The North Country Thanksgiving Festival (also called the 'North Country Thanksgiving Invitational') was an annual NCAA men's Division I ice hockey tournament held annually at the Appleton Arena and Walker Arena in upstate New York around Thanksgiving. The tournament began in 1970 and was played every year until 1981. Both Clarkson and St. Lawrence served as hosts for the in-season tournament.

Format Unlike most college hockey tournaments, the North Country Festival did not have a championship game. Instead, each of the four participants would play one another and the team(s) with the best record would be awarded the championship. The series changed to a more normal bracket format in 1974 but returned to the round-robin arrangement the following year. In 1978 and 1981, only three teams participated in the tournament. In 1979 and 1980 the two 'visiting' teams did not play one another.

Yearly results Year Champion Runner-up Third place Fourth place 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 N/A 1979 Western Ontario / Yale 1980 1981 N/A

Team records Team # of times participated Titles Clarkson 12 8 Toronto 1 1 Concordia 2 1 Bowling Green 3 1 St. Lawrence 12 1 Boston University 1 0 Brown 1 0 Colgate 1 0 Laval 1 0 Lowell 1 0 Ohio State 1 0 Ottawa 1 0 Western Ontario 1 0 Yale 1 0 New Hampshire 2 0 Rensselaer 2 0 Vermont 3 0

Game results 1970 Date Location Winning Team Score Losing Team Score 26 November Appleton Arena Clarkson 3 New Hampshire 2 26 November Appleton Arena Bowling Green 6 St. Lawrence 5 27 November Clarkson Arena Clarkson 5 Bowling Green 2 27 November Clarkson Arena New Hampshire 4 St. Lawrence 2 28 November Appleton Arena Clarkson 4 St. Lawrence 2 28 November Appleton Arena New Hampshire 6 Bowling Green 4

1971 Date Location Winning Team Score Losing Team Score 25 November Appleton Arena Clarkson 9 Colgate 3 25 November Appleton Arena St. Lawrence 7 Vermont 6 26 November Appleton Arena Clarkson 6 Vermont 2 26 November Clarkson Arena Colgate 3 St. Lawrence 2 27 November Appleton Arena St. Lawrence 3 Clarkson 2 27 November Clarkson Arena Vermont 9 Colgate 3

1972 Date Location Winning Team Score Losing Team Score 23 November Clarkson Arena Clarkson 5 Vermont 2 23 November Appleton Arena Rensselaer 4 St. Lawrence 2 24 November Clarkson Arena Clarkson 4 Rensselaer 2 24 November Appleton Arena Vermont 4 St. Lawrence 1 25 November Appleton Arena St. Lawrence 6 Clarkson 2 25 November Clarkson Arena Vermont 6 Rensselaer 1

1973 Date Location Winning Team Score Losing Team Score 22 November Clarkson Arena Clarkson 8 Ohio State 3 22 November Appleton Arena Toronto 2 St. Lawrence 1 23 November Clarkson Arena Toronto 7 Clarkson 1 23 November Clarkson Arena Ohio State 6 St. Lawrence 5 24 November Appleton Arena Clarkson 4 St. Lawrence 1 24 November Appleton Arena Toronto 3 Ohio State 1

1974

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1975 Date Location Winning Team Score Losing Team Score 27 November Appleton Arena Concordia 5 Clarkson 1 27 November Appleton Arena St. Lawrence 8 Vermont 2 28 November Appleton Arena Clarkson 3 Vermont 1 28 November Appleton Arena Concordia 6 St. Lawrence 2 29 November Appleton Arena Clarkson 5 St. Lawrence 1 29 November Appleton Arena Concordia 5 Vermont 2

1976 Date Location Winning Team Score Losing Team Score 25 November Walker Arena Clarkson 5 New Hampshire 2 25 November Appleton Arena Ottawa 4 St. Lawrence 3 26 November Walker Arena Clarkson 13 Ottawa 3 26 November Appleton Arena New Hampshire 9 St. Lawrence 8 27 November Appleton Arena Clarkson 7 St. Lawrence 1 27 November Appleton Arena Ottawa 5 New Hampshire 3

1977 Date Location Winning Team Score Losing Team Score 24 November Appleton Arena Concordia 6 Clarkson 5 24 November Appleton Arena Rensselaer 4 St. Lawrence 2 25 November Walker Arena Clarkson 5 Rensselaer 4 25 November Appleton Arena St. Lawrence 8 Concordia 0 26 November Appleton Arena Clarkson 6 St. Lawrence 3 26 November Appleton Arena Rensselaer 7 Concordia 3

1978 Date Location Winning Team Score Losing Team Score 23 November Walker Arena Clarkson 8 Laval 5 24 November Appleton Arena St. Lawrence 11 Laval 4 25 November Appleton Arena Clarkson 4 St. Lawrence 1

1979 Date Location Winning Team Score Losing Team Score 22 November Appleton Arena Clarkson 6 Western Ontario 5 22 November Appleton Arena Yale 6 St. Lawrence 3 23 November Walker Arena Clarkson 8 Yale 7 23 November Appleton Arena Western Ontario 9 St. Lawrence 7 24 November Appleton Arena Clarkson 6 St. Lawrence 5

1980 Date Location Winning Team Score Losing Team Score 27 November Walker Arena Clarkson 6 Bowling Green 5 27 November Appleton Arena Lowell 7 St. Lawrence 5 28 November Walker Arena Clarkson 6 Lowell 2 28 November Appleton Arena Bowling Green 6 St. Lawrence 6 29 November Walker Arena Clarkson 4 St. Lawrence 2

1981 Date Location Winning Team Score Losing Team Score 26 November Appleton Arena St. Lawrence 10 Brown 6 27 November Walker Arena Clarkson 6 Brown 3 28 November Appleton Arena Clarkson 5 St. Lawrence 4

References