ECAC Hockey

ECAC Hockey
Established	1962
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	ECAC Hockey League (2004-2007) Eastern College Athletic Conference (1962-2004)
Headquarters	Albany, New York
Commissioner	Steve Hagwell
Website	www.ecachockey.com
Locations

Locations of current ECAC Hockey member institutions.

A men's game between the Big Green and Tigers at Thompson Arena in Hanover

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 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 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.

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

• Brown University
  • 3-time ECAC women's champions (1998, 2000, 2002)
• Clarkson University
  • 5-time ECAC men's champions (1966, 1991, 1993, 1999, 2007)
  • 10-time ECAC men's regular season champions (1966, 1977, 1981–82, 1991, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2008)
• Colgate University
  • 1-time ECAC men's champions (1990)
  • 3-time ECAC men's regular season champions (1990, 2004, 2006)
• Cornell University
  • 12-time ECAC men's champions (1967–70, 1973, 1980, 1986, 1996–97, 2003, 2005, 2010)
  • 8-time ECAC men's regular season champions (1968–70, 1972–73, 2002–03, 2005)
  • 2-time ECAC women's champions (2010, 2011)
  • 3-time ECAC women's regular season champions (2010-2012)
  • 2-time NCAA men's champions (1967, 1970)
• Dartmouth College
  • 1-time ECAC men's regular season champions (2006)
  • 4-time ECAC women's champions (2001, 2003, 2007, 2009)
• Harvard University
  • 8-time ECAC men's champions (1963, 1971, 1983, 1987, 1994, 2002, 2004, 2006)
  • 5-time ECAC women's champions (1999, 2004–06, 2008)
  • 10-time ECAC men's regular season champions (1963, 1973, 1975, 1986–89, 1992–94)
  • 5-time ECAC women's regular season champions (1999, 2003–05, 2008)
  • 1-time NCAA men's champions (1989)
  • 1-time women's national champions (1999, crowned by AWCHA, pre-dated NCAA Women's "Frozen Four")
• Princeton University
  • 2-time ECAC men's champions (1998, 2008)
• Quinnipiac University
  • New member in 2005
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  • 3-time ECAC men's champions (1984–85, 1995)
  • 2-time ECAC men's regular season champions (1984–85)
  • 2-time NCAA men's champions (1954, 1985)
  • Women's team joined in 2006
• St. Lawrence University (Team article)
  • 6-time ECAC men's champions (1962, 1988–89, 1992, 2000–01)
  • 2-time ECAC men's regular season champions (2000, 2007)
  • 1-time ECAC women's champions (2012)
  • 2-time ECAC women's regular season champions (2005–06)
• Union College
  • 1-time ECAC men's champions (2012)
  • 2-time ECAC men's regular season champions (2011-12)
• Yale University
  • 2-time ECAC men's champions (2009, 2011)
  • 3-time ECAC men's regular season champions (1998, 2009, 2010)

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.

The six Ivy League universities with Division I ice hockey programs are all members of ECAC Hockey. Neither the University of Pennsylvania nor Columbia University have intercollegiate ice hockey programs. 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 regular season record against other Ivy opponents is crowned the Ivy League ice hockey champion. Cornell won the 2012 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	Historical Affiliation	Enrollment	Primary Conference
Brown University	Providence, Rhode Island	Bears	1764	Nonsectarian, founded by Baptists, but founding charter promises "no religious tests" and "full liberty of conscience"	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, founded by Baptists	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	Nonsectarian, but founded by Presbyterians	6,677	Ivy League
Quinnipiac University	Hamden, Connecticut	Bobcats	1929	Private/Non-sectarian	7,700	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	Non-denominational, founded by Universalist Church of America	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

Men's ECAC championship games

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

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

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

Cleary Cup

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. Cornell has begun a tradition of its own that involves the Cleary Cup. Cornell's tradition is an extension of the heated Cornell-Harvard hockey rivalry.

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) 2008 Harvard def. St. Lawrence (Boston) 2009 Dartmouth def. Rensselaer (Boston) 2010 Cornell def. Clarkson (in Ithaca, New York) 2011 Cornell def. Dartmouth (in Ithaca, New York) 2012 St. Lawrence def. Cornell (in Ithaca, NY)

Conference arenas

School	Hockey arena	Capacity
Brown	Meehan Auditorium (1962)	3,100
Clarkson	Cheel Arena (1991)	3,000
Colgate	Starr Rink (1959)	2,246
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 Bank Sports Center (2007)	3,386
Rensselaer	Houston Field House (1949)	4,780
St. Lawrence	Appleton Arena (1951)	3,000
Union	Frank L. Messa Rink at Achilles Center (1975)	2,225
Yale	Ingalls Rink (1958)	3,500

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 (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.
• Cornell University recorded the only undefeated and untied season in NCAA Division I Hockey history in 1970.
• Colgate University holds the record for most overtime games played in a single season, set in 2008-2009 with 19.

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.