ECAC Hockey men's tournament

In 1960, two play-in games were held for the top four eastern teams that were up for two spots in the NCAA tournament. About a year and a half later, ECAC Hockey was founded and included nearly 30 programs. Despite the cumbersome arrangement, the league held its first conference tournament in 1962 and has crowned a champion every year since with the exception of 2020 (as of 2025). In response to a threat from the Ivy League schools to split from the conference over scheduling disagreements, the six teams that comprised the East Division left the conference to form Hockey East in 1984. ECAC Hockey still contained eleven teams after the break and was able to retain its automatic bid to the tournament, a necessity for the stability of a conference. The tournament was first hosted at the Boston Arena and was moved to the Boston Garden in 1967. The tournament remained there from 1967 through 1992 and was succeeded by the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York, from 1993 to 2002 and again from 2014 to the present. The Times Union Center and the Boardwalk Hall have also hosted ECAC tournament championships. Cornell has won the most ECAC Hockey championships with 14 and also has the most championship game appearances with 25. Former Cornell coach Mike Schafer has won the most championships with seven and also has coached in the most championship games with 14 appearances. In 1989 the championship trophy was renamed in honor of retiring commissioner Robert Whitelaw. ==Formats==

; 1962 The ECAC Hockey Tournament format begins as a single-game elimination three-round format featuring the top eight teams in the standings. ; 1983 The quarterfinal round is changed to a two-game format where if the two teams are tied afterwards a 'mini-game' is held to determine who advances. Overtime is not played in the quarterfinals outside the 'mini-games' ; 1990 Two preliminary games are added to determine the final two qualifiers in the tournament played between the teams that finished seventh thru tenth in the standings. ; 1992 The quarterfinal round was changed to a single-elimination format. ; 1993 The quarterfinal round was converted into a modified best-of-three series where the first team to receive three points would advance (2 points for a win 1 point for a tie) with only the third game permitted to continue past a 5-minute overtime if the score was still tied. ; 1998 The preliminary round was scrapped and the quarterfinal round expanded into 5 modified best-of-three series. The two lowest-seeded teams to advance out of the quarterfinals would then play in a single 'Four vs. Five' game to determine the final semifinalist. ; 2000 The quarterfinal round was altered to include standard best-of-three series with no ties allowed. ; 2003 ECAC Hockey adds a fourth round to the tournament (called the 'First Round') and includes all 12 conference teams in the tournament. The First round pits the fifth thru twelfth teams in the standings in four best-of-three series with the winners advancing to the quarterfinals. The top four teams in the standings automatically advance to the quarterfinal round and play the remaining four teams in reverse order of their finish in the standings in a second best-of-three round. The semifinal, third-place and championship games are all single-elimination. ;2014 The third place game is eliminated. ;2021 Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only four competing institutions will compete in a single-elimination championship over the course of one championship weekend. 2023 After 20 years, the opening round of the tournament gets changed to single-elimination, replacing the best-of-three format prior; the quarterfinals remain best-of-three, however, along with the semifinals and final both being single games. ==Champions==

Championships by School By coach ==Performance by team==

The code in each cell represents the furthest the team made it in the respective tournament: • Team not in ECAC Hockey • Preliminary / First round (4 teams from 1990 to 1997, 10 teams from 1998 to 2002, 8 teams afterwards) • Quarterfinals (2 teams from 1998 to 2002, no quarterfinals in 2021) • Semifinals (2 teams 2021) • Finals • Champion Note: the remainder of the 2020 tournament was cancelled prior to the start of the quarterfinal round. } || || || style="background:#FFE6BD"|' || style="background:#D0E7FF"| || style="background:gold;"| || style="background:gold;"| || style="background:gold;"| || style="background:gold;"| || style="background:#ddffdd"| || style="background:#D0E7FF"| || style="background:gold;"| || style="background:#ddffdd"| || style="background:#ddffdd"| || style="background:#ddffdd"| || style="background:#ddffdd"| || style="background:#FFE6BD"| || style="background:#ddffdd"| || style="background:gold;"| || style="background:#D0E7FF"| || || || || style="background:#ddffdd"| || style="background:gold;"| || || style="background:#FFE6BD"| || style="background:#ddffdd"| || style="background:#ddffdd"| || style="background:#ddffdd"| || style="background:#D0E7FF"| || || style="background:#FFE6BD"| || style="background:#FFE6BD"| || style="background:gold;"| || style="background:gold;"| || style="background:#FFE6BD"| || style="background:#FFCCCC"| || style="background:#ddffdd"| || style="background:#D0E7FF"| || style="background:#D0E7FF"| || style="background:gold;"| || style="background:#FFE6BD"| || style="background:gold;"| || style="background:#D0E7FF"| || style="background:#FFE6BD"| || style="background:#ddffdd"| || style="background:#D0E7FF"| || style="background:gold;"| || style="background:#D0E7FF"| || style="background:#ddffdd"| || style="background:#FFE6BD"| || style="background:#ddffdd"| || style="background:#FFCCCC"| || style="background:#FFE6BD"| || style="background:#D0E7FF"| || style="background:#ddffdd"| || style="background:#D0E7FF"| || style="background:#FFE6BD"| || style="background:#dddddd"| || style="background:#FFE6BD"| || style="background:#ddffdd"| || style="background:gold;"| || style="background:gold;"|' ==References==