1998 ECAC Hockey men's ice hockey tournament

The 1998 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 37th tournament in league history. It was played between March 13 and March 21, 1998.^[4] Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the final five games were played at the Olympic Arena (subsequently renamed Herb Brooks Arena) in Lake Placid, New York. By winning the tournament, Princeton received the ECAC's automatic bid to the 1998 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

1998 ECAC Men's ice hockey tournament
Dates	March 13–21, 1998
Teams	10
Finals site	Olympic Arena Lake Placid, New York
Champions	Princeton[1] (1st title)
Winning coach	Don Cahoon[2] (1st title)
MVP	Jeff Halpern[3] (Princeton)
ECAC Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments ← 1997 1999 →

Format

The tournament featured three rounds of play. The two teams that finish below tenth place in the standings are not eligible for tournament play. In the first round, the first and tenth seeds, the second and ninth seeds, the third seed and eighth seeds, the fourth seed and seventh seeds and the fifth seed and sixth seeds played a modified best-of-three series, where the first team to receive 3 points moves on, with the three highest-seeded winners advancing to the semifinals and the remaining two winners playing in the Four vs. Five matchup. After the opening round every series becomes a single-elimination game. In the semifinals, the highest seed plays the winner of the four vs. five game while the two remaining teams play with the winners advancing to the championship game and the losers advancing to the third place game. The tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the 1998 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Conference standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against

1997–98 ECAC Hockey standings v t e
	Conference								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
Yale†	22	17	4	1	35	82	44		35	23	9	3	121	80
Clarkson	22	16	4	2	34	86	48		35	23	9	3	128	87
Rensselaer	22	11	7	4	26	87	75		35	18	13	4	126	110
Brown	22	11	9	2	24	73	64		31	13	16	2	100	104
Harvard	22	10	11	1	21	72	78		33	14	17	2	112	124
Colgate	22	9	10	3	21	69	75		35	16	15	4	116	126
Princeton*	22	7	9	6	20	71	75		36	18	11	7	125	112
Cornell	22	9	12	1	19	55	68		33	15	16	2	84	101
Vermont	22	7	11	4	18	62	77		34	10	20	4	89	119
St. Lawrence	22	8	12	2	18	56	69		33	9	20	4	90	123
Dartmouth	22	7	12	3	17	72	77		29	11	13	5	96	88
Union	22	4	15	3	11	42	76		32	6	22	4	74	117
Championship: Princeton † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion (Whitelaw Cup) Final rankings: USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Coaches Poll Top 10 Poll

^[5]

Bracket

Teams are reseeded after the First Round

	First Round March 13–15							Four vs. Five March 19					Semifinals March 20					Championship March 21
	1	Yale	3*	3*	4
	10	St. Lawrence	3	3	1
													1	Yale	1
	2	Clarkson	2*	5	—			7	Princeton	6			7	Princeton	2
	9	Vermont	1	3	—			8	Cornell	2
	3	Rensselaer	4	3	4													2	Clarkson	4
	8	Cornell	5	0	5													7	Princeton	5**
	4	Brown	2	6	3
	7	Princeton	3	0	5								2	Clarkson	6
													5	Harvard	2
	5	Harvard	5	4	—
	6	Colgate	4	2	—

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

First round

(1) Yale vs. (10) St. Lawrence

March 13

Yale

3 – 3

OT

St. Lawrence

Ingalls Rink

March 14

Yale

3 – 3

OT

St. Lawrence

Ingalls Rink

March 15

Yale

4 – 1

St. Lawrence

Ingalls Rink

Yale won series 1–0–2

(2) Clarkson vs. (9) Vermont

March 13

Clarkson

2 – 1

OT

Vermont

Cheel Arena

March 14

Clarkson

5 – 3

Vermont

Cheel Arena

Clarkson won series 2–0

(3) Rensselaer vs. (8) Cornell

March 13

Rensselaer

4 – 5

Cornell

Houston Field House

March 14

Rensselaer

3 – 0

Cornell

Houston Field House

March 15

Rensselaer

4 – 5

Cornell

Houston Field House

Cornell won series 2–1

(4) Brown vs. (7) Princeton

March 13

Brown

2 – 3

Princeton

Meehan Auditorium

March 14

Brown

6 – 0

Princeton

Meehan Auditorium

March 15

Brown

3 – 5

Princeton

Meehan Auditorium

Princeton won series 2–1

(5) Harvard vs. (6) Colgate

March 13

Harvard

5 – 4

Colgate

Bright Hockey Center

March 14

Harvard

4 – 2

Colgate

Bright Hockey Center

Harvard won series 2–0

Four vs. Five

(7) Princeton vs. (8) Cornell

March 19

Princeton

6 – 2

Cornell

Olympic Arena

Semifinals

(1) Yale vs. (7) Princeton

March 20

Yale

1 – 2

Princeton

Olympic Arena

(2) Clarkson vs. (5) Harvard

March 20

Clarkson

6 – 2

Harvard

Olympic Arena

Third place

(1) Yale vs. (5) Harvard

March 21

Yale

1 – 4

Harvard

Olympic Arena

Championship

(2) Clarkson vs. (7) Princeton

March 21

Clarkson

4 – 5

2OT

Princeton

Olympic Arena

Tournament awards

All-Tournament Team

• F Syl Apps III (Princeton)
• F Jeff Halpern* (Princeton)
• F Matt Reid (Clarkson)
• D Willie Mitchell (Clarkson)
• D Steve Shirreffs (Princeton)
• G Erasmo Saltarelli (Princeton)

* Most Outstanding Player(s)

^[6]