The Rensselaer Holiday Tournament was a college ice hockey tournament hosted by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. The tournament was held annually for a duration of sixty years, from 1951 to 2010 at the Houston Field House.[1] It was, at various times, known as the Rensselaer Invitational, RPI Invitational, RPI Invitational Christmas Tournament, RPI Christmas Tournament, Rensselaer/Midland Bank Holiday Tournament, Rensselaer/HSBC Holiday Tournament and Rensselaer/Bank of America Holiday Tournament. It was the oldest college hockey tournament in the United States, older than the Beanpot by a year. Since the tournament has not been renewed since the 2010-2011 season, The Beanpot is now the oldest.
In the first edition, eight teams played in a knockout bracket. From 1952 until 1980, four teams played a round-robin. Beginning in 1981, four teams were seeded and played a bracket format with a consolation game. Rensselaer won the championship for the first time in nearly a decade in what turned out to be the tournament's final year.
Results
| Year | Champion | Runner-up | Third place | Fourth place | Fifth place | Sixth place | Seventh place | Eighth place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Brown | St. Patrick's | RPI | Loyola | Harvard | Dartmouth | Williams | MIT |
| Year | Champion | Runner-up | Third place | Fourth place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Princeton | RPI | St. Patrick's | Yale |
| 1953 | St. Francis Xavier | RPI | Brown | Princeton |
| 1954 | Toronto | RPI | St. Francis Xavier | Yale |
| 1955 | Minnesota | RPI | Princeton | Loyola |
| 1956 | Michigan Tech | McGill | RPI | Laval |
| 1957 | RPI | Brown | Yale | New Brunswick |
| 1958 | Michigan State | RPI | Brown | Princeton |
| 1959 | North Dakota | Montreal | RPI | Yale |
| 1960 | RPI | Harvard | New Brunswick | Princeton |
| 1961 | Michigan | RPI | McGill | Yale |
| 1962 | Minnesota | McMaster | RPI | Providence |
| 1963 | RPI | Cornell | Loyola | Yale |
| 1964 | Minnesota–Duluth | McGill | RPI | Colgate |
| 1965 | Western Ontario | Bowdoin | RPI | Middlebury |
| 1966 | Michigan | RPI | Colgate | New Brunswick |
| 1967 | McMaster | Michigan Tech | RPI | Yale |
| 1968 | Waterloo | RPI | Army | Ohio |
| 1969 | Providence | RPI | Montreal | Bowling Green |
| 1970 | Wisconsin | RPI | Western Ontatio | Northeastern |
| 1971 | Clarkson | RPI | Ohio | New Brunswick |
| 1972 | Minnesota–Duluth | RPI | Providence | Carleton |
| 1973 | Boston University | RPI | Dartmouth | Ohio State |
| 1974 | Northeastern | Bowling Green | RPI | Sir George Williams |
| 1975 | Providence | RPI | Princeton | Northeastern |
| 1976 | RPI | Clarkson | Yale | Penn |
| 1977 | RPI | Ohio State | St. Mary's | McGill |
| 1978 | St. Lawrence | RPI | Princeton | Air Force |
| 1979 | Western Michigan | Northeastern | Western Ontario | RPI |
| 1980 | Maine | RPI | Vasby | Holy Cross |
| 1981 | St. Lawrence | Brown | North Dakota | RPI |
| 1982 | RPI | UMass Lowell | Bowling Green | Brown |
| 1983 | RPI | UMass Lowell | Northern Arizona | Yale |
| 1984 | RPI | Toronto | Miami (OH) | Ferris State |
| 1985 | RPI | Lake Superior State | RIT | Alaska–Anchorage |
| 1986 | Ferris State | Alaska–Fairbanks | Merrimack | RPI |
| 1987 | RPI | McGill | Holy Cross | U.S. International |
| 1988 | Providence | RPI | Air Force | Notre Dame |
| 1989 | RPI | Merrimack | Union | Brown |
| 1990 | RPI | Western Ontario | Union | Alaska–Fairbanks |
| 1991 | St. Lawrence | RPI | Northeastern | Union |
| 1992 | Providence | RPI | Clarkson | UMass Lowell |
| 1993 | RPI | UMass Lowell | Army | Mount Allison |
| 1994 | Maine | RPI | Merrimack | Miami (OH) |
| 1995 | Clarkson | Illinois–Chicago | Providence | RPI |
| 1996 | RPI | Brown | UMass | Bowling Green |
| 1997 | Lake Superior | RPI | Yale | Army |
| 1998 | RPI | Minnesota–Duluth | Merrimack | Union |
| 1999 | Providence | RPI | Bowling Green | Union |
| 2000 | St. Lawrence | Providence | RPI | Notre Dame |
| 2001 | RPI | UMass | Niagara | Quinnipiac |
| 2002 | Merrimack | Wayne State | Princeton | RPI |
| 2003 | Northeastern | Mercyhurst | Colgate | RPI |
| 2004 | Air Force | RPI | Robert Morris | Sacred Heart |
| 2005 | Nebraska–Omaha | Holy Cross | RPI | Providence |
| 2006 | Niagara | Colgate | RPI | Ohio State |
| 2007 | Notre Dame | RPI | Alabama–Huntsville | American International |
| 2008 | Northeastern | RPI | Mercyhurst | Princeton |
| 2009 | Union | RPI | Bentley | Lake Superior |
| 2010 | RPI | Bowling Green | Alabama-Huntsville | Connecticut |
References
- ↑ "Rensselaer Holiday Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved 31 July 2010.