ECAC Hockey Tournament | |
---|---|
Conference hockey championship | |
Sport | Ice hockey |
Conference | ECAC Hockey |
Format | Single-elimination, best two-of-three tournament |
Current stadium | Herb Brooks Arena [1] |
Current location | Lake Placid, New York |
Played | 1962–present |
Last contest | 2024 ECAC Hockey Tournament |
Current champion | Cornell |
Most championships | Cornell (13) [2] |
Winner trophy | Whitelaw Cup |
TV partner(s) | ESPN+ |
Official website | The Official Site of ECAC Hockey |
The ECAC Hockey Tournament is the conference tournament for ECAC Hockey. The winner of the tournament received an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament which has occurred every year the NCAA has allowed automatic berths into the tournament. The ECAC tournament champion has only once not received an invitation to the NCAA tournament, that coming in 1963 when Harvard won its first conference championship (the second year in existence for the ECAC).
The tournament was first held in 1962, the first year of conference play. It was held at Boston Arena in Boston from 1962–66. It then moved to the much larger Boston Garden From 1967–92 (capacity for ice hockey games was 14,000+ in the Garden as opposed to the ~4,000 at the Arena). Because of a schism that occurred in the ECAC in 1984 that saw most Boston-area schools break away and form the Hockey East conference in 1984, the championship rounds moved to the Olympic Arena in Lake Placid, New York, for the next decade (1993–2002). From 2003–2010, along with a change to the tournament format, the semifinal and championship games were moved to the Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York, which changed its name to the 'Times Union Center' in 2007. From 2011 thru 2013 the final four games were held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and afterwards it was announced that the 2014 championship would return to Lake Placid and play at the since renamed Herb Brooks Arena.
In 1960, two play-in games were held for the top four eastern teams that were up for two spots in the NCAA tournament. About a year and a half later, ECAC Hockey was founded and included nearly 30 programs. Despite the cumbersome arrangement, the league held its first conference tournament in 1962 and has crowned a champion every year since with the exception of 2020 (as of 2023).
In response to a threat from the Ivy League schools to split from the conference over scheduling disagreements, the six teams that comprised the East Division left the conference to form Hockey East in 1984. ECAC Hockey still contained eleven teams after the break and was able to retain its automatic bid to the tournament, a necessity for the stability of a conference.
The tournament was first hosted at the Boston Arena and was moved to the Boston Garden in 1967. The tournament remained there from 1967 through 1992 and was succeeded by the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York, from 1993 to 2002 and again from 2014 to the present. The Times Union Center and the Boardwalk Hall have also hosted ECAC tournament championships.
Cornell has won the most ECAC Hockey championships with 13 and also has the most championship game appearances with 24. Current Cornell coach Mike Schafer has won the most championships with six and also has coached in the most championship games with 12 appearances.
In 1989 the championship trophy was renamed in honor of retiring commissioner Robert Whitelaw. [3]
The ECAC Hockey Tournament format begins as a single-game elimination three-round format featuring the top eight teams in the standings.
The quarterfinal round is changed to a two-game format where if the two teams are tied afterwards a 'mini-game' is held to determine who advances. Overtime is not played in the quarterfinals outside the 'mini-games'
Two preliminary games are added to determine the final two qualifiers in the tournament played between the teams that finished seventh thru tenth in the standings.
The quarterfinal round was changed to a single-elimination format.
The quarterfinal round was converted into a modified best-of-three series where the first team to receive three points would advance (2 points for a win 1 point for a tie) with only the third game permitted to continue past a 5-minute overtime if the score was still tied.
The preliminary round was scrapped and the quarterfinal round expanded into 5 modified best-of-three series. The two lowest-seeded teams to advance out of the quarterfinals would then play in a single 'Four vs. Five' game to determine the final semifinalist.
The quarterfinal round was altered to include standard best-of-three series with no ties allowed.
ECAC Hockey adds a fourth round to the tournament (called the 'First Round') and includes all 12 conference teams in the tournament. The First round pits the fifth thru twelfth teams in the standings in four best-of-three series with the winners advancing to the quarterfinals. The top four teams in the standings automatically advance to the quarterfinal round and play the remaining four teams in reverse order of their finish in the standings in a second best-of-three round. The semifinal, third-place and championship games are all single-elimination.
The third place game is eliminated. [4]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only four competing institutions will compete in a single-elimination championship over the course of one championship weekend. [5]
2023
After 20 years, the opening round of the tournament gets changed to single-elimination, replacing the best-of-three format prior; the quarterfinals remain best-of-three, however, along with the semifinals and final both being single games.
Championships by School
| By coach
[8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] |
The code in each cell represents the furthest the team made it in the respective tournament:
Note: the remainder of the 2020 tournament was cancelled prior to the start of the quarterfinal round.
School | # | QF | SF | F | CH | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cornell | 53 | 49 | 39 | 23 | 12 | QF | F | CH | CH | CH | CH | SF | F | CH | SF | SF | SF | SF | QF | SF | CH | F | SF | CH | QF | SF | SF | SF | F | QF | QF | CH | CH | QF | FR | SF | F | F | CH | QF | CH | F | QF | SF | F | CH | F | SF | QF | SF | FR | QF | F | SF | F | QF | – | QF | SF | ||||||||
Harvard | 53 | 45 | 35 | 23 | 11 | SF | CH | QF | QF | QF | F | SF | CH | SF | QF | F | F | SF | F | CH | QF | F | SF | CH | SF | SF | QF | SF | QF | SF | CH | QF | F | QF | SF | FR | FR | SF | CH | F | CH | F | CH | QF | F | FR | QF | QF | F | FR | FR | CH | F | CH | SF | SF | QF | – | CH | F | |||||||
St. Lawrence | 50 | 35 | 19 | 11 | 7 | CH | SF | F | QF | SF | QF | QF | QF | QF | QF | SF | QF | QF | F | CH | CH | QF | F | CH | QF | FR | FR | QF | FR | FR | F | CH | CH | FR | FR | QF | QF | QF | SF | FR | SF | SF | QF | FR | QF | QF | SF | SF | QF | FR | FR | FR | CH | QF | QF | ||||||||||||
Clarkson | 60 | 49 | 34 | 15 | 6 | F | SF | SF | SF | CH | QF | SF | SF | F | F | QF | SF | QF | QF | SF | QF | QF | SF | SF | SF | QF | SF | SF | F | QF | F | QF | SF | CH | SF | CH | SF | SF | SF | F | F | CH | QF | FR | SF | FR | F | QF | QF | CH | QF | FR | FR | FR | FR | FR | QF | FR | QF | QF | F | CH | QF | SF | QF | ||
Boston University | 17 | 17 | 15 | 7 | 5 | SF | SF | F | SF | SF | SF | SF | CH | QF | CH | CH | CH | CH | SF | SF | QF | F | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||||
Rensselaer | 50 | 34 | 14 | 6 | 3 | QF | SF | QF | QF | QF | QF | SF | QF | QF | QF | QF | CH | CH | QF | SF | QF | QF | F | QF | SF | SF | F | CH | QF | SF | FR | SF | F | FR | SF | QF | QF | FR | FR | FR | FR | QF | FR | FR | QF | FR | FR | QF | QF | FR | FR | FR | QF | – | QF | FR | |||||||||||
Princeton | 36 | 16 | 7 | 4 | 3 | QF | QF | QF | FR | FR | QF | QF | FR | F | FR | SF | CH | SF | FR | FR | FR | FR | FR | FR | FR | QF | CH | SF | FR | FR | FR | FR | FR | FR | FR | QF | CH | FR | QF | – | FR | QF | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Union | 25 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | QF | FR | QF | FR | FR | FR | FR | FR | FR | FR | QF | QF | F | QF | CH | CH | CH | QF | FR | SF | QF | QF | FR | – | QF | FR | ||||||
Boston College | 17 | 17 | 7 | 5 | 2 | QF | F | QF | CH | QF | SF | F | QF | QF | F | QF | QF | CH | QF | QF | QF | SF | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||||
Colgate | 46 | 35 | 15 | 4 | 2 | QF | QF | QF | QF | QF | SF | QF | QF | QF | QF | QF | QF | QF | CH | QF | FR | QF | QF | SF | QF | FR | FR | QF | SF | FR | QF | SF | SF | SF | QF | SF | FR | QF | SF | SF | FR | F | F | FR | FR | QF | FR | QF | SF | SF | CH | ||||||||||||||||
Providence | 16 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 2 | QF | QF | CH | QF | QF | QF | QF | QF | QF | F | QF | SF | CH | QF | F | QF | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||||||
Yale | 37 | 27 | 6 | 2 | 2 | QF | QF | QF | QF | SF | SF | QF | QF | QF | QF | QF | QF | SF | FR | FR | FR | FR | QF | FR | FR | QF | FR | QF | CH | QF | CH | QF | SF | QF | QF | QF | QF | FR | QF | QF | – | FR | QF | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Quinnipiac | 17 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | QF | F | QF | QF | QF | QF | QF | SF | SF | SF | CH | SF | QF | QF | QF | F | F | SF |
New Hampshire | 14 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 1 | – | – | QF | QF | SF | QF | QF | QF | QF | F | QF | CH | QF | SF | SF | QF | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||||||
Northeastern | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | QF | QF | QF | CH | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||||||||||||||||||
Brown | 41 | 24 | 10 | 3 | 0 | QF | F | SF | QF | QF | QF | QF | QF | F | QF | SF | QF | QF | FR | QF | F | SF | QF | QF | FR | FR | FR | SF | QF | QF | FR | FR | FR | QF | SF | FR | FR | SF | FR | FR | FR | FR | FR | SF | FR | – | FR | FR | |||||||||||||||||||
Dartmouth | 30 | 20 | 9 | 2 | 0 | QF | QF | QF | F | F | FR | FR | FR | SF | QF | SF | SF | QF | SF | SF | FR | FR | FR | SF | QF | QF | QF | QF | SF | FR | QF | QF | FR | – | FR | FR | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Vermont | 21 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | SF | QF | QF | QF | QF | SF | F | FR | QF | FR | FR | QF | QF | SF | QF | FR | FR | QF | QF | FR | SF | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||||||||
Pennsylvania | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | QF | QF | SF | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||||||
Colby | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | SF | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
Army | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | QF | QF | QF | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||||||||||||||||||
Maine | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | QF | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
ECAC Hockey is one of the six conferences that compete in NCAA Division I ice hockey. The conference used to be affiliated with the Eastern College Athletic Conference, a consortium of over 300 colleges in the eastern United States. This relationship ended in 2004; however, the ECAC abbreviation was retained in the name of the hockey conference. ECAC Hockey is the only ice hockey conference with identical memberships in both its women's and men's divisions.
The Clarkson Golden Knights women's hockey team is an NCAA Division I ice hockey team that represents Clarkson University in rural Potsdam, New York. The Golden Knights have been a member of ECAC Hockey since 2004, and play home games in Cheel Arena on the Clarkson University campus.
The 1999 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 38th tournament in league history. It was played between March 12 and March 20, 1999. Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the final five games were played at the Olympic Arena in Lake Placid, New York. By winning the tournament, Clarkson received the ECAC's automatic bid to the 1999 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 2000 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 39th tournament in league history. It was played between March 10 and March 18, 2000. Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the final five games were played at the Olympic Arena in Lake Placid, New York. By winning the tournament, St. Lawrence received the ECAC's automatic bid to the 2000 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 2001 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 40th tournament in league history. It was played between March 9 and March 17, 2001. Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the final five games were played at the Olympic Arena in Lake Placid, New York. By winning the tournament, St. Lawrence received the ECAC's automatic bid to the 2001 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1998 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 37th tournament in league history. It was played between March 13 and March 21, 1998. Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the final five games were played at the Olympic Arena in Lake Placid, New York. By winning the tournament, Princeton received the ECAC's automatic bid to the 1998 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1997 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 36th tournament in league history. It was played between March 4 and March 15, 1997. Preliminary and quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the 'final four' games were played at the Olympic Arena in Lake Placid, New York. By winning the tournament, Cornell received the ECAC's automatic bid to the 1997 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1996 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 35th tournament in league history. It was played between March 5 and March 16, 1996. Preliminary and quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the 'final four' games were played at the Olympic Arena in Lake Placid, New York. By winning the tournament, Cornell received the ECAC's automatic bid to the 1996 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1995 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 34th tournament in league history. It was played between March 7 and March 18, 1995. Preliminary and quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the 'final four' games were played at the Olympic Arena in Lake Placid, New York. By winning the tournament, Rensselaer received the ECAC's automatic bid to the 1995 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1994 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 33rd tournament in league history. It was played between March 8 and March 19, 1994. Preliminary and quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the 'final four' games were played at the Olympic Arena in Lake Placid, New York. By winning the tournament, Harvard received the ECAC's automatic bid to the 1994 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1993 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 32nd tournament in league history. It was played between March 9 and March 20, 1993. Preliminary and quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the 'final four' games were, for the first time, played at the Olympic Arena in Lake Placid, New York. The third place game was brought back after a three-year hiatus. By winning the tournament, Clarkson received the ECAC's automatic bid to the 1993 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1978 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 17th tournament in league history. It was played between March 7 and March 11, 1978. Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the 'final four' games were played at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. By reaching the championship game both, Boston College and Providence received invitations to participate in the 1978 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1970 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 9th tournament in league history. It was played between March 10 and March 14, 1970. Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the 'final four' games were played at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. By reaching the championship game both, Cornell and Clarkson received invitations to participate in the 1970 NCAA University Division Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1966 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 5th tournament in league history. It was played between March 8 and March 12, 1966. Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the 'final four' games were played at the Boston Arena in Boston, Massachusetts. By reaching the championship game Clarkson was indeed invited to participate in the 1966 NCAA University Division Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. As runner-up, Cornell received the second bid to the tournament, however, due to a disagreement between the Ivy League and the NCAA on postseason participation the Big Red declined the invitation and were replaced by Boston University.
The 1962 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 1st tournament in league history. It was played between March 6 and March 10, 1962. Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the 'final four' games were played at the Boston Arena in Boston, Massachusetts. By reaching the championship game both, St. Lawrence and Clarkson received invitations to participate in the 1962 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 2014 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 53rd tournament in league history. It was played between March 7 and March 22, 2014. First Round and Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the final four games were played at the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York. By winning the tournament, Union received the ECAC's automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 2016 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament is the 55th tournament in league history. It was played between March 4 and March 19, 2016. First Round and Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the final four games were played at the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York. By winning the tournament, the team receives the ECAC's automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 2017 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament is the 56th tournament in league history. It was played between March 3 and March 18, 2017. First Round and Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the final four games were played at the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York. By winning the tournament, the team receives the ECAC's automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 2018 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 57th tournament in league history. It was played between March 2 and March 17, 2018. First round and quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the final four games were played at the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York. By winning the tournament Princeton received the ECAC's automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 2020 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 59th tournament in league history. It was scheduled to be played between March 6 and March 21, 2020. First Round and Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the Semifinal and Championship games were to be played at the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York.