A Comprehensive History of the Hockey East Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
Since its inception in 1984, the Hockey East Men's Ice Hockey Tournament has been a cornerstone of the conference, annually determining its champion. This article delves into the tournament's history, format, key moments, and notable teams.
The Origins of Hockey East
The Hockey East Association is an NCAA Division I ice hockey-only conference based in Wakefield, Massachusetts, that was formed in 1984. The conference emerged following a split within the ECAC, where disagreements arose between the existing members and the Ivy League schools due to differing priorities. Consequently, any league championships won prior to 1984 do not count toward the Hockey East total.
Tournament Format
At the end of each regular season, it holds the Hockey East Men's Ice Hockey Tournament to determine its conference champion. The tournament includes all eleven teams in the conference, with teams ranked according to their finish in the conference standings. Seeds 1-5 earn a bye into the quarterfinal round, while seeds 6-11 play to determine the remaining quarterfinalists. Winners in the opening round are reseeded and advanced to play top three seeds in reverse order. All series are single-elimination with opening round and quarterfinal matches occurring at home team sites. The two semifinal games and championship match are held at the TD Garden. For example, the alignment for the 2025 tournament would pit (6) Massachusetts vs. (11), (7) Massachusetts Lowell vs. (10), and (8) Merrimack vs. (9) to determine who would advance to play seeds (1) through (3) along with seed (4) Connecticut who received a bye.
Championship Game Locations
Since Hockey East came into existence in 1984, the league had determined its champion every year with the annual postseason tournament. With only a few exceptions, it has otherwise always been held in Boston, either at Boston Garden, or at what's now known as TD Garden. Prior to moving to Boston, the first two men's Hockey East championships were held at the Providence Civic Center. The 1989-90 title games were played at Chestnut Hill, Mass., and the 2021 game was played at Amherst, Mass.
Automatic Bid to the NCAA Tournament
As the tournament champions, Maine received the conference's automatic bid into the 2025 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament.
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Historical Tournament Results and Champions
Through the 2024-25 seasons, Boston College had captured the most Hockey East championships with 12, with Boston University the only other team in double digits with 10. Maine was third with six, but no other program had won more than three.
Here is a summary of the Hockey East Championship games from 1985 to 2017:
| Year | Result | Tournament MVP |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Providence 2, Boston College 1 (2OT) | Chris Terreri, PC |
| 1986 | Boston University 9, Boston College 4 | Peter Marshall, BU |
| 1987 | Boston College 4, Maine 2 | Brian Leetch, BC |
| 1988 | Northeastern 4, Maine 3 | Bruce Racine, NU |
| 1989 | Maine 5, Boston College 4 | Bob Beers, Maine |
| 1990 | Boston College 4, Maine 3 | Scott LaGrand, BC |
| 1991 | Boston University 4, Maine 3 (OT) | Shawn McEachern, BU |
| 1992 | Maine 4, New Hampshire 1 | Scott Pellerin, Maine |
| 1993 | Maine 5, Boston University 2 | Jim Montgomery, Maine |
| 1994 | Boston University 3, UMass Lowell 2 | Dwayne Roloson, UML |
| 1995 | Boston University 3, Providence 2 | Bob Bell, PC |
| 1996 | Providence 3, Maine 2 | Joe Hulbig, PC |
| 1997 | Boston University 4, New Hampshire 2 | Michel Larocque, BU |
| 1998 | Boston College 3, Maine 2 | Marty Reasoner, BC |
| 1999 | Boston College 5, New Hampshire 4 (OT) | Blake Bellefeuille, BC |
| 2000 | Maine 2, Boston College 1 | Niko Dimitrakos, Maine |
| 2001 | Boston College 5, Providence 3 | Chuck Kobasew, BC |
| 2002 | New Hampshire 3, Maine 1 | Darren Haydar, UNH |
| 2003 | New Hampshire 1, Boston University 0 (OT) | Sean Fields, BU |
| 2004 | Maine 2, UMass 1 (3OT) | Jimmy Howard, Maine |
| 2005 | Boston College 3, New Hampshire 1 | Brian Boyle, BC |
| 2006 | Boston University 2, Boston College 1 (OT) | David Van der Gulik, BU |
| 2007 | Boston College 5, New Hampshire 2 | Brock Bradford, BC |
| 2008 | Boston College 4, Vermont 0 | Nathan Gerbe, BC |
| 2009 | Boston University 1, UMass Lowell 0 | Kieran Millan, BU |
| 2010 | Boston College 7, Maine 6 (OT) | Matt Lombardi, BC |
| 2011 | Boston College 5, Merrimack 3 | Cam Atkinson, BC |
| 2012 | Boston College 4, Maine 1 | Johnny Gaudreau, BC |
| 2013 | UMass Lowell 1, Boston University 0 | Connor Hellebuyck, UML |
| 2014 | UMass Lowell 4, New Hampshire 0 | Connor Hellebuyck, UML |
| 2015 | Boston University 5, UMass Lowell 3 | Jack Eichel, BU |
| 2016 | Northeastern 3, UMass Lowell 1 | Kevin Boyle, UML |
| 2017 | UMass Lowell 4, Boston College 3 | C.J. Smith, UML |
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tags: #NCAA #Hockey #East #Tournament #history
