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Hockey East men’s championship heading back to the Garden

After one cancelation and one year on campus sites, the league's semifinals and finals are back on the big stage.

UMass-Lowell hoisted the Lamoriello Trophy at TD Garden in 2014, and the River Hawks enter this year's Hockey East tournament among the favorites to skate the prize again. The Boston Globe

By Dave D'Onofrio

2 minutes to read

The banner hanging high in the rafters at TD Garden recognizes UMass as the 2021 Hockey East men’s champions, and rightfully so. The Minutemen did indeed conquer the conference on their way to winning a national title last year – but unlike the others who’ve been so honored by that banner, they didn’t get to see it go up while celebrating. Due to COVID circumstances, 2021 Hockey East tournament games were played entirely at campus sites.

This year, though, the league winner will once again be recognized on Boston’s biggest hockey stage, and get to pose in a pile as its achievement ascends up to the rarified air reserved for those flags acknowledging the triumphs of the Bruins and Celtics and some of the best athletes ever to play for Boston.

For the first time since 2019, the Hockey East men’s championships return to TD Garden this March, with the tournament’s two semifinals set for March 18, and the title tilt to follow a night later. As always, the Lamoriello Trophy and an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament will be at stake.

Breaking from tradition, though, is how the teams will earn their way to the Garden. The league has featured a number of formats over the years, including the need for teams to initially qualify and then win best-of-three series in the opening round, but this year all 11 teams earn a spot in the postseason.

All they’re guaranteed is a game, though, as every round of the tournament is now single-elimination. The top five teams will earn a bye, then after reseeding the remaining eight teams will face off at the home barn of the higher seed to settle the matter of which four semifinalists will meet on Causeway Street.

Tickets for the general public are on sale now, with balcony seats for as little as $22.50 – or $15.50 with a valid student ID at the Garden box office on game day. Worth noting, too, is that the Friday semifinal ticket is good for both games that evening. Saturday’s championship is a separate admission. Additional tickets will be made available through the four surviving schools on the Monday following the quarterfinals.