The Cornell Men’s Hockey team won the ECAC championship in Lake Placid in 2024. Photo: cornellsun.com
Northwood students have a fantastic opportunity to see some high-end hockey in Lake Placid on March 20-21, 2026, for the ECAC Men’s Hockey Championship. The Herb Brooks Arena has hosted the Championship from 1992 to 2002 and has hosted it annually since 2014. The winner of the event will earn a spot at the NCAA Men’s Hockey Championship, commonly known as the Frozen Four. This year, the Frozen Four will be held in Las Vegas in April.
The ECAC Championships have a long history, dating back to 1962. You can see all the teams’ logos and Championship wins displayed inside the Herb Brooks Arena. Cornell has won the most, with 14 championships, and Harvard is just behind with 11. Brown and Dartmouth have never won the championship in their school history. Dartmouth may have a chance this year to make the final. They have had an unexpectedly strong season.
The ECAC runs a three-week-long playoff schedule. The opening round of the playoffs is March 6-7, with a single-elimination game. The matchups are teams ranked fifth through twelfth. This year, the matchups are Union vs. Brown, Harvard vs. St. Lawrence, Colgate vs Yale, and Clarkson vs. RPI. There are usually a few upsets in this opening round, which makes for an exciting playoff weekend. I am predicting two upsets in this round, with RPI and Yale moving on to the quarterfinals.
The top four teams receive byes to the quarterfinals on March 13-15, where they will play a best-of-three final. The top four teams this year are Quinnipiac, Dartmouth, Cornell, and Princeton. Each of these teams has had extraordinarily strong seasons. Three of the teams are ranked in the top 20 by the NCAA: Quinnipiac 8th, Cornell 9th, and Dartmouth 12th. I predict these three teams will move on to the ECAC Championship.
In 2025, the four teams that made the Championship weekend were Cornell, Quinnipiac, Dartmouth, and Clarkson. Cornell went on to win and earn their berth in the Frozen Four. I think we will see Cornell back in the finals again this year, playing Quinnipiac, who has been strong, with notable Flames prospect true freshman Ethan Wyttenbach leading the nation in points.
This year will be the first time former CHL players will play in Lake Placid. With the rule change in 2025, these previously ineligible players are now taking on big roles in the NCAA. Here is a breakdown of the four teams that have a bye to the quarterfinals: Quinnipiac has six players with CHL experience, while Cornell and Princeton each have one player, and Dartmouth has none. Clarkson has the most CHL players on their roster with eight. It will be interesting to see if teams with more of these CHL players go farther in the Championship than teams that did not pick up players this season.
It will be fun to follow the games over the next two weekends to see who ends up on a trip to Lake Placid for the Championship. You can guarantee it will be a busy weekend at the rink. If you cannot attend in person, the games will be streamed on ESPN.
