# 1988 Hockey East men's ice hockey tournament

The 1988 Hockey East Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 4th Tournament in the history of the conference. It was played between March 3 and March 11, 1988. Quarterfinal and semifinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the final game was played at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, the home venue of the NHL's Boston Bruins. This was the final year the Hockey East championship was decided at a home venue to one of its member teams (as of 2014). By winning the tournament, Northeastern received the Hockey East's automatic bid to the 1988 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

## Format

The tournament featured three rounds of play. The team that finishes in seventh place is ineligible for tournament play. In the quarterfinals, the third seed and sixth seeds, and the fourth seed and fifth seeds played a two-game series where the team that scored the most total goals was declared the winner and advanced to the semifinals. In the semifinals, the first seed and lowest remaining quarterfinalist and second seed and highest remaining quarterfinalist each play additional two-game series with the winners advancing to the single-elimination championship game. The tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the 1988 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
1987–88 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 |
| Maine† | 26 | 20 | 4 | 2 | 44 | 159 | 90 | 44 | 34 | 8 | 2 | 259 | 144 |
| Northeastern* | 26 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 30 | 115 | 107 | 38 | 21 | 13 | 4 | 155 | 142 |
| Boston University | 26 | 11 | 12 | 3 | 25 | 116 | 117 | 34 | 14 | 17 | 3 | 150 | 154 |
| Lowell | 26 | 12 | 14 | 0 | 24 | 111 | 119 | 39 | 20 | 17 | 2 | 165 | 166 |
| Boston College | 26 | 10 | 14 | 2 | 22 | 104 | 119 | 34 | 13 | 18 | 3 | 132 | 151 |
| Providence | 26 | 8 | 13 | 5 | 21 | 97 | 119 | 36 | 13 | 18 | 5 | 135 | 165 |
| New Hampshire | 26 | 6 | 18 | 2 | 14 | 86 | 128 | 30 | 7 | 20 | 3 | 101 | 146 |
| Championship: Northeastern † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion |||||||||||||||

## Bracket

Teams are reseeded after the quarterfinals
| Quarterfinals March 4–5 | Quarterfinals March 4–5 | Quarterfinals March 4–5 | Quarterfinals March 4–5 | Semifinals March 8–10 | Semifinals March 8–10 | Semifinals March 8–10 | Semifinals March 8–10 | Championship March 14 | Championship March 14 | Championship March 14 |
| | | | | 1 | Maine | 6 | 11 | | | |
| 3 | Boston University | 2 | 4 | 6 | Providence | 5 | 2 | | | |
| 6 | Providence | 3 | 6 | | | | | 1 | Maine | 3 |
| | | | | | | | | 2 | Northeastern | 4 |
| | | | | 2 | Northeastern | 3 | 1 | | | |
| 4 | Lowell | 3 | 5 | 4 | Lowell | 1 | 2 | | | |
| 5 | Boston College | 3 | 2 | | | | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

### Quarterfinals
#### (3) Boston University vs. (6) Providence

* Providence won series 9–6

#### (4) Lowell vs. (5) Boston College

* Lowell won series 8–5

### Semifinals
#### (1) Maine vs. (6) Providence

* Maine won series 17–7

#### (2) Northeastern vs. (4) Lowell

* Northeastern won series 4–3

### Championship
#### (1) Maine vs. (2) Northeastern
## Tournament awards
### All-Tournament Team

* F Mike McHugh (Maine)
* F Harry Mews (Northeastern)
* F Rico Rossi (Northeastern)
* F Mario Thyer (Maine)
* D Jack Capuano (Maine)
* D Brian Dowd (Northeastern)
* G Bruce Racine* (Northeastern)
* Tournament MVP(s)