The Hockey East Tournament is organized by the Hockey East Association. The Hockey East Association is a college athletic conference. The association is based in New England. The Hockey East Tournament takes place under the NCAA Division I. But the conference is seen as a hockey-only conference. The association came in to existence in 1984. The members of the association split in to what is now known as the ECAC hockey. The aim was to emulate the Big East Conference. This conference has rapidly grown since its creation. The women's league of the Hockey East Association was formed in 2002.
The Hockey East Championship tournament for men was held for the first time in Boston in 1987 at the Fleet Centre. The finals and the semi finals of the game are held on consecutive nights. The quarter finals are held on the earlier weekend. The top 8 teams take part in the quarter finals. The Hockey East Championship tournament for women is being held in Boston since its inception in 2003 till date. It was hosted in the north eastern Mathew's Arena in 2003 and 2004. In 2005 it moved to the Walter Brown Arena. In 2007 it was held at the UNH's Whittemore Centre.
The game has witnessed some of the big colleges taking part in the competition and some impressive college teams have also won the tournament. The Hockey East Tournament is now held every year on different dates for both male and female college hockey teams.
