CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. – ECAC Hockey has unveiled its highly anticipated 2024-25 Men's league schedule, setting the stage for another thrilling season of collegiate hockey battles.
The quest for the Cleary Cup (regular season title) and Whitelaw Trophy (tournament title) will take place over the league’s traditional 132-game slate, beginning on October 25 and concluding on March 22 with the league’s Men’s Championship at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid, New York.
As is league tradition, the regular season schedule features the most balanced schedule in the nation where each program plays its 11 competitors once at home and once on the road throughout the course of the year.
Last season, Quinnipiac rattled off 17 league wins, winning the regular season by 10 points in the standings over Cornell. Colgate and Dartmouth claimed the other two Opening Round byes as the third and fourth overall seeds, respectively.
The winner of the regular season claims the Cleary Cup and the number one seed in the ECAC Hockey Championship tournament. Quinnipiac has won the Cleary Cup for four seasons in a row, while Clarkson, Cornell, and Harvard are all tied for the most Cleary Cups in league history (11 each).
The Cleary Cup is named after former Harvard Director of Athletics and Men’s Hockey coach Bill Cleary, who also led the Crimson to the 1955 Final Four as a player and First Team All-American.
As the regular season concludes, the league’s 12 members battle for the Whitelaw Cup, named after former league Commissioner Scotty Whitelaw. Whitelaw was a league administrator for 29 years and was integral in the eventual formation of ECAC Hockey and the postseason championship.
The league’s playoff structure remains as follows for 2024-25:
- First Round – One game hosted by 5-8 seeds vs. 9-12 seeds
- Quarterfinals – Best-of-three series hosted by 1-4 seeds vs. winners of First Round games
- Championship Weekend – Semifinals and final (Lake Placid, NY)
RPI's Opening Round upset of Clarkson turned the 2024 postseason on edge and St. Lawrence followed suit by advancing to the league title contest as the seventh seed.
Cornell captured its league-best 13th ECAC Tournament championship last season. The Big Red are trailed closely by Harvard’s 11 men’s titles, while no other program in the league’s history has won more than seven tournament trophies.
All dates and times listed for the ECAC Men’s Hockey schedule are subject to change. The non-conference portion of the 2024-25 schedule will be added once all ECAC Hockey teams announce their own non-conference schedules.
KEY DATES IN 2023-24:
- Saturday, Oct. 5 – Official Start Date for NCAA Competition
- Friday, Oct. 25 – First ECAC league contest (Union at RPI)
- Friday, Nov. 15 – Start of First Full Weekend of League Play
- Saturday, March 1 – Final Day of ECAC Men’s Regular Season
- March 7-8 – ECAC Men’s Hockey First Round
- March 14-16 – ECAC Men’s Hockey Quarterfinals
- March 21-22 – ECAC Men’s Hockey Championship Weekend
- March 27-30 – NCAA Regionals
- Thursday, April 10 – Frozen Four Semifinals
- Saturday, April 12 – National Championship
For daily updates on ECAC Hockey news, stories, awards, and more, be sure to follow @ecachockey on Twitter, @ecachockey on Instagram, and like the ECAC Hockey Facebook page.