A Comprehensive Overview of Hockey East: History, Standings, and Tournament

Hockey East is a prominent NCAA Division I men's ice hockey conference with a rich history and a significant impact on college hockey. Operating entirely in New England, the Hockey East Association has been a fixture since 1984, showcasing intense rivalries and producing some of the sport's most talented players. This article delves into the conference's origins, its tournament structure, the system used to determine standings, and other key aspects.

Origins and Formation

The seeds of Hockey East were sown in the early 1980s due to growing discontent within the ECAC Hockey conference. Scheduling disputes with the Ivy League members of the ECAC were a major catalyst. Concerns arose among five ECAC Hockey teams, including Providence, Boston College (BC), Boston University (BU), New Hampshire, and Northeastern, who sought more control over their hockey programs without the academic constraints imposed by the Ivy League institutions. These schools, along with Maine, made the decision to establish their own conference.

Hockey East was officially chartered in 1983, and competition commenced in the 1984-85 season. This breakaway marked a pivotal moment in college hockey, as it allowed the founding members to prioritize their hockey programs and create a more competitive and geographically focused league.

The Hockey East Tournament

The Hockey East Men's Tournament is held annually at the end of each regular season. It determines the conference champion. The inaugural tournament took place at the Providence Civic Center in 1985, with Providence defeating Boston College 2-1 in double overtime. The tournament has become a celebrated tradition in college hockey.

Tournament Venues and History

In 1987, the tournament moved to the Boston Garden, solidifying its presence in the Greater Boston area. Since then, the tournament has been held in the Greater Boston area almost every year. The Lamoriello Trophy, named after Lou Lamoriello, the first commissioner of Hockey East, was introduced in 1988, adding further prestige to the event.

The TD Garden became the primary venue for the tournament's semifinal and championship games in 1996, and has remained so for most years since. The 2020 tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, all tournament games were held on campus sites, with the championship game at UMass's Mullins Center, marking the first time since 1986 that the championship game was held outside the Greater Boston area.

One of the most memorable games in tournament history occurred in 2004, when Maine defeated Massachusetts 2-1 in triple overtime. This was the longest game in Hockey East championship history.

Tournament Dominance

Boston College and Boston University have dominated the Hockey East tournament, accounting for 22 titles as of 2025. These two schools have appeared in 30 of the championship games, underscoring their consistent success. Boston College leads with twelve tournament wins and nineteen championship game appearances. Jerry York has coached nine championship teams and has made thirteen championship game appearances, further cementing his legacy in the conference.

Tournament Format

The Hockey East Championship has been held in Boston since its inception in 2003 until 2007. The event was held at Northeastern's Matthews Arena in 2003 and 2004 before moving to BU's Walter Brown Arena in 2005. The tournament returned to Matthews Arena in 2006, was held at UNH's Whittemore Center in 2007, and at UConn's Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum in 2008. The tournament went back to UNH in 2009, Providence in 2010, and the last campus to host was Boston University in 2011.

The top eight teams in the league advance to the quarterfinal round. The quarterfinal round series are 2-out-of-3 series with all games played at the higher seed's rink.

With the arrival of the Connecticut men's program, joining the conference for 2014-15 season, the Hockey East directors voted on May 12, 2014 to revise the conference tournament format. All twelve teams participate in the tournament with the opening round being a best of three round involving 5 vs. 12; 6 vs. 11; 7 vs 10 and vs 9. The games would be played at the higher seeds rink. The following weekend would have the best of three quarterfinal round with the 1 seed hosting the lowest seeded first round winner, the 2 seed would host the 2nd lowest seed, etc. again at the higher seeds rink.

Current Standings System

The Hockey Commissioners Association agreed in 2020-21 that all leagues that utilize shootouts will use the same system point system to calculate standings after the NCAA mandated 3-on-3 overtime for all games. All conference games are worth three points. While nearly every Division I college conference now uses shootouts to break ties after overtime is played, the NCAA uses W-L-T for record keeping and does not recognize shootout "wins" as wins. A game is considered a "tie" for both team and coach historical records after overtime ends without a goal scored. Shootouts are used only to determine points in league standings. For this reason, records will continue to be displayed as W-L-T with OW-OL-SW following to display total point calculations.

Seeding of teams for the Hockey East Tournament will be determined by the Hockey East standings upon the conclusion of the regular season. Zero points for a regulation loss. Three-on-three overtime and shootout results will only be considered when breaking ties between two teams.

Tie-Breaking Procedures

The Hockey East standings are crucial for determining seeding in the conference tournament. The conference employs a detailed tie-breaking procedure to ensure fair and accurate placement of teams. The tie-breaking criteria are applied sequentially until the tie is resolved:

If only two teams are tied, best head-to-head points percentage.
In the case of ties among three or more schools, the criteria will be used in order until the top team or teams are separated from the rest. At that point, the process will begin anew to break the “new” tie(s) with all remaining teams.

Note: If the final standings are determined by points percentage due to an incomplete league schedule, criterion #2 (greatest number of regulation wins in all conference games) shall apply only in situations unaffected by any unplayed contests.

Read also: Crafting Your NCAA Profile

Examples:

Example #1: Team A played all scheduled games and has 15 regulation wins. Team B missed two scheduled contests and has 12 regulation wins.
Example #2: Team A played all scheduled games and has 12 regulation wins. Team B missed one scheduled contest and has 13 regulation wins.
Example #3: Team A played all scheduled games and has 13 regulation wins. Team B missed two scheduled contests and has 12 regulation wins.
Example #4: Team A missed one scheduled game and has 15 regulation wins. Team B played all scheduled games and has 13 regulation wins. Team C missed two scheduled games and has 12 regulation wins.

Rivalries

Hockey East is known for its intense rivalries, which add excitement and passion to the conference. These rivalries often span decades and involve geographic proximity and historical matchups.

Boston College vs. Notre Dame (Holy War on Ice): The previously existing rivalry between Boston College and Notre Dame, the Holy War on Ice, became a conference matchup with Notre Dame's arrival in Hockey East. The two are rivals in other sports as well, as both are members of the Atlantic Coast Conference for most sports (though Notre Dame's football team remains independent, they play BC in that sport on a regular basis).
Maine vs. New Hampshire (The Border War): Maine also has a rivalry with New Hampshire, often called "The Border War".

Media Coverage

Hockey East has established partnerships with various media outlets to broadcast its games, increasing its visibility and reach.

CBS Interactive
NESN
ESPN and ESPN+
NBCSN

All-Conference Teams and Awards

At the conclusion of each regular season schedule the coaches of each Hockey East team vote which players they choose to be on the three All-Conference Teams:[14] first team, second team and rookie team (except for 1985-86 when no rookie team was selected). Additionally they vote to award up to 6 individual trophies to an eligible player at the same time. Hockey East also awards a Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player and names a tournament all-star team, which are voted on at the conclusion of the conference tournament. The award for the top HEA player each year is the Cammi Granato Award, awarded since 2009.

Women's Hockey East

The Women's Division of Hockey East began in the 2002-2003 season. It consisted of Providence, New Hampshire, Boston College, Northeastern, and Maine, all of whom were already members of the Men's League. Connecticut was also admitted as the 6th charter member of the Women's League, with a full compliment of scholarships, despite it's men's program not being in Hockey East. The first two years of the league were dominated by Providence and New Hampshire, each of which already had successful programs established. Providence has won all three conference tournament championships, the first two against New Hampshire. 2005-2006 saw the addition of two teams. Boston University moved it's team to Division I from the club level. There are currently 12 member schools; the men's division of Hockey East has ten members, while the women's division has eight. The conference expanded to 12 men's members for 2014-15 with the addition of the UConn Huskies from Atlantic Hockey and the Women's conference wll be expanding to ten members with the addition on the Women's team from Merrimack College for the 2015-16 season. This will leave only the two UMass schools (Amherst and Lowell) as being men's only members of the conference as neither school offers women's hockey.

2003 Providence def.
2004 Providence def.
2005 Providence def.
2006 New Hampshire def.
2007 New Hampshire def.
2008 New Hampshire def.
2009 New Hampshire def.
2010 Boston University def.
2011 Boston College def.
2012 Boston University def.
2013 Boston University def.
2014 Boston University def.
2015 Boston University def.

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