Hockey East men's ice hockey tournament

Hockey East Men's Tournament
College hockey conference championship
The TD Garden in Boston has hosted the tournament's semifinal and championship games nearly ever year since 1996.[a]
SportCollege ice hockey
ConferenceHockey East
Number of teams11
FormatSingle-elimination
Current stadiumTD Garden
Current locationBoston, Massachusetts
Played1985 – Present
Last contest2025 Hockey East men's tournament
Current championMaine (sixth win)
Most championshipsBoston College (twelve wins)
Winner trophyLamoriello Trophy
TV partner(s)ESPN+

The Hockey East Men's Tournament is the conference tournament for the men's division of the Hockey East, an NCAA Division I men's ice hockey conference that has operated since 1984. The winner of the tournament receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament and the Lamoriello Trophy.

History

In 1984, five ECAC Hockey teams decided to create their own conference over scheduling disputes with the Ivy League members of the ECAC.[1] At the end of each regular season, the conference holds the Hockey East men's ice hockey tournament to determine its conference champion. The inaugural tournament was held at the Providence Civic Center, and was won by Providence by a score of 2–1 over Boston College in double overtime. In 1987, the tournament moved to the Boston Garden, and has been held in the Greater Boston area for almost every year since. In 1988, the Hockey East introduced the Lamoriello Trophy, named after the first commissioner of Hockey East, Lou Lamoriello. The trophy has been awarded to the winner of the tournament every year since 1988.

The Providence Civic Center hosted the first two Hockey East men's tournaments in 1985 and 1986.

In 1996, the tournament's semifinal and championship games moved from the Boston Garden to the TD Garden, where it has mostly remained since. In 2004, Maine bested Massachusetts by a score of 2–1 in triple overtime. This would be the longest game in Hockey East championship history and would remain Maine's last championship until they won again 21 years later in 2025. The 2016 tournament marked the first championship in which at least one of the "Big 4" schools—Boston College, Boston University, Maine and New Hampshire—did not play in the title game.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 tournament was cancelled.[2] The pandemic also necessitated all tournament games were held on campus sites in 2021, with the championship game being held at UMass's home rink, the Mullins Center.[3] This marked the first time since the second tournament in 1986 in which the championship game was held outside the Greater Boston area. Host school UMass won over rival UMass Lowell by a score of 1–0.

The Hockey East tournament has largely been dominated by the Boston schools, with Boston College and Boston University accounting for 22 titles. As of 2025, these two schools have won over half of all Hockey East tournaments played and at least one of these two schools has appeared in 30 of the championship games. Boston College has won the most Hockey East tournaments with twelve and has the most championship game appearances with nineteen. Jerry York has coached nine championship teams and has the most championship game appearances with thirteen. Shawn Walsh has made the most consecutive championship appearances with seven (1987–1993).

Hockey East men's tournament champions

Main article: List of Hockey East men's ice hockey tournament champions

Championship Round Performance

School Championships Appearances Pct.
Boston College 12 19 .632
Boston University 10 14 .714
Maine 6 15 .400
UMass Lowell 3 8 .375
Northeastern 3 3 1.000
New Hampshire 2 8 .250
Providence 2 5 .400
Massachusetts 2 3 .667
Merrimack 0 2 .000
Connecticut 0 2 .000
Vermont 0 1 .000

Performance by team

The code in each cell represents the furthest the team made it in the respective tournament:

  •  –  Team not in Hockey East
  •  FR  Preliminary / First round (2 teams in 1995, 4 teams in 2021, 8 teams from 2015 to 2015, 6 teams in 2014, 2018 and from 2022 onward.)
  •  QF  Quarterfinals (6 teams from 1985 to 1986, 4 teams from 1987 to 1989, 8 teams afterwards)
  •  SF  Semifinals
  •  F  Finals
  •  CH  Champion

Note: the 2020 tournament was cancelled prior to the start of the quarterfinal round.
Note: Merrimack was forced to withdraw from the 2021 due to a positive COVID-19 test.

School # QF SF F CH 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Boston College 41 40 27 19 12 F F CH QF F CH QF SF QF QF FR QF SF CH CH F CH QF SF QF CH F CH CH SF CH CH CH SF QF QF SF F SF F QF SF QF QF CH QF
Boston University 41 40 28 14 10 SF CH QF QF QF SF CH QF F CH CH SF CH QF QF SF QF SF F SF SF CH SF SF CH SF QF SF F FR CH QF SF CH SF QF QF QF CH F SF
Maine 34 33 21 15 6 QF QF F F CH F F CH CH QF SF F F SF CH SF F QF CH SF SF QF QF F QF F QF QF FR FR FR QF QF QF FR FR FR SF CH
Massachusetts Lowell 37 35 21 8 3 SF SF SF SF QF QF QF SF F SF SF SF SF QF SF SF QF QF QF QF QF F QF QF CH CH F F CH FR QF QF F SF SF FR QF
Northeastern 34 33 12 3 3 QF QF SF CH SF QF SF QF QF SF QF QF QF QF QF QF QF QF QF QF SF SF QF FR CH QF SF CH QF QF SF QF QF SF
New Hampshire 38 33 17 8 2 QF QF QF SF QF F SF SF QF QF F QF F SF QF CH CH SF F SF F SF QF QF SF QF QF F SF FR QF FR QF QF FR FR QF FR
Providence 38 38 17 5 2 CH SF QF SF SF QF SF SF QF QF F CH QF QF SF QF F QF QF QF QF QF QF QF SF SF SF QF SF QF F QF QF SF QF SF QF QF
Massachusetts 27 22 7 3 2 – – – – – – – – – – QF QF QF QF QF SF F QF QF SF QF QF QF QF QF FR FR FR FR QF SF QF CH CH FR SF QF
Merrimack 27 23 3 2 0 – – – – – QF QF QF QF QF QF QF SF QF QF QF QF QF QF QF F QF QF FR QF QF FR QF QF F FR FR
Connecticut 10 7 2 2 0 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – FR FR FR QF QF QF F QF QF F
Vermont 17 12 3 1 0 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – QF QF F QF SF QF QF QF SF QF QF FR FR FR QF FR FR
Notre Dame 4 4 2 0 0 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – SF QF QF SF – – – – – – – –


Location of Hockey East men's tournaments

References

Footnotes
  1. ^ Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 tournament was held exclusively at campus sites. TD Garden has hosted every other championship game since 1996.
  2. ^ The 2020 tournament was planned to be held at TD Garden before being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  3. ^ The 2021 tournament was held exclusively at campus sites due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
General
  • "All-time tournament results". Hockey East. Archived from the original on 2009-04-22. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
  • "Hockey East Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved 2009-03-04.
Specific
  1. ^ Administrator, Site (2006-12-11). "He Could Go All the Way". College Hockey | USCHO.com. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
  2. ^ "Hockey East Men's Tournament Cancelled - Hockey East Association". hockeyeastonline.com. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
  3. ^ a b "Hockey East Unveils 2021 Tournament and Seeding Format - Hockey East Association". hockeyeastonline.com. Retrieved 2025-07-10.


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