This sporting event has brought out rivalries in Utah Hockey Club

Michael Kesselring sat at his stall talking about the Beanpot.

Chirps immediately started flying from around the locker room.

“You mean the Beanbag? The tournament makes no sense! It’s just four schools?”

Kesselring, a Northeastern University alum, scoffed with a grin on his face.

“People outside of New England don’t understand,” Kesselring said. “They don’t understand how big it is. But it’s a really big deal.”

He is right. The annual midseason tournament at TD Garden which features Northeastern, Boston College, Harvard University and Boston University carries significant weight for those in New England.

Since the Beanpot’s start in 1952, the tournament has put ultimate bragging rights on the line for four of the most prestigious NCAA hockey programs in the Boston area.

Utah Hockey Club is one of the only teams in the National Hockey League that has all four Beanpot schools represented on its active roster. Kesselring, of course, was a Husky, Jack McBain played at Boston College and Clayton Keller at Boston University. Both Alex Kerfoot and John Marino went to Harvard.

Accordingly, the college rivalries have seeped into the NHL room.

Boston College and Boston University will face off Monday in the 2025 Beanpot championship. Utah prospect Will Skahan — whom the team selected 65th overall in the 2024 NHL Draft — is part of the Eagles group hunting for victory.

Northeastern and Harvard lost in the first round and will play each other in the consolation game.

McBain, who played four seasons for the Eagles, is feeling pretty good about Boston College’s chances to win its first Beanpot since 2016. The team is ranked No. 1 in the nation and blew Northeastern out 8-2 last week.

“I think BC is too good right now — nobody wants the action. I was talking to [Keller], he’s a little bit worried,” McBain said. “Harvard and Northeastern guys want nothing to do with it. Their teams are getting pumped all over the place. BC is too good right now so nobody wants it.”

McBain was contemplating making a bet with Keller as their alma maters battle for the trophy. Having Keller wear an Eagles jersey, though, was out of the question.

“I don’t know if he’d put that on. I think he likes his fashion too much,” McBain said. “I’d try to take a little bit of cash off of him.”

McBain reached the Beanpot championship in his freshman season at Boston College but never earned the title. Kerfoot, Marino and Kesselring are the only three on Utah’s roster who have lifted the Beanpot.

Kerfoot and Marino were teammates at Harvard when they won it all in 2017 against none other than Keller and the Boston University Terriers. Kerfoot had a goal, Marino had an assist and Keller scored twice in the 6-3 game. Kerfoot’s tally ended up being the game-winner.

“[Kerfoot] gives me sh*t every time we talk about it. It was unfortunate. I think the refs might’ve been wearing Harvard jerseys at the time if I’m being completely honest,” Keller quipped. “There’s extra motivation and drive to win those games on the big stage.”

Keller played only one season of NCAA hockey in 2016-17 before signing his entry-level contract with the Arizona Coyotes. He made an impact nonetheless. As a freshman, Keller posted a team-leading 45 points (21 goals, 24 assists) through 31 games.

“I definitely miss it like so much. I had such a great group of guys,” Keller said. “Those memories that we had, I’ll remember for the rest of my life. Those special road trips, the college dorms, practice, study halls. Just everything, it was just so fun.”

Kerfoot, alternatively, spent four years playing college hockey because — as a fifth-round pick — his path to the NHL was not as clear cut as Keller, who went seventh overall. Kerfoot is from Vancouver but took the American NCAA path and “wouldn’t change it.”

“I think for me, I was a bit of a smaller kid at a young age. That route afforded me more time to develop,” Kerfoot said. “At the same time, I didn’t know for sure if I was going to play in the NHL or play professional hockey at all. For me to be able to use hockey as a way to get a great education, go to university — that was always something I wanted to do.”

Kerfoot secured the Beanpot in his final year at Harvard before joining the Colorado Avalanche. He’s been an NHL regular ever since.

“We were fortunate to win one time in my four years,” Kerfoot said. “It was my senior year which I think made it all the more special just because you work so hard for three years, don’t get it done and then to have it happen my last year was pretty cool.”

Kesselring, who is five years younger than Kerfoot, remembers watching his now teammate and other NHLers in the Beanpot as he is a New Hampshire native. The TD Garden tournament was always part of his life.

“Being from New England, you watch it growing up as a kid. I remember going to Beanpots watching Keller and [Charlie] McAvoy and wanting to play in the tournament,” the defenseman said. “When I played in the finals, that’s the most nervous I’ve ever been for a hockey game. That’s saying something.”

Kesselring fulfilled a childhood dream in February 2020 when Northeastern won the Beanpot in a 5-4 championship game that went to double overtime against Boston University. Up until this year, the Huskies had won five of the last six titles.

“I just remember I went into the pile and didn’t even take my helmet off. I was so excited. It’s definitely a really happy hockey memory for me,” Kesselring said. “The rivalries between the schools in Boston, it just makes it special.”

Kesselring’s Huskies are out of the running now, though. He said he let any bets “slide” this season.

Was it because he knew Boston College and Boston University were better?

“Yeah, no comment,” he said.

While Utah is over 2,000 miles away from Boston, the Beanpot is something that has tied these five players together — and caused some internal competition — as they reflect on their college hockey days before becoming pros.

It is now down to McBain and Keller for who will claim the bragging rights this season.

“You kind of don’t realize unless you’re from there or go to one of those schools — a lot of the guys kind of laugh about it, it’s only two games,” McBain said. “It’s more the history behind it, the tradition. You go over and play at the Garden. It’s really special. It’s something that you have circled on your calendar for sure if you’re in Boston.”

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