The University of Vermont men's hockey team will travel to Belfast, Northern Ireland on Thanksgiving week next season to compete in the 2016 Friendship Four tournament with fellow Hockey East member UMass Amherst and ECAC schools St. Lawrence and Quinnipiac.
 
Along with athletic administrators from all four institutions, Hockey East Commissioner Joe Bertagna, ECAC Commissioner Steve Hagwell, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, and Lord Mayor of Belfast Arder Carson officially made the announcement on Monday.

"We are extremely excited for the opportunity to take our program to Northern Ireland for the second edition of this wonderful event," said head coach Kevin Sneddon. "This will be a unique and memorable experience for our student-athletes, and we are thrilled to share it with three great schools in our region. We appreciate the work of Commissioner Bertagna and the organizing committee in making this a reality for UVM."
 
The schools will face off at the SSE Arena in Belfast on Friday, Nov. 25 and Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016. Vermont begins the tournament with a Hockey East game against UMass on Nov. 25, followed by a matchup with either St. Lawrence or Quinnipiac on Nov. 26.

The competing teams will also be involved in cultural experiences including school visits and youth clinics in the week leading up to the tournament, part of a broader Belfast effort to improve local neighborhood relationships.

This past November marked the inaugural Friendship Four event and featured UMass Lowell and Northeastern from Hockey East along with Colgate and Brown from ECAC Hockey. UMass Lowell won the title in a shootout over Brown and hoisted the Belpot Trophy.

Last year's iteration of the tournament was an international success, seen on television in North America and Europe, and attended by over 20,000 spectators. The event, part of Boston and Belfast's sister cities project, marked the first time that NCAA college hockey was played outside of North America.