ECAC Hockey is one of the six conferences that compete in NCAA Division I for 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.
Cornell University has won the most ECAC men's hockey championships with 14, followed by Harvard University at 11. Harvard leads the way with 6 ECAC women's hockey championships.Dartmouth College won the most recent men's championship and Quinnipiac University is the current women's champion. ECAC Hockey teams have won 10 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championships, with Quinnipiac's 2023 win being the most recent one.
History ECAC Hockey was founded in 1961 as a loose association of college hockey teams in the Northeast.
Cornell won the first NCAA championship for ECAC Hockey in 1967 in 4-1 victory over fellow ECAC Hockey team Boston University.
The Big Red won their second title in 1970 to complete the first and thus far only undefeated campaign in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey history, this time with a 6-4 victory over Clarkson.
ECAC Hockey completed back-to-back titles when Boston University won the 1971 championship with a 4-2 victory over Minnesota. The Terriers then made it two in a row for their school and three straight for ECAC Hockey when they repeated as champions in 1972 with a 4-0 victory over Cornell.
Boston University won their third title in 1978 with a 5-3 victory over Boston 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 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, 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 in Atlantic Hockey) 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.
RPI won 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 the 1985 championship tournament. The Engineers previously won in 1954 as a member of the Tri-State League.
Harvard won its first and thus-far only NCAA Division I Hockey Championship when the Crimson topped Minnesota, 4-3 in overtime at the 1989 Tournament.
After seven titles and multiple Frozen Four representatives in the preceding 23-year period, ECAC Hockey suffered through a 23-year drought before Yale won its first title at the 2013 Tournament with a 4-0 victory over first-time finalists Quinnipiac. The 2013 Tournament was also unique in that with Quinnipiac defeating fellow ECAC Hockey school Union to 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 the 2014 Championship with a 7-4 victory over Minnesota.
After finishing runner up again in 2016, Quinnipiac finally broke through to win their first title at the 2023 Tournament with 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-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 University, Dartmouth College, Cornell University, Yale University, Princeton University, and 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 Brown UniversityProvidence, Rhode IslandBearsBears1764Nonsectarian, founded by BaptistsBrown's website characterizes it as "the Baptist answer to Congregationalist Yale and Harvard; Presbyterian Princeton; and Episcopalian Penn and Columbia", but adds that at the time it was "the only one that welcomed students of all religious persuasions."9,380Ivy LeagueClarkson UniversityPotsdam, New YorkGolden KnightsGolden Knights1896Private/Non-sectarian4,300Liberty League (D-III)Colgate UniversityHamilton, New YorkRaidersRaiders1819Private/Baptists2,982Patriot LeagueCornell UniversityIthaca, New YorkBig RedBig Red1865Private/Non-sectarian23,600Ivy LeagueDartmouth CollegeHanover, New HampshireBig GreenBig Green1769Private/Congregationalist5,753Ivy LeagueHarvard UniversityCambridge, MassachusettsCrimsonCrimson1636Nonsectarian, founded by Congregationalists20,042Harvard at a glance Ivy LeaguePrinceton UniversityPrinceton, New JerseyTigersTigers1746Nonsectarian, founded by Presbyterians – Princeton online campus tour6,677Ivy LeagueQuinnipiac UniversityHamden, ConnecticutBobcatsBobcats1929Private/Non-sectarian10,290Metro ConferenceRensselaer Polytechnic InstituteTroy, New YorkEngineersEngineers1824Private/Non-sectarian7,633Liberty League (D-III)St. Lawrence UniversityCanton, New YorkSaintsSaints1856Non-denominational, founded by Universalist Church of America2,487Liberty League (D-III)Union CollegeSchenectady, New YorkGarnet ChargersGarnet Chargers1795Private/Non-sectarian2,050Liberty League (D-III)Yale UniversityNew Haven, ConnecticutBulldogsBulldogs1701Private/Congregationalist12,458Ivy League
Membership timeline
Men's tournament sites
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 to COVID-19 pandemic 2021 - People's United Center, Hamden, Connecticut 2022-2026 - Herb Brooks Arena, Lake Placid, New York
The winner of the game is awarded the Whitelaw Cup and receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Division I Hockey Tournament.
Men's champions
Championships, Frozen Fours, and NCAA Tournament Appearances School Brown 1 3 4 Clarkson 3 7 22 10 6 Colgate 1 1 6 3 2 Cornell 2 2 8 26 11 14 Dartmouth 2 4 5 1 1 Harvard 1 2 13 27 11 11 Princeton 4 3 Quinnipiac 1 2 3 12 12 2 RPI 2 5 9 5 3 St. Lawrence 2 9 17 2 7 Union 1 2 5 4 3 Yale 1 2 8 3 2
Men's tournament champions
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 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 (ot) 2020 Tournament Canceled 2021 St. Lawrence def Quinnipiac 3–2 (ot) 2022 Harvard def Quinnipiac 3-2 (ot) 2023 Colgate def Harvard 3-2 2024 Cornell def St. Lawrence 3-1 2025 Cornell def Clarkson 3-1 2026 Dartmouth def Princeton 2-1 (ot)
Regular season champion The Cleary Cup, named for former Harvard player and coach Bill Cleary since 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 2024–25 Quinnipiac 2025–26 Quinnipiac
Women's champions Championships, Frozen Fours, and NCAA Tournament Appearances