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 12. Cornell and Harvard are tied for the most championship game appearances with 23. Mike Schafer and Joe Marsh have both coached five championship teams, with the former appearing in the most title games (11).
In 1989 the championship trophy was renamed in honor of retiring commissioner Robert Whitelaw.[1]
Formats
1962
The ECAC Hockey Tournament format begins as a single-game elimination three-round format featuring the top eight teams in the standings.
1983
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'
1990
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.
1992
The quarterfinal round was changed to a single-elimination format.
1993
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.
1998
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.
2000
The quarterfinal round was altered to include standard best-of-three series with no ties allowed.
2003
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.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only four competing institutions will compete in a single-elimination championship over the course of one championship weekend.[3]
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.
