LAKE PLACID, N.Y. --- Forget about March as being college basketball's month for Madness, instead it's hockey madness all next month in Lake Placid, N.Y. Conference and national champions will be crowned and Olympic legends return to the same arena where Americans were asked if they believe in miracles.

The excitement begins March 16-17, when the ECAC Hockey Men’s Championship returns to Lake Placid for a fifth straight postseason. The prestigious conference's top four post-season teams come to the Olympic Center each hoping to earn an automatic bid to play in the NCAA Championship Tournament. Last year, Harvard skated to the conference’s famed Whitelaw Cup en route to an appearance in the NCAA National Championship’s Frozen Four.

The two semifinal games are slated for Friday, March 16, at 4 and 7:30 p.m., while the Saturday, March 17, championship matchup is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

The following weekend, March 23-24, the NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey National Championship returns to Lake Placid for a record seventh time. The semifinal games, on March 23, begin at 4 and 7:30 p.m., while the championship contest, the following night, gets underway at 7 p.m.

Ticket and event information for each of these events can be found by visiting http://www.whiteface.com/activities-events/events.

The hockey madness wraps up, when 56 “Campers” join several players from the famed 1980 U.S. Olympic gold medal winning hockey team during the fourth annual Miracle on Ice Fantasy Camp. The March 25-26 camp brings together hockey enthusiasts and America’s most beloved hockey team, in the exact arena where the U.S. squad upset the favored Soviet Union 4-3, in what is known worldwide as the “Miracle on Ice.”

The camp is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to connect with the greatest sports moment of all time in the relaxed and friendly atmosphere that is Lake Placid.

For more information about the fourth annual Miracle on Ice Fantasy Camp, click HERE.

All media interested in attending and covering the three events are required to complete a media credential application. The ECAC Men’s Ice Hockey Championship and the Miracle on Ice Fantasy Camp credential applications are available HERE. The NCAA Div. III Men’s Ice Hockey National Championship credential application is found HERE.

Completed ECAC Hockey Men’s Championship and NCAA Div. III Men’s Ice Hockey Championship credentials applications are due no later than March 12, while the Miracle on Ice Fantasy Camp credential application will be accepted through March 19.

Photos Courtesy, ORDA/ Whiteface Lake Placid

ECAC Men’s Ice Hockey Championship, https://www.flickr.com/photos/whitefacemountain/albums/72157649136680704

Miracle on Ice Fantasy Camp, https://www.flickr.com/photos/whitefacemountain/albums/72157651152976058

-- ORDA --

Established in 1982, the New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) was created by the State of New York to manage the facilities used during the 1980 Olympic Winter Games at Lake Placid. ORDA operates Whiteface, Belleayre and Gore Mountain ski areas; the Olympic Sports Complex at Mt. Van Hoevenberg; the Olympic speed skating oval, Olympic jumping complex and Olympic arena. As host to international and national championships, the Authority has brought millions of athletes, spectator and participants to the region, resulting in significant economic development.