giving both teams the opportunity to walk away with two points.
"I think once our feet get going and you have your first hit and your first shift is under you, you're going to realize it's a Hockey East game," said Karashik. "Let's get these two points and let's go to war. We're excited and it's going to be a great atmosphere but it needs to be treated like a Hockey East game here at the XL Center."
Hockey East has had to turn schools away who have participated in previous years and want to go back, emphasizing the impact the tournament has had. This Thanksgiving holiday, the Huskies have a chance to allow Belfast to make the same impression on their program.
The Huskies will be back in Connecticut on Sunday, November 25th after the completion of the tournament. Follow along on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and uconnhuskies.com for updates throughout the week.
