NCAA Sports Blog

ECAC Hockey is one of the six conferences that compete in NCAA Division I ice hockey. Despite its name, it is not sponsored by the Eastern College Athletic Conference, a consortium of over 300 colleges in the eastern United States. The name derives from the league’s former direct association with the ECAC, which ended in 2004.

Membership

    * Brown University

          o 3-time ECAC women’s champions (1998, 2000, 2002)

    * Clarkson University

          o 5-time ECAC men’s champions (1966, 1991, 1993, 1999, 2007)

          o 9-time ECAC men’s regular season champions (1966, 1977, 1981-82, 1991, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001)

    * Colgate University

          o 1-time ECAC men’s champions (1990)

          o 3-time ECAC men’s regular season champions (1990, 2004, 2006)

    * Cornell University

          o 11-time ECAC men’s champions (1967-70, 1973, 1980, 1986, 1996-97, 2003, 2005)

          o 8-time ECAC men’s regular season champions (1968-70, 1972-73, 2002-03, 2005)

          o 2-time NCAA men’s champions (1967, 1970)

    * Dartmouth College

          o 1-time ECAC men’s regular season champions (2006)

          o 3-time ECAC women’s champions (2001, 2003, 2007)

    * Harvard University

          o 8-time ECAC men’s champions (1963, 1971, 1983, 1987, 1994, 2002, 2004, 2006)

          o 4-time ECAC women’s champions (1999, 2004-06)

          o 10-time ECAC men’s regular season champions (1963, 1973, 1975, 1986-89, 1992-94)

          o 1-time NCAA men’s champions (1989)

          o 1-time women’s national champions (1999, crowned by AWCHA, pre-dated NCAA Women’s Frozen Four)

    * Princeton University

          o 1-time ECAC men’s champions (1998)

    * Quinnipiac University

          o New member in 2005

    * Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

          o 3-time ECAC men’s champions (1984-85, 1995)

          o 2-time ECAC men’s regular season champions (1984-85)

          o 2-time NCAA men’s champions (1954, 1985)

          o Women’s team joined in 2006

    * St. Lawrence University (Team article)

          o 6-time ECAC men’s champions (1962, 1988-89, 1992, 2000-01)

          o 2-time ECAC men’s regular season champions (2000, 2007)

          o 2-time ECAC women’s regular season champions (2005-06)

    * Union College

    * Yale University

          o 1-time ECAC men’s regular season champions (1998)

As of the 2006-07 season, all ECAC schools participate 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.

Six of the members of ECAC Hockey are also members of the Ivy League, and all of the Ivy universities with Division I ice hockey programs are also members of ECAC Hockey. Neither the University of Pennsylvania nor Columbia University have intercollegiate ice hockey programs. UPenn supported 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 regular season record against other Ivy opponents is crowned the Ivy League ice hockey champion. Dartmouth and Yale shared the 2007 Ivy League ice hockey championship. 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, though Harvard competes in the annual Beanpot Tournament and Cornell hosts a holiday tournament in Estero, Florida.

Institution	Location	Nickname	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Primary Conference
Brown University	Providence, Rhode Island	Bears	1764	Private/Non-sectarian	7,744	Ivy League
Clarkson University	Potsdam, New York	Golden Knights	1896	Private/Non-sectarian	3,100	Liberty League (D-III)
Colgate University	Hamilton, New York	Raiders	1819	Private/Non-sectarian	2,800	Patriot League
Cornell University	Ithaca, New York	Big Red	1865	Private/Non-sectarian	20,400	Ivy League
Dartmouth College	Hanover, New Hampshire	Big Green	1769	Private/Congregationalist	5,753	Ivy League
Harvard University	Cambridge, Massachusetts	Crimson	1636	Private/Unitarian	20,042	Ivy League
Princeton University	Princeton, New Jersey	Tigers	1746	Private/Non-sectarian	6,677	Ivy League
Quinnipiac University	Hamden, Connecticut	Bobcats	1929	Private/Non-sectarian	7,400	NEC
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	Troy, New York	Engineers	1824	Private/Non-sectarian	6,376	Liberty League (D-III)
St. Lawrence University	Canton, New York	Saints	1856	Private/Non-sectarian	2,100	Liberty League (D-III)
Union College	Schenectady, New York	Dutchmen	1795	Private/Non-sectarian	2,100	Liberty League (D-III)
Yale University	New Haven, Connecticut	Bulldogs	1701	Private/Congregationalist	11,483	Ivy League

History

The ECAC Hockey League was originally founded in 1962. In June 1983, concerns that the Ivy League schools were potentially leaving the conference and disagreements over schedule length versus academics caused Boston University, Boston College, Providence, Northeastern and New Hampshire to decide to leave the ECAC to form what would become Hockey East, which began play in 1984-1985 season. By that fall, Maine also departed the ECAC for the new conference. This left the ECAC with twelve teams (Army, Brown, Clarkson, Colgate, Cornell, Darmouth, Harvard, Princeton RPI, St. Lawrence, Vermont, Yale). Army would stay in the conference until the end of the 1990-1991 season, at which point they became independent (they now play in Atlantic Hockey) and were replaced by Union College. Vermont left the ECAC for Hockey East at the end of the 2004-2005 season, and were replaced in the conference by Quinnipiac.

Men’s ECAC championship games

From 1962 to 1992, the ECAC Championship Game was held in Boston, Massachusetts, at the Boston Arena from 1962 to 1966, and at Boston Garden from 1966 to 1992.

From 1993 to 2002, the ECAC Championship Game was held at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid, New York.

Since 2003, the ECAC Championship Game has been held at the Times Union Center (formerly Pepsi Arena) in Albany, New York.

Winners of the game are awarded the Whitelaw Cup and receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Division I Hockey Tournament.

    * 1962 St. Lawrence def. Clarkson 5-2

    * 1963 Harvard def. Boston College 4-3 (ot)

    * 1964 Providence def. St. Lawrence 3-1

    * 1965 Boston College def. Brown 6-2

    * 1966 Clarkson def. Cornell 6-2

    * 1967 Cornell def. Boston University 4-3

    * 1968 Cornell def. Boston College 6-3

    * 1969 Cornell def. Harvard 4-2

    * 1970 Cornell def. Clarkson 3-2

    * 1971 Harvard def. Clarkson 7-4

    * 1972 Boston University def. Cornell 4-1

    * 1973 Cornell def. Boston College 3-2

    * 1974 Boston University def. Harvard 4-2

    * 1975 Boston University def. Harvard 7-3

    * 1976 Boston University def. Brown 9-2

    * 1977 Boston University def. New Hampshire 8-6

    * 1978 Boston College def. Providence 4-2

    * 1979 New Hampshire def. Dartmouth 3-2

    * 1980 Cornell def. Dartmouth 5-1

    * 1981 Providence def. Cornell 8-4

    * 1982 Northeastern def. Harvard 5-2

    * 1983 Harvard def. Providence 4-1

    * 1984 Rensselaer def. Boston University 5-2

    * 1985 Rensselaer def. Harvard 3-1

    * 1986 Cornell def. Clarkson 3-2 (ot)

    * 1987 Harvard def. St. Lawrence 6-3

    * 1988 St. Lawrence def. Clarkson 3-0

    * 1989 St. Lawrence def. Vermont 4-1

    * 1990 Colgate def. Rensselaer 5-4

    * 1991 Clarkson def. St. Lawrence 5-4

    * 1992 St. Lawrence def. Cornell 4-2

    * 1993 Clarkson def. Brown 3-1

    * 1994 Harvard def. Rensselaer 3-0

    * 1995 Rensselaer def. Princeton 5-1

    * 1996 Cornell def. Harvard 2-1

    * 1997 Cornell def. Clarkson 2-1

    * 1998 Princeton def. Clarkson 5-4 (2ot)

    * 1999 Clarkson def. St. Lawrence 3-2

    * 2000 St. Lawrence def. Rensselaer 2-0

    * 2001 St. Lawrence def. Cornell 3-1

    * 2002 Harvard def. Cornell 4-3 (2ot)

    * 2003 Cornell def. Harvard 3-2 (ot)

    * 2004 Harvard def. Clarkson 4-2

    * 2005 Cornell def. Harvard 3-1

    * 2006 Harvard def. Cornell 6-2

    * 2007 Clarkson def. Quinnipiac 4-2

The Cleary Cup, named for former Harvard player and coach Bill Cleary, is awarded to the regular season champion (the team with the best in-conference record). At present, this team is given the top seed in the ECAC conference tournament (including the first round bye given to the top four seeded teams), but is not given any special consideration in the NCAA tournament.

Women’s ECAC championship games

    * 1985 Providence def. New Hampshire

    * 1986 New Hampshire def. Northeastern

    * 1987 New Hampshire def. Northeastern

    * 1988 Northeastern def. Providence

    * 1989 Northeastern def. Providence

    * 1990 New Hampshire def. Providence (in Durham, New Hampshire)

    * 1991 New Hampshire def. Northeastern (Durham)

    * 1992 Providence def. New Hampshire (in Providence, Rhode Island)

    * 1993 Providence def. New Hampshire (in Boston)

    * 1994 Providence def. Northeastern (Providence)

    * 1995 Providence def. New Hampshire (Providence)

    * 1996 New Hampshire def. Providence (Durham)

    * 1997 Northeastern def. New Hampshire (Boston)

    * 1998 Brown def. New Hampshire (Boston)

    * 1999 Harvard def. New Hampshire (Providence)

    * 2000 Brown def. Dartmouth (Providence)

    * 2001 Dartmouth def. Harvard (in Hanover, New Hampshire)

    * 2002 Brown def. Dartmouth (Hanover)

    * 2003 Dartmouth def. Harvard (Providence)

    * 2004 Harvard def. St. Lawrence (in Schenectady, New York)

    * 2005 Harvard def. Dartmouth (Schenectady)

    * 2006 Harvard def. Brown (in Canton, New York)

    * 2007 Dartmouth def. St. Lawrence (Hanover)

Conference arenas

School	Hockey arena	Capacity
Brown	Meehan Auditorium (1962)	3,100
Clarkson	Cheel Arena (1991)	3,000
Colgate	Starr Rink (1959)	2,600
Cornell	Lynah Rink (1957)	4,267
Dartmouth	Thompson Arena (1975)	4,500
Harvard	Bright Hockey Center (1956/1979)	2,850
Princeton	Hobey Baker Memorial Rink (1923)	2,092
Quinnipiac	TD Banknorth Sports Center (2007)	3,286
Rensselaer	Houston Field House (1949)	5,217
St. Lawrence	Appleton Arena (1951)	3,000
Union	Frank L. Messa Rink at Achilles Center (1975)	2,225
Yale	Ingalls Rink (1958)	3,486

 

NCAA Records

    * In 2000, St. Lawrence University won the longest game in NCAA tournament history. St. Lawrence defeated Boston University in quadruple overtime by a score of 4-3. Currently, this game is the third 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 who would win.