Sep. 23—GRAND FORKS — The UND hockey team is heading to Europe.
The Fighting Hawks have signed to play in the 2027 Friendship Four, an annual tournament held Thanksgiving weekend at SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The other teams competing in the 2027 event are Quinnipiac, Wisconsin and Northeastern.
“We’re pretty fired up,” UND coach Dane Jackson said. “It looks like a great group. It will be a true test for our North Dakota fans. They’ve traveled to New York City to Nashville to Las Vegas — to lots of cool places — to support us. That will be a test to see if we get lots of North Dakota fans and their green all the way overseas to Belfast.”
It marks UND’s first overseas trip since it played in the 1982 Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland. Those games were designated as exhibitions. UND extended its stay in Switzerland to play two exhibitions in January 1983.
The Friendship Four counts as regular-season games.
Fields for the 2026, 2027 and 2028 Friendship Fours were announced on Tuesday.
UND athletic director Bill Chaves and deputy athletic director Erik Martinson attended a press event in Boston announcing the field.
“I’m really excited for our team to be able to get a cultural experience that might be something they’ll never experience again in their lives,” Chaves said. “Sports are a great unifier and I’m excited that our student-athletes are going to experience that.”
The Friendship Four started in 2015. It has traditionally drawn teams from Hockey East and the ECAC but it is now starting to branch out.
Last year, Notre Dame (Big Ten) became the first team outside of Hockey East or the ECAC to participate.
In November, Miami will be the first National Collegiate Hockey Conference team to play in the event, while Sacred Heart and RIT will represent Atlantic Hockey America.
In 2026, Minnesota Duluth will be the first team from the Central Time Zone to play in the tournament. The Bulldogs will join Colgate, Providence and UConn
While UND and Wisconsin will be newcomers in 2027, the other two participants will be making their third trip to Belfast. Quinnipiac and Northeastern will be the first programs to compete in the event three times.
Chaves spoke with representatives from Quinnipiac and Northeastern at the press conference. He said they raved about it.
“‘Unbelievable’ and ‘life-changing’ were words we heard today,” Chaves said.
It has been more than 40 years since UND has played a game outside North America, but it has left the country twice in recent years.
UND played a regular-season game against Clarkson in Winnipeg on Jan. 7, 2012. It played two exhibition games in Burnaby, B.C., against the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University in January 2014.
The Fighting Hawks have been exploring the possibility of playing overseas games for a few years.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, UND was close to signing up for exhibition games in Finland. It fell through, though, due to the pandemic.
UND worked for a couple of years to get the Friendship Four finalized.
“It will be an awesome life experience to go over and see what it’s all about there,” Jackson said, “and try to represent our program with pride.”
After a short hiatus from destination games, UND will play them in back-to-back years.
On Halloween 2026, UND is scheduled to play the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game against Michigan State in Austin, Texas.
Belfast’s SSE Arena is home to the Belfast Giants, a pro hockey team that plays in the top United Kingdom-based league.
Two former UND players currently play for the Giants — forward Jordan Kawaguchi and defenseman Gabe Bast.
“Andrew MacWilliam, one of my old favorite defensemen, texted me today about it,” Jackson said. “Our group is excited.”
Other UND athletics programs have made foreign trips in recent years. The UND men’s basketball team played in Mexico last season and in Italy and France in 2015.
2025
Miami, RIT, Sacred Heart Union
2026
Minnesota Duluth, Colgate, Providence, UConn
2027
North Dakota, Quinnipiac, Wisconsin, Northeastern
2028
Omaha, Dartmouth, Maine, Notre Dame
