Cornell hockey teams have skated on East Hill and represented the University throughout the country for over one century. The Cornell hockey program exchanged its genetic home of Beebe Lake for Lynah Rink in 1957 after a decade-long hiatus. The program joined the modern era of college hockey when it helped found the ECAC, its current conference, in 1961.
The skaters of Cornell have won 42 championships. Among those championships are eight regular-season and 20 Ivy-League titles. It is the 14 remaining championships that those associated with Cornell hockey celebrate most. Tournament championships define fittingly Cornell hockey.
Cornell players relish the opportunity to prove that they can perform when in a mere moment a season of hard work could be for naught. It is the exhilaration of the deciding game or the challenge of single-elimination contests that sets the rhythmic heartbeat of Cornell hockey. Those players who led Cornell to playoff glory become immortal as banners boast of their accomplishments and generations of fans tell their tales.
The arc of Cornell hockey can be plotted finely through the stories of its tournament championships. Nearly 70% of all graduating classes have won a Whitelaw Cup or an NCAA national title since Cornell won its first tournament championship in 1967. A paltry seven graduating classes have not had the opportunity to compete for a championship in a deciding game over the same span. Cornell hockey is its championships.
These are the stories of those teams. They are stories of players, coaches, classmates, fans, and rivals. They are stories of the seemingly inevitable and the truly unexpected. They are why we never forget and why we choose to remember. Each championship tells a tale. Each is essential to the uniqueness and development of Cornell hockey. The players who claimed and the coaches who led their teams to victory will not be forgotten. These stories are theirs and ours.