# North Country Thanksgiving Festival

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 | Clarkson | New Hampshire | Bowling Green | St. Lawrence |
| 1971 | St. Lawrence | Clarkson | Vermont | Colgate |
| 1972 | Clarkson | Vermont | Rensselaer | St. Lawrence |
| 1973 | Toronto | Clarkson | Ohio State | St. Lawrence |
| 1974 | Bowling Green | Boston University | Clarkson | St. Lawrence |
| 1975 | Concordia | Clarkson | St. Lawrence | Vermont |
| 1976 | Clarkson | Ottawa | New Hampshire | St. Lawrence |
| 1977 | Clarkson | Rensselaer | St. Lawrence | Concordia |
| 1978 | Clarkson | St. Lawrence | Laval | N/A |
| 1979 | Clarkson | Western Ontario / Yale | Western Ontario / Yale | St. Lawrence |
| 1980 | Clarkson | Lowell | Bowling Green | St. Lawrence |
| 1981 | Clarkson | St. Lawrence | Brown | 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

| Semifinals November 29 | Semifinals November 29 | Semifinals November 29 | Championship November 30 | Championship November 30 | Championship November 30 |
| Clarkson | Clarkson | 6 | | | |
| Boston University | Boston University | 9 | | | |
| Boston University | Boston University | 9 | Boston University | Boston University | 2 |
| | | | Bowling Green | Bowling Green | 3 |
| St. Lawrence | St. Lawrence | 5 | Bowling Green | Bowling Green | 3 |
| Bowling Green | Bowling Green | 6** | Consolation | Consolation | Consolation |
| | | | Clarkson | Clarkson | 8 |
| | | | St. Lawrence | St. Lawrence | 1 |
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 |