# 2012 Hockey East men's ice hockey tournament

The 2012 Hockey East Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was played between March 8 and March 17, 2012 at campus locations and at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston College Eagles won their eleventh Hockey East Tournament and earned the Hockey East's automatic bid into the 2012 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

## Format

The tournament featured three rounds of play. The teams that finish below eighth in the conference are 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 2012 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

## Regular season standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against
2011–12 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 |
| #1 Boston College†* | 27 | 19 | 7 | 1 | 39 | 96 | 60 | 44 | 33 | 10 | 1 | 157 | 89 |
| #11 Boston University | 27 | 17 | 9 | 1 | 35 | 101 | 70 | 39 | 23 | 15 | 1 | 139 | 112 |
| #9 Massachusetts–Lowell | 27 | 17 | 9 | 1 | 35 | 90 | 68 | 38 | 24 | 13 | 1 | 126 | 94 |
| #13 Maine | 27 | 15 | 10 | 2 | 32 | 91 | 80 | 40 | 23 | 14 | 3 | 133 | 114 |
| #17 Merrimack | 27 | 13 | 9 | 5 | 31 | 70 | 65 | 37 | 18 | 12 | 7 | 102 | 83 |
| New Hampshire | 27 | 11 | 14 | 2 | 24 | 68 | 74 | 37 | 15 | 19 | 3 | 108 | 110 |
| Providence | 27 | 10 | 14 | 3 | 23 | 68 | 89 | 38 | 14 | 20 | 4 | 94 | 122 |
| Massachusetts | 27 | 9 | 14 | 4 | 22 | 83 | 92 | 36 | 13 | 18 | 5 | 114 | 118 |
| Northeastern | 27 | 9 | 14 | 4 | 22 | 73 | 82 | 34 | 13 | 16 | 5 | 97 | 101 |
| Vermont | 27 | 3 | 23 | 1 | 7 | 54 | 114 | 34 | 6 | 27 | 1 | 73 | 140 |
| Championship: Boston College 4, Maine 1 † indicates conference regular season champion; * indicates conference tournament champion Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll |||||||||||||||

## Bracket

| Quarterfinals March 10–13 | Quarterfinals March 10–13 | Quarterfinals March 10–13 | Quarterfinals March 10–13 | Quarterfinals March 10–13 | | | Semifinals March 18 | Semifinals March 18 | Semifinals March 18 | Championship March 19 | Championship March 19 | Championship March 19 |
| 1 | Boston College | 2 | 3 | — | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Massachusetts | 1 | 2 | — | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Massachusetts | 1 | 2 | — | | | 1 | Boston College | 4 | | | |
| | | | | | | | 7 | Providence | 2 | | | |
| 2 | Massachusetts-Lowell | 3 | 3* | 0 | | | 7 | Providence | 2 | | | |
| 7 | Providence | 5 | 2 | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Providence | 5 | 2 | 1 | | | | | | 1 | Boston College | 4 |
| (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) | 1 | Boston College | 4 |
| (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) | 4 | Maine | 1 |
| 3 | Boston University | 2 | 4 | 5** | | | | | | | | | 4 | Maine | 1 |
| 6 | New Hampshire | 3** | 2 | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | New Hampshire | 3** | 2 | 4 | | | 3 | Boston University | 3 | | | |
| | | | | | | | 4 | Maine | 5 | | | |
| 4 | Maine | 2 | 2 | 2 | | | 4 | Maine | 5 | | | |
| 5 | Merrimack | 1 | 5 | 1 | | | | | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime periods

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

* Boston College Wins Series 2–0

#### (2) Massachusetts-Lowell vs. (7) Providence

* Providence Wins Series 2–1

#### (3) Boston University vs. (6) New Hampshire

* Boston University Wins Series 2–1

#### (4) Maine vs. (5) Merrimack

* Maine Wins Series 2–1

### Championship
#### (1) Boston College vs. (4) Maine
## Tournament awards
### All-Tournament Team

* F Alex Chiasson (Boston University)
* F Joey Diamond (Maine)
* F Johnny Gaudreau* (Boston College)
* D Brian Dumoulin (Boston College)
* D Will O'Neill (Maine)
* G Parker Milner (Boston College)
* Tournament MVP(s)