Thursday, January 23, 2025
Each Conferences Path to Secure an Automatic Qualifier
With just over a month remaining in the regular season, the race to secure postseason positioning is heating up, with conference matchups carrying more weight than ever. Here is how each conference controls its fate enroute to a national championship.
AHA:
The chase for the Robert DeGregorio Cup will feature all six Atlantic Hockey America teams. The postseason begins Feb. 22 with the No. 3 seed hosting the No. 6 seed and the No. 4 seed hosting the No. 5 seed in the quarterfinal round.
The quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinals, where the lowest remaining seed will visit the No. 1 seed, and the second-lowest remaining seed will face the No. 2 seed in best-of-three series from Feb. 28 to March 2.
The AHA postseason will conclude on March 8, when the semifinal winners meet at the home of the highest-seeded semifinal winner in a one-game final to determine the league’s automatic qualifier.
ECAC:
The ECAC playoffs begin Feb. 22 or 23 with a single-elimination first round, as seeds five through eight host seeds nine through 12. The winners advance to the league’s best-of-three quarterfinals, hosted by the highest remaining seeds from Feb. 28 to March 2.
The ECAC semifinals and championship game are set for March 7-8 at the site of the top remaining seed.
Hockey East:
All 10 programs will compete in a single-elimination postseason tournament for the Bertagna Trophy.
Seeds seven and eight will host seeds 10 and nine, respectively, in the opening round on Wednesday, Feb. 27, while the top six seeds receive a bye to the quarterfinals. After reseeding, the top two seeds will host the opening-round winners, the No. 3 seed will host the No. 6 seed, and the No. 4 seed will host the No. 5 seed. The quarterfinal games are set for Saturday, March 1.
The semifinals will take place Wednesday, March 5, and the championship game will air nationally on ESPNU on Saturday, March 8, at noon ET.
NEWHA:
The league’s top four seeds will host the first-round best-of-three series at campus sites from Feb. 22-24. The winners will advance to single-elimination semifinal games, hosted by the top two seeds, on Saturday, March 1.
The NEWHA championship game is set for Saturday, March 8, at the site of the highest remaining seed.
WCHA:
The WCHA Tournament begins with all eight teams competing in the best-of-three quarterfinal series from Feb. 28 to March 2, 2025, hosted by the top four seeds at their campus sites.
The winners advance to the four-team Kwik Trip WCHA Final Faceoff, held at AMSOIL Arena on the University of Minnesota Duluth campus. Teams will be reseeded, with semifinal games set for March 7 and winners playing in the championship game on Saturday, March 8, at AMSOIL Arena.
To read more about postseason conference tournaments, see here.
