ALBANY, N.Y. --- Tickets are on sale now for the 2014 ECAC Hockey men’s championships, March 21-22, in Lake Placid, N.Y.  Lake Placid last played host to the tournament from 1993-2002 and the event marks the 53^rd overall conference championship.

The four top teams coming from the league’s quarterfinal tournament round will battle it out on the ice looking to capture the Whitelaw Cup and an automatic bid to the 67^th annual NCAA Division I men’s hockey tournament. The two semifinal games will take place Friday, March 21, at 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and the championship game will be played Saturday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m.

All-session tickets can be purchased by calling the Lake Placid Olympic Center box office at 518-523-3330, or by visiting www.tickets.com. Tickets are priced at $50 for adults (ages 13-64), and $40 for juniors (12 & under) and seniors (65 & older), along with a special student ticket of $20 available, student identification card required, at the campuses of the four participating teams and a special designated ticket window at the 1980 Rink - Herb Brooks Arena box office.

Last year, reigning tournament champion Union successfully defended its title by downing upstart Brown, 3-1. The back-to-back tournament titles by the Dutchmen were the first in the league since St. Lawrence captured two consecutive crowns in 2000 and 2001 in Lake Placid.

Led by fifth ranked Quinnipiac, five conference teams found their way into this week’s USCHO.Com top-25 poll.  The Bobcats, last year’s national championship runner-up, are off to an 8-1-0 record.  The defending national champions, Yale University, moved up two spots this week to number-nine.  The Bulldogs are 2-1-1 to begin the season.

RPI, Cornell and Clarkson also made the list of top 25 schools.  The Engineers (5-2-1) find themselves at number-10, while the Big Red (3-1-0) sit 15^th.  The Golden Knights were picked to last in ECAC hockey by the conference’s coaches, but with a 7-2-1 mark they climbed one spot to number 16.

Minnesota (5-0-1) took all 50 first place votes and held onto the top spot for the third straight week.  The Golden Gophers are followed by Michigan (6-1-1), at number-two, and St. Cloud State (5-0-1) at number-three.  The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (6-2-0) are fourth.

For more information about the ECAC Hockey championship tournament and all of the events taking place on ORDA’s Olympic venues, log onto www.whitefacelakeplacid.com.

-- 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.