2026 Women’s Conference Tournaments
The five Division I women’s conferences each hold a postseason tournament to determine which team earns their automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Atlantic Hockey America:
Format: The chase for the Robert DiGregorio Cup will include all seven Atlantic Hockey America teams. The postseason will open with a first-round game on Thursday, Feb. 19 between the No. 6 and No. 7 seeds at the site of the No. 3 seed. The winner will advance to the single-game quarterfinal round which is slated for Feb. 21. The No. 3 seed will host the winner of the first-round game, while the No. 4 seed will host the No. 5 seed.
The quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinals with the lowest remaining seed traveling to the No. 1 seed and the second-lowest remaining seed visiting the No. 2 seed for a best-of-three-series from Feb. 27-March 1.
The AHA postseason will conclude on March 7 when the two semifinal winners meet at the home of the highest-seeded semifinal winner for one game to determine the 2026 AHA postseason champion.
More Information: AtlanticHockeyAmerica.com
ECAC Hockey
Format: The ECAC Playoffs get underway Feb. 20 or 21 with a single-elimination first round of seeds five through eight hosting seeds nine through 12. The winners advance to the league’s best-of-three quarterfinals, hosted Feb. 27-March 1 by the highest-remaining seeds.
Beginning this year, championship weekend will take place in Lake Placid, N.Y., with the semifinals on March 20 and the title game on March 21.
More Information: ECACHockey.com
Hockey East
Format: All 10 Hockey East programs will compete in a single-elimination postseason tournament for the Bertagna Trophy.
Seeds seven and eight will host seeds 10 and nine, respectively, in the opening round on Wednesday, February 25 while the top six seeds receive a bye into the quarterfinals. After a reseeding, the top two seeds will host the winners of the opening round while the three seed will host the six seed and the four seed will host the five seed. These quarterfinal games are scheduled to be played on Saturday, February 28.
Semifinals will take place the following week and the championship will be televised nationally on ESPNEWS on Saturday, March 7 at 3:00 p.m. ET.
More Information: HockeyEastOnline.com
NEWHA
Format: The league’s top four seeds will host a first-round best-of-three series on campus sites Feb. 27-March 1. The winners of those series will advance to a single-elimination semifinal game, hosted by the highest two seeds, on Wednesday, March 4. The NEWHA championship game is scheduled for Saturday, March 7 at the site of the highest-remaining seed.
More Information: NEWHAonline.com
WCHA
Format: The 2026 WCHA postseason begins with all eight teams in competition on Friday, Feb 27 to Mar. 1, 2026, with the best-of-three WCHA First Round. Based on their finish in the regular season standings, the top four seeds host the bottom four seeds at their home campus sites.
The winners of the best-of-three series then advance to the four-team 2026 Kwik Trip WCHA Final Faceoff.
The 2026 Kwik Trip WCHA Final Faceoff will be hosted by the University of St. Thomas and held at the brand-new state-of-the-art Lee & Penny Anderson Arena. Semifinal takes place on Thursday, March 5. The two winners of the semifinal games will then advance to the Kwik Trip WCHA Final Faceoff championship game, which will be played on Saturday, March 7.
More Information: WCHA.com