No. 1 UMass Lowell vs. No. 4 Notre Dame – Fri. 3/17 at TD Garden

- No. 1 UMass Lowell heads into the semifinal round of the Hockey East Tournament for the fifth straight year. The regular season tri-champion River Hawks have advanced to the championship game in each of the last four of those years, taking home the Lamoriello trophy in 2013 and 2014.

- No. 4 Notre Dame advanced out of the quarterfinal round for the first time since the 2013-14 season. The Irish were knocked out of the tournament twice by the River Hawks, including the 2014 the semifinals back and the quarterfinals in 2014-15.

- UMass Lowell's Joe Gambardella (Staten Island, N.Y.) was honored with the Len Ceglarski Sportsmanship Award for the second straight year.

- Notre Dame earned several season-long awards on the year, including the Charlie Holt Team Sportsmanship Award for being the least penalized team in league play. Junior forward Anders Bjork (Mequon, Wis.) was tabbed as one of the three recipients of the Army ROTC Three Stars Award, while freshman Andrew Peeke (Parkland, Fla.) was named to the Pro Ambitions All-Rookie Team.

- The Irish captain, junior goaltender Cal Petersen (Waterloo, Iowa), has been named as one of the ten semifinalists for the Mike Richter Award, which will be handed out to the top goaltender in the country at the 2017 Frozen Four.

- Bjork was also named a Hobey Baker Top-10 Finalist on March 15. Bjork becomes just the second player ever to be named a Hobey Baker Top-10 Finalist and also a finalist for the Hockey Humanitarian Award.

No. 2 Boston University vs. No. 3 Boston College – Fri. 3/17 at TD Garden

- No. 2 Boston University and No. 3 Boston College both posted an identical 13-6-3 record during regular season play to earn a share of the regular season Hockey East crown.

- After each team earned a bye in the opening round of the tournament, the Terriers and Eagles both swept the competition in the quarterfinal round to move on to the TD Garden. BU dropped Northeastern, while BC rolled past Vermont.

- The two are set to meet for the fifth time in history in the Hockey East semifinals. The Terriers have advanced past the Eagles in three out of the past four meetings.

- Three Terrier newcomers were named to the Pro Ambitions All-Rookie team, forwards Patrick Harper (New Canaan, Conn.) and Clayton Keller (Swansea, Ill.), as well as goaltender Jake Oettinger (Lakeville, Minn.). Keller was also named one of the three recipients of the Army ROTC Three Stars Award.

- Oettinger was named a semifinalist for the Mike Richter Award, given to the nation's best goaltender.

- Boston College also took home a few awards on the season. Freshman goaltender Joseph Woll (Dardenne Prairie, Mo.) joined the league's top rookies as one of two goalies on the Pro Ambitions All-Rookie Team.

- The Eagles' assistant captain, Austin Cangelosi (Estero, Fla.), took home the Gladiator Custom Mouthguards Best Defensive Forward Award.

- The Hockey East Tournament Championship weekend will be shown live across New England on NESN, while fans outside of New England will be able to stream the three games live on ESPN3.