# 2004 Hockey East men's ice hockey tournament

The 2004 Hockey East Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 20th Tournament in the history of the conference. It was played between March 11 and March 20, 2004. Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the final four games were played at the Fleet Center in Boston, Massachusetts, the home venue of the NHL's Boston Bruins. By winning the tournament Maine received the Hockey East's automatic bid to the 2004 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. As of 2024, this remains the last time the tournament was won by a school outside of Massachusetts.

## Format

The tournament featured three rounds of play. The team that finishes ninth in the conference is not eligible for tournament play. In the first round, the first and eighth seeds, the second and seventh seeds, the third seed and sixth seeds, and the fourth seed and fifth seeds played a best-of-three with the winner advancing to the semifinals. In the semifinals, the highest and lowest seeds and second highest and second lowest seeds play a single-elimination game, with the winner advancing to the championship game. The tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the 2004 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
2003–04 Hockey East standingsvte :
| | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall |
| | GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #3 Boston College† | 24 | 17 | 4 | 3 | 37 | 88 | 45 | 42 | 29 | 9 | 4 | 143 | 81 |
| #2 Maine* | 24 | 17 | 5 | 2 | 36 | 77 | 42 | 44 | 33 | 8 | 3 | 141 | 69 |
| Massachusetts | 24 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 27 | 47 | 63 | 37 | 17 | 14 | 6 | 93 | 99 |
| #11 New Hampshire | 24 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 26 | 82 | 76 | 41 | 20 | 15 | 6 | 138 | 116 |
| Providence | 24 | 7 | 11 | 6 | 20 | 63 | 66 | 37 | 16 | 14 | 7 | 106 | 92 |
| Massachusetts–Lowell | 24 | 7 | 12 | 5 | 19 | 56 | 65 | 40 | 15 | 18 | 7 | 105 | 116 |
| Merrimack | 24 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 18 | 53 | 79 | 36 | 11 | 19 | 6 | 86 | 110 |
| Boston University | 24 | 6 | 13 | 5 | 17 | 57 | 71 | 38 | 12 | 17 | 9 | 103 | 108 |
| Northeastern | 24 | 5 | 13 | 6 | 16 | 56 | 72 | 34 | 11 | 16 | 7 | 92 | 103 |
| Championship: Maine † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Final rankings: USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Poll Top 15 Poll |||||||||||||||

## Bracket

| Quarterfinals March 11–13 | Quarterfinals March 11–13 | Quarterfinals March 11–13 | Quarterfinals March 11–13 | Quarterfinals March 11–13 | | | Semifinals March 19 | Semifinals March 19 | Semifinals March 19 | Championship March 20 | Championship March 20 | Championship March 20 |
| 1 | Boston College | 2 | 4 | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Boston University | 3 | 0 | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Boston University | 3 | 0 | 4 | | | 2 | Maine | 1 | | | |
| | | | | | | | 8 | Boston University | 0 | | | |
| 2 | Maine | 2 | 3 | — | | | 8 | Boston University | 0 | | | |
| 7 | Merrimack | 1 | 2 | — | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Merrimack | 1 | 2 | — | | | | | | 2 | Maine | 2*** |
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | 2 | Maine | 2*** |
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | 3 | Massachusetts | 1 |
| 3 | Massachusetts | 6 | 3 | – | | | | | | | | | 3 | Massachusetts | 1 |
| 6 | Massachusetts-Lowell | 3 | 1 | – | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Massachusetts-Lowell | 3 | 1 | – | | | 3 | Massachusetts | 5 | | | |
| | | | | | | | 4 | New Hampshire | 2 | | | |
| 4 | New Hampshire | 2 | 3 | 1 | | | 4 | New Hampshire | 2 | | | |
| 5 | Providence | 1 | 4* | 0 | | | | | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

### Quarterfinals
#### (1) Boston College vs. (8) Boston University

* Boston University won series 2–1

#### (2) Maine vs. (7) Merrimack

* Maine won series 2–0

#### (3) Massachusetts vs. (6) Massachusetts-Lowell

* Massachusetts won series 2–0

#### (4) New Hampshire vs. (5) Providence

* New Hampshire won series 2–1

### Championship
#### (2) Maine vs. (3) Massachusetts
## Tournament awards
### All-Tournament Team

* F Greg Mauldin (Massachusetts)
* F Colin Shields (Maine)
* F Mike Warner (Massachusetts)
* D Thomas Pöck (Massachusetts)
* D Prestin Ryan (Maine)
* G Jimmy Howard* (Maine)
* Tournament MVP(s)

### Tournament Three Stars

* 3 Dustin Penner (Maine)
* 2 Thomas Pöck (Massachusetts)
* 1 Jimmy Howard (Maine)