ECAC Hockey

Not to be confused withEastern College Athletic Conference.

ECAC Hockey

Formerly	Eastern College Athletic Conference (1962–2004) ECAC Hockey League (2004–2007)
Association	NCAA
Founded	1961(1961)
Commissioner	Doug Christiansen
Sports fielded	Ice hockey men's: 12 teams women's: 12 teams
Division	Division I
No. of teams	12
Headquarters	Clifton Park, New York,U.S.
Region	Northeastern United States
Official website	ecachockey
Locations

Locations of current ECAC Hockey member institutions

ECAC Hockeyis one of the six conferences that compete inNCAA Division Iice hockey.The conference used to be affiliated with theEastern College Athletic Conference,a consortium of over 300collegesin 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.

Cornell Universityhas won the most ECAC men's hockey championships with 13, followed byHarvardat 11, andQuinnipiac,which joined the league in 2005, with seven. ECAC Hockey teams have won 10NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championships,most recently in2023.

History

ECAC Hockey was founded in 1961 as a loose association of college hockey teams in theNortheast.

Cornellwon the first NCAA championship for ECAC Hockey in1967in 4-1 victory over fellow ECAC Hockey teamBoston University.

The Big Red won their second title in1970to complete the first and thus far only undefeated campaign inNCAA Division I men's ice hockeyhistory, this time with a 6-4 victory overClarkson.

ECAC Hockey completed back-to-back titles when Boston University won the1971 championshipwith a 4-2 victory overMinnesota.The Terriers then made it two in a row for their school and three straight for ECAC Hockey when they repeated as champions in1972with a 4-0 victory over Cornell.

Boston University won their third title in1978with a 5-3 victory overBoston College,another ECAC Hockey member at that time.

In June 1983, concerns that the Ivy League schools were potentially leaving the conference and disagreements over schedule length versus academics causedBoston University,Boston College,Providence,NortheasternandNew Hampshireto decide to leave the ECAC to form what would becomeHockey East,which began play in the 1984–85 season.By that fall,Mainealso departed the ECAC for the new conference.

This left the ECAC with twelve teams (Army,Brown, Clarkson, Colgate, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, RPI, St. Lawrence,Vermont,and Yale). Army would stay in the conference until the end of the 1990–91 season, at which point they became independent (they now play inAtlantic Hockey) and were replaced byUnion College.Vermont left the ECAC for Hockey East at the end of the 2004–05 season, and were replaced in the conference byQuinnipiac.

RPIwon its second national championship, and first as a member of ECAC Hockey when it defeated Providence of the newly formed Hockey East, 2-1 at the1985 championshiptournament. The Engineers previously won in1954as a member of the Tri-State League.

Harvardwon its first and thus-far only NCAA Division I Hockey Championship when the Crimson topped Minnesota, 4-3 in overtime at the1989 Tournament.

After seven titles and multiple Frozen Four representatives in the preceding 23-year period, ECAC Hockey suffered through a 23-year drought beforeYalewon its first title at the2013 Tournamentwith a 4-0 victory over first-time finalistsQuinnipiac.The 2013 Tournament was also unique in that with Quinnipiac defeating fellow ECAC Hockey schoolUnionto advance to the Frozen Four before losing to Yale in the final, the only teams to defeat an ECAC school at the Tournament were other schools from ECAC Hockey.

The Dutchmen gained a measure of revenge when it won the2014 Championshipwith a 7-4 victory over Minnesota.

After finishing runner up again in 2016, Quinnipiac finally broke through to win their first title at the2023 Tournamentwith a 3-2 overtime victory over Minnesota.

The ECAC began sponsoring an invitational women's tournament in 1985. ECAC teams began playing an informal regular season schedule in the 1988–89 season, with the conference officially sponsoring women's hockey beginning in the 1993–94 season.ECAC teams won two of the three pre-NCAAAmerican Women's College Hockey Alliancenational championships, New Hampshire winning in 1998 and Harvard in 1999.

The ECAC was the only Division I men's hockey conference that neither gained nor lost members duringthe major conference realignmentin 2011 and 2012 that followed theBig Ten Conference's announcement that it would launch a men's hockey league in the 2013–14 season.

Membership

There are 12 member schools in the ECAC. Since the 2006–07 season, all schools have participated with men's and women's teams, making ECAC Hockey the only Division I hockey conference with a full complement of teams for both sexes.

Ivy League Teams

SixIvy Leagueuniversities with Division I ice hockey programs are members of ECAC Hockey. Those schools are:Harvard University,Dartmouth,Cornell University,Yale University,Princeton University,andBrown University.Columbia Universitydoes not currently have a varsity intercollegiate ice hockey program.Pennsupported an intercollegiate varsity hockey program in the past and was an ECAC Hockey member from 1966 to 1978 before the team was disbanded. The Ivy school that has the best record against other Ivy opponents in regular season ECAC games is crowned the Ivy League ice hockey champion. The Ivy League schools require their teams to play seasons that are about three weeks shorter than those of the other schools in the league.Thus, they enter the league schedule with fewer non-conference warm-up games. Harvard competes in the annualBeanpot Tournament.

Members

Institution	Location	Nickname (men's)	Nickname (women's)	Founded	Historical Affiliation	Enrollment	Primary Conference	Colors
Brown University	Providence, Rhode Island	Bears	Bears	1764	Nonsectarian,founded byBaptists	9,380	Ivy League
Clarkson University	Potsdam, New York	Golden Knights	Golden Knights	1896	Private/Non-sectarian	4,300	Liberty League(D-III)
Colgate University	Hamilton, New York	Raiders	Raiders	1819	Private/Baptists	2,982	Patriot League
Cornell University	Ithaca, New York	Big Red	Big Red	1865	Private/Non-sectarian	23,600	Ivy League
Dartmouth College	Hanover, New Hampshire	Big Green	Big Green	1769	Private/Congregationalist	5,753	Ivy League
Harvard University	Cambridge, Massachusetts	Crimson	Crimson	1636	Private/Unitarian	20,042	Ivy League
Princeton University	Princeton, New Jersey	Tigers	Tigers	1746	Nonsectarian, but founded byPresbyterians	6,677	Ivy League
Quinnipiac University	Hamden, Connecticut	Bobcats	Bobcats	1929	Private/Non-sectarian	10,290	MAAC
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	Troy, New York	Engineers	Engineers	1824	Private/Non-sectarian	7,633	Liberty League(D-III)
St. Lawrence University	Canton, New York	Saints	Saints	1856	Non-denominational, founded byUniversalist Church of America	2,487	Liberty League(D-III)
Union College	Schenectady, New York	Garnet Chargers	Garnet Chargers	1795	Private/Non-sectarian	2,050	Liberty League(D-III)
Yale University	New Haven, Connecticut	Bulldogs	Bulldogs	1701	Private/Congregationalist	12,458	Ivy League

ECAC members

Union Garnet Chargers

Brown Bears

Yale Bulldogs

RPI Engineers

Quinnipiac Bobcats

Harvard Crimson

Cornell Big Red

Clarkson Golden Knights

St. Lawrence Saints

Colgate Raiders

Membership timeline

MenWomenBoth

Men's tournament sites

A men's game between Dartmouth and Princeton atThompson Arenain Hanover

The ECAC Championship Game has been held at the following sites:

• 1962–1966 —Boston Arena(now Matthews Arena),Boston
• 1966–1992 —Boston Garden,Boston
• 1993–2002 —Olympic Center(now Herb Brooks Arena),Lake Placid, New York
• 2003–2010 —Times Union Center(Pepsi Arena through 2006),Albany, New York
• 2011–2013 —Boardwalk Hall,Atlantic City, New Jersey
• 2014–2019 —Herb Brooks Arena,Lake Placid, New York
• 2020 - Canceled due toCOVID-19 pandemic
• 2021 -People's United Center,Hamden, Connecticut
• 2022-2024 -Herb Brooks Arena,Lake Placid, New York

The winner of the game is awarded theWhitelawCup and receives an automatic bid to theNCAA Men's Division I Hockey Tournament.

Men's tournament champions

• 1962St. Lawrencedef. Clarkson 5–2

• 1963Harvarddef. Boston College 4–3 (ot)

• 1964Providencedef. St. Lawrence 3–1

• 1965Boston Collegedef. Brown 6–2

• 1966Clarksondef. Cornell 6–2

• 1967Cornelldef. Boston University 4–3

• 1968Cornelldef. Boston College 6–3

• 1969Cornelldef. Harvard 4–2

• 1970Cornelldef. Clarkson 3–2

• 1971Harvarddef. Clarkson 7–4

• 1972Boston Universitydef. Cornell 4–1

• 1973Cornelldef. Boston College 3–2

• 1974Boston Universitydef. Harvard 4–2

• 1975Boston Universitydef. Harvard 7–3

• 1976Boston Universitydef. Brown 9–2

• 1977Boston Universitydef. New Hampshire 8–6

• 1978Boston Collegedef. Providence 4–2

• 1979New Hampshiredef. Dartmouth 3–2

• 1980Cornelldef. Dartmouth 5–1

• 1981Providencedef. Cornell 8–4

• 1982Northeasterndef. Harvard 5–2

• 1983Harvarddef. Providence 4–1

• 1984Rensselaerdef. Boston University 5–2

• 1985Rensselaerdef. Harvard 3–1

• 1986Cornelldef. Clarkson 3–2 (ot)

• 1987Harvarddef. St. Lawrence 6–3

• 1988St. Lawrencedef. Clarkson 3–0

• 1989St. Lawrencedef. Vermont 4–1

• 1990Colgatedef. Rensselaer 5–4

• 1991Clarksondef. St. Lawrence 5–4

• 1992St. Lawrencedef. Cornell 4–2

• 1993Clarksondef. Brown 3–1

• 1994Harvarddef. Rensselaer 3–0

• 1995Rensselaerdef. Princeton 5–1

• 1996Cornelldef. Harvard 2–1

• 1997Cornelldef. Clarkson 2–1

• 1998Princetondef. Clarkson 5–4 (2ot)

• 1999Clarksondef. St. Lawrence 3–2

• 2000St. Lawrencedef. Rensselaer 2–0

• 2001St. Lawrencedef. Cornell 3–1

• 2002Harvarddef. Cornell 4–3 (2ot)

• 2003Cornelldef. Harvard 3–2 (ot)

• 2004Harvarddef. Clarkson 4–2

• 2005Cornelldef. Harvard 3–1

• 2006Harvarddef. Cornell 6–2

• 2007Clarksondef. Quinnipiac 4–2

• 2008Princetondef. Harvard 4–1

• 2009Yaledef. Cornell 5–0

• 2010Cornelldef. Union 3–0

• 2011Yaledef. Cornell 6–0

• 2012Uniondef. Harvard 3–1

• 2013Uniondef. Brown 3–1

• 2014Uniondef. Colgate 4–2

• 2015Harvarddef. Colgate 4–2

• 2016Quinnipiacdef. Harvard 4–1

• 2017Harvarddef. Cornell 4–1

• 2018Princetondef Clarkson 2–1

• 2019Clarksondef Cornell 3–2 (ot)

• 2020Tournament Canceled

• 2021St. Lawrencedef Quinnipiac 3–2 (ot)

• 2022Harvarddef Quinnipiac 3-2 (ot)

• 2023Colgatedef Harvard 3-2

• 2024Cornelldef St. Lawrence 3-1

Men's regular season champion

The Cleary Cup, named for former Harvard player and coachBill Clearysince 2001, is awarded to the team with the best record in league games at the end of the regular–season. There is no tie–breaking procedure should two or more teams end the season with the same record and the trophy is shared. A tie breaking procedure is applied to determine the top seed in the ECAC conference tournament. The Cleary Cup winner is not given any special consideration in the NCAA tournament as the ECAC awards its automatic bid to the winner of the ECAC tournament.

• 1984–85 Rensselaer

• 1985–86 Harvard

• 1986–87 Harvard

• 1987–88 Harvard and St. Lawrence

• 1988–89 Harvard

• 1989–90 Colgate

• 1990–91 Clarkson

• 1991–92 Harvard

• 1992–93 Harvard

• 1993–94 Harvard

• 1994–95 Clarkson

• 1995–96 Vermont

• 1996–97 Clarkson

• 1997–98 Yale

• 1998–99 Clarkson

• 1999–00 St. Lawrence

• 2000–01 Clarkson

• 2001–02 Cornell

• 2002–03 Cornell

• 2003–04 Colgate

• 2004–05 Cornell

• 2005–06 Colgate and Dartmouth

• 2006–07 St. Lawrence

• 2007–08 Clarkson

• 2008–09 Yale

• 2009–10 Yale

• 2010–11 Union

• 2011–12 Union

• 2012–13 Quinnipiac

• 2013–14 Union

• 2014–15 Quinnipiac

• 2015–16 Quinnipiac

• 2016–17 Harvard and Union

• 2017–18 Cornell

• 2018–19 Cornell and Quinnipiac

• 2019–20 Cornell

• 2020–21 Quinnipiac

• 2021–22 Quinnipiac

• 2022–23 Quinnipiac

• 2023–24 Quinnipiac

Women's ECAC championship games

• 1984Providencedef. New Hampshire
• 1985Providencedef. New Hampshire
• 1986New Hampshiredef. Northeastern
• 1987New Hampshiredef. Northeastern
• 1988Northeasterndef. Providence
• 1989Northeasterndef. Providence
• 1990New Hampshiredef. Providence (inDurham, New Hampshire)
• 1991New Hampshiredef. Northeastern (Durham)
• 1992Providencedef. New Hampshire (inProvidence, Rhode Island)
• 1993Providencedef. New Hampshire (in Boston)
• 1994Providencedef. Northeastern (Providence)
• 1995Providencedef. New Hampshire (Providence)
• 1996New Hampshiredef. Providence (Durham)
• 1997Northeasterndef. New Hampshire (Boston)
• 1998Browndef. New Hampshire (Boston)
• 1999Harvarddef. New Hampshire (Providence)
• 2000Browndef. Dartmouth (Providence)
• 2001Dartmouthdef. Harvard (inHanover, New Hampshire)
• 2002Browndef. Dartmouth (Hanover)
• 2003Dartmouthdef. Harvard (Providence)
• 2004Harvarddef. St. Lawrence (inSchenectady, New York)
• 2005Harvarddef. Dartmouth (Schenectady)
• 2006Harvarddef. Brown (inCanton, New York)
• 2007Dartmouthdef. St. Lawrence (Hanover)
• 2008Harvarddef. St. Lawrence (Boston)
• 2009Dartmouthdef. Rensselaer (Boston)
• 2010Cornelldef. Clarkson (inIthaca, New York)
• 2011Cornelldef. Dartmouth (Ithaca)
• 2012St. Lawrencedef. Cornell (Ithaca)
• 2013Cornelldef. Harvard (Ithaca)
• 2014Cornelldef. Clarkson (inPotsdam, New York)
• 2015Harvarddef. Cornell (Potsdam)
• 2016Quinnipiacdef. Clarkson (Hamden, Connecticut)
• 2017Clarksondef. Cornell (Potsdam)
• 2018Clarksondef. Colgate (Potsdam)
• 2019Clarksondef. Cornell (Ithaca)
• 2020Princetondef. Cornell (Ithaca)
• 2021Colgatedef. St. Lawrence (Hamilton)
• 2022Colgatedef. Yale (New Haven)
• 2023Colgatedef. Clarkson (New Haven)
• 2024Colgatedef. Clarkson (Hamilton)

Men's conference records

Team's records against current conference opponents.(As of the end of the 2018-19 season.)

School	Brown			Clarkson			Colgate			Cornell			Dartmouth			Harvard			Princeton			Quinnipiac			Rensselaer			St. Lawrence			Union			Yale			Total
	W	L	T	W	L	T	W	L	T	W	L	T	W	L	T	W	L	T	W	L	T	W	L	T	W	L	T	W	L	T	W	L	T	W	L	T	W	L	T	Win%
Brown				19	68	9	25	58	8	43	80	7	69	83	8	47	116	13	90	72	12	10	24	6	30	63	9	30	48	13	25	23	14	77	102	8	452	727	103	.396
Clarkson	68	19	9				88	53	18	56	67	17	73	31	7	57	58	12	84	34	7	12	16	3	99	51	11	127	72	11	33	27	5	76	40	8	771	468	109	.612
Colgate	58	25	8	53	88	18				58	84	15	51	51	7	25	56	8	59	48	8	16	23	2	63	65	5	72	80	5	44	29	4	51	51	6	550	600	86	.480
Cornell	80	43	8	67	56	18	84	58	15				83	49	6	78	66	11	91	53	8	22	17	4	63	38	11	64	45	8	43	22	9	85	61	8	760	508	106	.592
Dartmouth	83	69	8	31	73	7	51	51	7	49	83	6				66	139	13	104	89	16	10	21	2	42	46	6	42	61	4	26	31	7	98	112	15	603	775	91	.441
Harvard	116	47	13	58	57	12	56	25	8	66	78	11	139	67	13				157	59	12	15	14	5	58	37	8	62	44	7	34	17	6	144	91	22	905	536	117	.618
Princeton	72	90	11	34	84	7	48	59	8	53	91	8	89	104	16	58	158	12				12	17	1	36	68	11	25	70	11	25	36	7	109	141	11	562	919	103	.387
Quinnipiac	24	10	6	16	12	3	23	16	2	17	22	4	21	10	2	14	15	5	17	12	1				17	7	9	15	15	4	18	17	5	22	7	5	204	143	46	.578
Rensselaer	63	30	9	51	97	11	65	63	5	38	63	11	46	42	6	37	58	8	69	37	11	7	17	9				60	83	7	53	40	11	57	52	6	546	582	94	.485
St. Lawrence	48	30	13	72	127	11	80	72	5	45	64	17	61	42	4	44	62	7	70	25	11	15	15	4	83	60	7				38	29	3	64	41	11	620	567	93	.521
Union	23	25	14	27	33	5	29	44	4	22	43	9	31	26	7	17	34	6	36	25	7	17	18	5	40	53	11	29	38	3				27	27	5	298	366	76	.454
Yale	102	77	8	40	76	8	51	51	6	61	85	8	112	98	15	91	144	22	141	109	11	7	22	5	52	57	6	41	64	11	27	27	5				725	810	105	.474

• Harvard and Princeton both record a loss on January 4, 1941. The game was played in Princeton with the score either 5–3 Harvard or 6–2 Princeton.

Conference arenas

Meehan Auditorium, February 22, 2020.

School	Hockey arena (built)	Capacity
Brown	Meehan Auditorium(1962)	3,100
Clarkson	Cheel Arena(1991)	3,000
Colgate	Class of 1965 Arena(2016)	2,222
Cornell	Lynah Rink(1957)	4,267
Dartmouth	Thompson Arena(1975)	4,500
Harvard	Bright-Landry Hockey Center(1956/1979)	3,095
Princeton	Hobey Baker Memorial Rink(1923)	2,092
Quinnipiac	M&T Bank Arena(2007)	3,386
Rensselaer	Houston Field House(1949)	4,780
St. Lawrence	Appleton Arena(1951)	2,300
Union	Frank L. Messa Rink at Achilles Center(1975)	2,225
Yale	Ingalls Rink(1958)	3,500

Awards

Men's

At the conclusion of each regular season schedule the coaches of each ECAC team vote which players they choose to be on the two to four All-Conference teams:first team and second team (rookie team starting in1987–88and third team beginning in2005–06). Additionally they vote to award up to 7 individual trophies to an eligible player at the same time. ECAC Hockey also awards a Conference Tournament Most Outstanding Player as well as an All-Tournament Team, which are voted on at the conclusion of the conference tournament. Three awards have been bestowed every year that ECAC has been in operation while the 'Best Defensive Defenseman' was retired from1967–68thru1991–92 and the All-Tournament team was discontinued from1973thru1988.

All-Conference teams

Award	Inaugural year
First Team	1961–62
Second Team	1961–62
Third Team	2005–06
Rookie Team	1987–88
All-Tournament Team	1962*

Individual awards

Award	Inaugural year
Player of the Year	1961–62
Rookie of the Year	1961–62
Tim Taylor Award	1986–87
Best Defensive Defenseman	1961–62*
Best Defensive Forward	1992–93
Ken Dryden Award	1995–96
Student-Athlete of the Year	2006–07
Wayne Dean Sportsmanship Award	2022–23†
Most Outstanding Player in Tournament	1962

† Open to both men and women.

NCAA Records

• In 2000, St. Lawrence University won the second longest game in NCAA tournament history. St. Lawrence defeatedBoston Universityin quadruple overtime by a score of 3–2. Currently, this game is the fifth longest game in NCAA division I history.
• On March 4, 2006, Union College played host to the longest NCAA men's ice hockey game in NCAA history. In Game 2 of the first round of the 2006 ECACHL Tournament (best of three series) between Yale University and Union, Yale won 3–2 1:35 into the 5th overtime. Overall, the game took 141:35 to decide the winner.
• On March 11, 2010, Quinnipiac defeated Union College 3–2. The game, which lasted 150 minutes and 22 seconds, set a new record for the longest hockey game in NCAA history.The record lasted until March 6, 2015 when a Hockey East playoff game between UMass and Notre Dame lasted just over a minute longer.
• Cornell University recorded the only undefeated and untied season for a Division I NCAA champion in 1970.

External links

• ECAC Hockey home pages:
  • MenArchivedMay 5, 2010, at theWayback Machine
  • WomenArchivedMay 2, 2010, at theWayback Machine
• ECAC Hockey to Celebrate 50th AnniversaryArchivedJuly 10, 2011, at theWayback Machine(September 8, 2010 press release). ECAC Hockey official website. Retrieved September 25, 2010.