Friendship Four: 2015

The inaugural Friendship Four tournament took place at the SSE Arena Belfast on November 27^th and 28^th 2015 and was the first time NCAA games had been played outside the US. The four teams competing for the first Belpot Trophy were UMass Lowell, Northeastern, Brown and Colgate. The UMass Lowell River Hawks became the first winners of the tournament, beating Brown University Bears 6-5 in the final to take the title. The Northeastern Huskies and Colgate Raiders would return to the SSE Arena in 2019 for the fifth Friendship Four tournament. 


Fans at the SSE Arena were treated to watching several future stars, both in the EIHL and NHL. The Alternate Captain of Colgate that season, Darcy Murphy, would join Belfast in 2017/18 and in his two EIHL seasons was a two-time EIHL Challenge Cup Champion. In 2018/19 alone, Murphy was the Continental Cup and EIHL’s Best Forward, named to the EIHL All-Star First Team and recorded the most goals and points in the season where he helped Belfast to three cups, including the Challenge Cup and Conference. Oh, and he was a league champion! 


Another EIHL star to play at the inaugural Friendship Four tournament was Brown University’s Charles Corcoran. Corcoran joined the Dundee Stars in 2018/19 after spending four seasons in the NCAA. He recorded 16 goals and 36 assists in 60 league games, good for 52 points. Since moving to the Coventry Blaze for the 2019/20 campaign, Corcoran has added another 47 points in 44 games played, making his average PPG in the EIHL a staggering 0.95 to date. He sits behind only Luke Ferrara (49) for total points with the Blaze this season. You could say these guys were pretty good additions to the EIHL!


Fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins were treated to watching Northeastern’s Zach Aston-Reese, who since his time in the NCAA had been splitting his time between the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins. In the summer Aston-Reese signed a two-year deal with the Penguins and has since appeared in 57 NHL games this season where he has accumulated 13 points.


Adam Gaudette, also playing for Northeastern in 2015, is a member of the Vancouver Canucks. As well as 38 NCAA games in 2017/18 with Northeastern, Gaudette made his NHL debut and in five NHL games had a +2 rating. Gaudette has since played over 100 NHL games and has 15 goals and just over 50 PIMS.


Another Northeastern to make a name for himself in the NHL, defenceman Matt Benning is in his fourth season with the Edmonton Oilers. The 25-year-old has gone on to record a 0.25 PPG average in the NHL after his three seasons with the Northeastern Huskies. 


Other players that have gone on to appear in NHL games include Riverhawks’ CJ Smith and Brown University’s Sam Lafferty and Nick Lappin.


More on the Friendship Four soon!