Colgate players and staff celebrated winning their first ECAC title since 1990 by defeating Harvard 3-2 in Lake Placid on Saturday. (Corporate photo — Parker O’Brien)
LAKE PLACID — Four Eastern College Athletic Conference men's hockey teams will return here this weekend to compete in the Scott M. Whitelaw Cup.
The Quinnipiac Bobcats, Cornell Big Red, Dartmouth Big Green and St. Lawrence Saints will compete in the ECAC tournament to determine the conference champion at the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena at the Olympic Center. Compete in an elimination tournament. The winner takes home the Whitelaw Cup and earns an automatic berth to the NCAA Division I Tournament. Quinnipiac won the NCAA National Championship last season.
The ECAC tournament begins Friday with two semifinal games.St. Lawrence and Quinnipiac will face off in the first game of a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m., while Cornell and Dartmouth are scheduled to compete in the second game scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. The winner advances to Saturday's championship final at 5 p.m.
The Bobcats return to the ECAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed and are looking for their first conference title since 2016. The team is ranked No. 7 nationally in the latest USCHO.com poll, with a record of 26 wins, 8 losses, and 2 draws this season.
Offensively, the Bobcats are led by Colin Graff. The junior had 14 goals and 19 assists, leading the team nationally in goals and total points.
Quinnipiac and St. Lawrence played two games this season, with each team winning their home matchup. The Saints, the tournament's No. 7 seed (and the lowest remaining seed), advanced to the semifinals in Lake Placid with two road wins over No. 3 seed Colgate, who won last year's ECAC Tournament.
St. Lawrence (13-18-6) last won the Whitelaw Cup in 2001. The Saints are led by Felix Gavard, who leads the team with 13 goals and 23 points.
No. 2 seed Cornell University and No. 4 seed Dartmouth University will meet in the tournament's other semifinal. The two teams split two meetings, both of which were won in penalty shootouts.
Goaltender Ian Schoen has been a mainstay for the nationally ranked Big Red, who have a record of 19-6-6 this season. He played in 20 games this season, posting a record of 13 wins, 2 losses, and 4 draws, a goals against average of 1.69, and 2 shutouts.
Dartmouth is 13-9-9, led by sophomore Luke Haymes, who scored 31 points this season. His 16 goals and 15 assists led the Big Green's offense. Of his 16 goals, six were scored on the man advantage and three were game-winners.
The Big Green has never won a Whitelaw Cup, but Cornell University last won in 2010 and has won the most ECAC titles with 12.
The ECAC Tournament began in 1962 and was held annually at the Boston Garden until 1993, when the venue was moved to Lake Placid. This year's tournament will be the 20th time the championships have been held at the Olympic Center.
On Monday, ECAC Hockey and the State Olympic Regional Development Authority announced a two-year extension of the ECAC Men's Hockey Championship to be held at the Olympic Center's 1980 Herb Brooks Arena.
“Since it was first brought to Lake Placid in 1993, the ECAC Men's Hockey Championship has been a flagship event for our community and region.” Olympic Center General Manager Chad Cassidy said in a statement. “We are excited to extend our agreement through the 2026 championship and continue to be the home of ECAC hockey for years to come. Hockey fans around the world will continue to see why Lake Placid is a special place. You will understand.”
Tickets for this weekend's ECAC tournament are $70 for a two-day pass and $50 for a single-day pass. Those interested can purchase tickets at https://tinyurl.com/bdwabmuj.
