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.[1] ECAC Hockey is the only ice hockey conference with identical memberships in both its women's and men's divisions.

ECAC Hockey
Established	1961
Association	NCAA
Division	Division I
Members	12
Sports fielded	Ice Hockey men's: 12 teams women's: 12 teams
Region	Northeastern United States
Former names	Eastern College Athletic Conference (1962–2004) ECAC Hockey League (2004–2007)
Headquarters	Albany, New York
Commissioner	Steve Hagwell
Website	www.ecachockey.com
Locations

Locations of current ECAC Hockey member institutions.

History

ECAC Hockey was founded in 1961 as a loose association of college hockey teams in the Northeast.[2] 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.[1] By that fall, Maine also departed the ECAC for the new conference.[3] 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.[1]

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.[4] 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.[1]

Ivy League Teams

Brown Bears vs. Cornell Big Red at Meehan

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.[5] Thus, they enter the league schedule with fewer non-conference warm-up games. Harvard competes in the annual Beanpot Tournament.

Members

Institution	Location	Nickname	Founded	Historical Affiliation	Enrollment	Primary Conference	Colors
Brown University	Providence, Rhode Island	Bears	1764	Nonsectarian, founded by Baptists, but founding charter promises "no religious tests" and "full liberty of conscience"[6]	9,380[7]	Ivy League
Clarkson University	Potsdam, New York	Golden Knights	1896	Private/Non-sectarian	4,300[8]	Liberty League (D-III)
Colgate University	Hamilton, New York	Raiders	1819	Private/Baptists[9]	2,982[10]	Patriot League
Cornell University	Ithaca, New York	Big Red	1865	Private/Non-sectarian	23,600[11]	Ivy League
Dartmouth College	Hanover, New Hampshire	Big Green	1769	Private/Congregationalist	5,753[12]	Ivy League
Harvard University	Cambridge, Massachusetts	Crimson	1636	Private/Unitarian	20,042[13]	Ivy League
Princeton University	Princeton, New Jersey	Tigers	1746	Nonsectarian, but founded by Presbyterians[14]	6,677[15]	Ivy League
Quinnipiac University	Hamden, Connecticut	Bobcats	1929	Private/Non-sectarian	10,290[16]	MAAC
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	Troy, New York	Engineers	1824	Private/Non-sectarian	7,633[17]	Liberty League (D-III)
St. Lawrence University	Canton, New York	Saints	1856	Non-denominational, founded by Universalist Church of America	2,487[18]	Liberty League (D-III)
Union College	Schenectady, New York	Dutchmen	1795	Private/Non-sectarian	2,200[19]	Liberty League (D-III)
Yale University	New Haven, Connecticut	Bulldogs	1701	Private/Congregationalist	12,458[20]	Ivy League

Membership timeline

  Men     Women     Both  

Men's ECAC championship games

[21][22]

A men's game between Dartmouth and Princeton at Thompson Arena in 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

The winner of the game is awarded the Whitelaw Cup and receives 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
• 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

Cleary Cup

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

Women's ECAC championship games

[23]

• 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)
• 2008 Harvard def. St. Lawrence (Boston)
• 2009 Dartmouth def. Rensselaer (Boston)
• 2010 Cornell def. Clarkson (in Ithaca, New York)
• 2011 Cornell def. Dartmouth (Ithaca)
• 2012 St. Lawrence def. Cornell (Ithaca)
• 2013 Cornell def. Harvard (Ithaca)
• 2014 Cornell def. Clarkson (in Potsdam, New York)
• 2015 Harvard def. Cornell (Potsdam)
• 2016 Quinnipiac def. Clarkson (Hamden, Connecticut)
• 2017 Clarkson def. Cornell (Potsdam)
• 2018 Clarkson def. Colgate (Potsdam)
• 2019 Clarkson def. Cornell (Ithaca)
• 2020 Princeton def. Cornell (Ithaca)

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.[24][25]

Conference arenas

Meehan Auditorium, February 22, 2020.

A Men's game between Dartmouth and Quinnipiac at the TD Bank Sports Center

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	People's United Center (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

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:[26] first team and second team (rookie team starting in 1987–88 and third team beginning in 2005–06). 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 from 1967–68 thru 1991–92[27] and the All-Tournament team was discontinued from 1973 thru 1988.[28]

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 Most Outstanding Player in Tournament 1962

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.[29]
• 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.[30]
• 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.[31] The record lasted until March 6, 2015 when a Hockey East playoff game between UMass and Notre Dame lasted just over a minute longer.[32]
• Cornell University recorded the only undefeated and untied season for a Division I NCAA champion in 1970.[33]

References

1. "timeline of ECACH history, ECACHockey.com" (PDF). ecachockey.com.
2. "History of ECAC Hockey". College Hockey Historical Archives. Archived from the original on April 15, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
3. "HockeyEastOnline.com - About Hockey East". www.hockeyeastonline.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
4. "Women's Season Summaries" (PDF). ECAC Hockey. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-09-08. Retrieved 2012-09-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. Brown'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." Brown's charter stated that "into this liberal and catholic institution shall never be admitted any religious tests, but on the contrary, all the members hereof shall forever enjoy full, free, absolute, and uninterrupted liberty of conscience." The charter called for twenty-two of the thirty-six trustees to be Baptists, but required that the remainder be "five Friends, four Congregationalists, and five Episcopalians" Archived 2010-09-01 at the Wayback Machine
7. "facts about Brown University". brown.edu. Archived from the original on 2008-07-24. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
8. "History & Facts About Clarkson University". www.clarkson.edu.
9. "Origins of Colgate University". www.colgate.edu.
10. "Key Facts and Figures About Colgate University". www.colgate.edu.
11. University, Office of Web Communications, Cornell. "University Facts - Cornell University". www.cornell.edu.
12. "This Page Has Moved" (PDF). www.dartmouth.edu.
13. Harvard at a glance Archived 2007-04-08 at the Wayback Machine
14. https://www.princeton.edu/~oktour/virtualtour/Stop05.htm Archived 2008-02-23 at the Wayback Machine Princeton online campus tour
15. "Facts & Figures". Princeton University.
16. "About Us". Quinnipiac University.
17. "Quick Facts - RPI INFO". info.rpi.edu.
18. "SLU Quick Facts (2018)". St. Lawrence University.
19. "Union at a Glance". Union College.
20. "Yale Facts". Yale University. 3 August 2015.
21. https://www.ecachockey.com/men/history/Summaries-I.pdf
22. https://www.ecachockey.com/men/history/Summaries-ll_.pdf
23. https://www.ecachockey.com/women/history/W_Season_Summaries.pdf
24. https://d2o2figo6ddd0g.cloudfront.net/c/u/tlin56n3fznlyx/Series_History.pdf
25. "Men's Hockey Series History". Princeton University Athletics.
26. "Gostisbehere, Bodie, Carr earn spots on ECAC Hockey All-League Teams". Union Athletics. 2013-03-21. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
27. "ECAC Hockey Awards". College hockey Historical Archive. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
28. "All-Tournament Honors" (PDF). ECAC Hockey. Retrieved 2014-05-12.
29. "St. Lawrence University". www.stlawu.edu.
30. "Almanac ... Longest Games". College Hockey News.
31. "Quinnipiac makes history in 5 OT hockey game". ESPN.com. 13 March 2010.
32. "Statistics | College Hockey". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2018-10-14.
33. "DI Men's Ice Hockey". NCAA.com.

External links

• ECAC Hockey home pages:
  • Men
  • Women
• ECAC Hockey to Celebrate 50th Anniversary (September 8, 2010 press release). ECAC Hockey official website. Retrieved 2010-09-25.