ECAC Hockey
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.
History
ECAC Hockey was founded in 1961 as a loose association of college hockey teams in the Northeast. 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 the 1984–85 season. By that fall, Maine also departed the ECAC for the new conference. This left the ECAC with twelve teams. Army would stay in the conference until the end of the 1990–91 season, at which point they became independent and were replaced by Union College. Vermont left the ECAC for Hockey East at the end of the 2004–05 season, and were replaced in the conference by Quinnipiac.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-NCAA American Women's College Hockey Alliance national 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 during the major conference realignment in 2011 and 2012 that followed the Big 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
Six Ivy League universities with Division I ice hockey programs are members of ECAC Hockey those schools are, Harvard, Dartmouth, Cornell, Yale, Princeton, Brown University. Columbia University does not currently have a varsity intercollegiate ice hockey program. Penn 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 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 annual Beanpot Tournament.Members
Membership timeline
DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1961 till:2020
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5
Colors =
id:men value:rgb legend:men
id:women value:rgb legend:women
id:both value:rgb legend:both
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:AIC color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1964 text:American International
bar:Amh color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1964 text:Amherst
bar:Bow color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1964 text:Bowdoin
bar:Bow color:women from:06/01/1994 till:06/01/1995 text:
bar:Col color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1964 text:Colby
bar:Col color:women from:06/01/1993 till:06/01/1999 text:
bar:UCt color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1964 text:Connecticut
bar:UCt color:women from:06/01/2001 till:06/01/2002 text:
bar:Ham color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1964 text:Hamilton
bar:Mas color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1964 text:Massachusetts
bar:Mer color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1964 text:Merrimack
bar:Mid color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1964 text:Middlebury
bar:Mid color:women from:06/01/1994 till:06/01/1995 text:
bar:MIT color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1964 text:MIT
bar:Now color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1964 text:Norwich
bar:Wil color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1964 text:Williams
bar:Arm color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1973 text:Army
bar:Arm color:men from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/1991
bar:BC color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1984 text:Boston College
bar:BC color:women from:06/01/1994 till:06/01/2001 text:
bar:BU color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1984 text:Boston University
bar:NH color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1964 text:New Hampshire
bar:NH color:men from:06/01/1966 till:06/01/1984
bar:NH color:women from:06/01/1993 till:06/01/2001 text:
bar:Nes color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1984 text:Northeastern
bar:Nes color:women from:06/01/1993 till:06/01/2001 text:
bar:Pro color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1984 text:Providence
bar:Pro color:women from:06/01/1993 till:06/01/2001 text:
bar:Bro color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1993 text:Brown
bar:Bro color:both from:06/01/1993 till:end text:
bar:Cla color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/2004 text:Clarkson
bar:Cla color:both from:06/01/2004 till:end till:end text:
bar:Clg color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/2001 text:Colgate
bar:Clg color:both from:06/01/2001 till:end text:
bar:Cor color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1993 text:Cornell
bar:Cor color:both from:06/01/1993 till:end text:
bar:Dar color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1993 text:Dartmouth
bar:Dar color:both from:06/01/1993 till:end text:
bar:Har color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1993 text:Harvard
bar:Har color:both from:06/01/1993 till:end text:
bar:Pri color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1993 text:Princeton
bar:Pri color:both from:06/01/1993 till:end text:
bar:RPI color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/2007 text:RPI
bar:RPI color:both from:06/01/2007 till:end text:
bar:StL color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1993 text:St. Lawrence
bar:StL color:both from:06/01/1993 till:end text:
bar:Yal color:men from:06/01/1961 till:06/01/1993 text:Yale
bar:Yal color:both from:06/01/1993 till:end text:
bar:Ver color:men from:06/01/1963 till:06/01/1964 text:Vermont
bar:Ver color:men from:06/01/1974 till:06/01/2001
bar:Ver color:both from:06/01/2001 till:06/01/2005 text:
bar:Ver color:women from:06/01/2005 till:06/01/2006
bar:Pen color:men from:06/01/1967 till:06/01/1978 text:Penn
bar:Mne color:men from:06/01/1979 till:06/01/1984 text:Maine
bar:Mne color:women from:06/01/1998 till:06/01/2001 text:
bar:Uni color:men from:06/01/1991 till:06/01/2003 text:Union
bar:Uni color:both from:06/01/2003 till:end text:
bar:RIT color:women from:06/01/1993 till:06/01/1995 text:RIT
bar:Nia color:women from:06/01/1998 till:06/01/2001 text:Niagara
bar:Qui color:men from:06/01/2005 till:06/01/2006 text:Quinnipiac
bar:Qui color:both from:06/01/2006 till:end
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:01/01/1961
Men's ECAC championship games
The ECAC Championship Game has been held at the following sites:- 1962–1966 — Boston Arena, Boston
- 1966–1992 — Boston Garden, Boston
- 1993–2002 — Olympic Center, Lake Placid, New York
- 2003–2010 — Times Union Center, Albany, New York
- 2011–2013 — Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey
- 2014–2019 — Herb Brooks Arena, Lake Placid, New York
- 1962 St. Lawrence def. Clarkson 5–2
- 1963 Harvard def. Boston College 4–3
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 2003 Cornell def. Harvard 3–2
- 2004 Harvard def. Clarkson 4–2
- 2005 Cornell def. Harvard 3–1
- 2006 Harvard def. Cornell 6–2
- 2007 Clarkson def. Quinnipiac 4–2
- 2008 Princeton def. Harvard 4–1
- 2009 Yale def. Cornell 5–0
- 2010 Cornell def. Union 3–0
- 2011 Yale def. Cornell 6–0
- 2012 Union def. Harvard 3–1
- 2013 Union def. Brown 3–1
- 2014 Union def. Colgate 4–2
- 2015 Harvard def. Colgate 4–2
- 2016 Quinnipiac def. Harvard 4–1
- 2017 Harvard def. Cornell 4–1
- 2018 Princeton def Clarkson 2–1
- 2019 Clarkson def Cornell 3–2
- 2020 Tournament Canceled
Cleary Cup
- 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
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
- 1991 New Hampshire def. Northeastern
- 1992 Providence def. New Hampshire
- 1993 Providence def. New Hampshire
- 1994 Providence def. Northeastern
- 1995 Providence def. New Hampshire
- 1996 New Hampshire def. Providence
- 1997 Northeastern def. New Hampshire
- 1998 Brown def. New Hampshire
- 1999 Harvard def. New Hampshire
- 2000 Brown def. Dartmouth
- 2001 Dartmouth def. Harvard
- 2002 Brown def. Dartmouth
- 2003 Dartmouth def. Harvard
- 2004 Harvard def. St. Lawrence
- 2005 Harvard def. Dartmouth
- 2006 Harvard def. Brown
- 2007 Dartmouth def. St. Lawrence
- 2008 Harvard def. St. Lawrence
- 2009 Dartmouth def. Rensselaer
- 2010 Cornell def. Clarkson
- 2011 Cornell def. Dartmouth
- 2012 St. Lawrence def. Cornell
- 2013 Cornell def. Harvard
- 2014 Cornell def. Clarkson
- 2015 Harvard def. Cornell
- 2016 Quinnipiac def. Clarkson
- 2017 Clarkson def. Cornell
- 2018 Clarkson def. Colgate
- 2019 Clarkson def. Cornell
- 2020 Princeton def. Cornell
Men's Conference Records
- 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
| School | Hockey arena | Capacity |
| Brown | Meehan Auditorium | 3,100 |
| Clarkson | Cheel Arena | 3,000 |
| Colgate | Class of 1965 Arena | 2,222 |
| Cornell | Lynah Rink | 4,267 |
| Dartmouth | Thompson Arena | 4,500 |
| Harvard | Bright-Landry Hockey Center | 3,095 |
| Princeton | Hobey Baker Memorial Rink | 2,092 |
| Quinnipiac | People's United Center | 3,386 |
| Rensselaer | Houston Field House | 4,780 |
| St. Lawrence | Appleton Arena | 2,300 |
| Union | Frank L. Messa Rink at Achilles Center | 2,225 |
| Yale | Ingalls Rink | 3,500 |
Awards
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. 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 from 1967–68 thru 1991–92and the All-Tournament team was discontinued from 1973 thru 1988.
All-Conference Teams
Individual Awards
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 3–2. Currently, this game is the fourth 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 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.