March 17 is officially St. Patrick's Day, but another Big Green celebration in Hanover, New Hampshire, started early.

After 26 years -- spanning four decades and two centuries -- Dartmouth College sits atop the Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey League for the first time since 1979-80. They finished first in the Ivy League division that year, one of three divisions in the original ECAC that reorganized itself when some teams defected and established Hockey East in 1984-85.

An 8-1-1 record over the final 10 games, including two must-wins the final weekend in February over Clarkson, 5-2, and St. Lawrence, 3-0, put Dartmouth in a deadlock atop the league with Colgate, after the Raiders also eked out two final wins.

A February of Cornell inconsistencies, including a split with Rensselaer (2-0 loss) and Union (2-1 win) the final two games put a big hurt on Big Red, opening the door for Dartmouth and Colgate. The Big Green gained the top seed in league tournament pairings by virtue of its head-to-head record with the top four teams.

"I don't really have any reason for the parity factor," said ECACHL Commissioner Steve Hagwell. "Every year you think it's been as close as it will be and the next year it's even closer. It's pretty obvious we have good coaches, good recruiting and good players."

"There is parity across all of college hockey," said 13-year Colgate coach Don Vaughan. "Our league is similar to other leagues, especially in teams 1-6, and the goaltending is very strong."

For Vaughan's Colgate crew, it's their second title in the past three years; Colgate also achieved NCAA play in 2000 and 2005. "The game within the game, good special teams play, discipline, and limiting mistakes were our keys this season," assessed the 13-year coach. "We now need to lean on Mark Dekanich, Tyler Burton, Kyle Wilson, Jon Smyth and our young defensemen in postseason play."

"We all have a lot of pride in what we represent," said an excited Bob Gaudet, referring to Dartmouth's hockey history and its scholar-athlete focus. "This is the 100th year of hockey at Dartmouth. The atmosphere in Thompson Arena (that last game) was fantastic. We had a packed house and seeing the team awarded the Cleary Cup was very special."

One very good player in that history, one who exudes Big Green pride, is Gaudet. He led Dartmouth into NCAA play between the pipes in 1979 and 1980; that second Cinderella season ended in the national semifinal game when eventual champion North Dakota took out Gaudet and company, 4-1.

After some 20 consecutive years thereafter of consistent bottom-half finishes, Gaudet returned to his alma mater nine years ago to establish the rebuilding effort. Since 2000, Dartmouth has finished in the top-half of the league every season.

How does Gaudet summarize his link to 100 years of hockey in Hanover?

"I was proud to wear the jersey so many years ago," said Gaudet, "and I am honored to be the coach during this historic season. I owe so much to this place. We have had a lot of alums at games this year and some special recognition for many of the icons of the sport here throughout the year. I really feel that the guys have a clearer sense now that we represent something that is much bigger than ourselves."

The team also has a clear sense that a first NCAA appearance since Gaudet's playing days may require winning the league tournament, since Dartmouth's power-ranking -- the NCAA system used for at-large invitations -- finds the Big Green on the bubble.

"We will have some major challenges ahead," said Gaudet as his team preps for their quarterfinal series this weekend against Yale. Two wins and Dartmouth advances to the ECACHL semifinals.

"Playing with a good pace by rolling four lines and six D is important to our game," assessed Gaudet, "as well as playing solid team D; special teams is always big. I like the way this team works both on and off the ice, and good luck will also be important. I hope that we can earn a few good bounces along the way."

Colgate head coach Don Vaughan has led the Raiders to the ECAC title two out of the past three seasons.

Those four lines will be led up front by senior captain Mike Ouellette, along with David Jones, Eric Przepiorka, Nick Johnson, Tanner Glass and Jarrett Sampson. Add Mike Devine's 2.26 GAA in goal, and a solid core of defensemen anchored by Grant Lewis, Ben Lovejoy, Garret Overlock and Sean Offers to keep the bounces going Dartmouth's way.

"Ouellette has done a remarkable job of leading by example all season and keeping the guys together," Gaudet said.

Much like Gaudet did for the Big Green 26 years ago.

"When I was recruited, I really never heard of Dartmouth," said Ouellette, the team's heart-and-soul. "I was impressed with coach Gaudet's passion; he was the goalie back then, so he obviously was a big part of those teams. He built this program from nothing to national prominence, and has had a huge impact on the whole community. We used to have 200 people a game; now we have thousands."

Thousands will be in Thompson Arena this weekend; many more thousands on March 17 in Albany. Dartmouth certainly wears the right color to play on St. Patrick's Day. First, however, they need a few red lights this weekend against the Bulldogs as the 100th-year celebration keeps rolling along for Gaudet and his league co-champs from the hockey hamlet of Hanover, New Hampshire.

"We've been gearing toward this all season," offered Ouellette. "It's here now, and time to prove ourselves."

On Campus Clips -- The ECACHL wasn't the only league to feature a frantic finish to regular season play. Last weekend, Boston University won its first Hockey East title since 2000 with a 5-3 win Saturday night over Northeastern, leapfrogging past Boston College by one point after the Eagles lost to New Hampshire, 4-2. Holy Cross took the Atlantic Hockey title by a point over Mercyhurst with a win over Bentley in the Crusaders' finale. Niagara won its last four games down the stretch to top College Hockey America by two points over Alabama-Huntsville and Bemidji State. ... Miami of Ohio won the CCHA title over Michigan State by seven points. ... Minnesota took the WCHA crown by six points over Denver and Wisconsin. ... NCAA postseason play involves 16 teams. The winner of each of the six league tournaments next weekend gets an automatic bid; the remaining 10 at-large bids are determined by PairWise (power) rankings. Four teams are then seeded No. 1-4 in each of the four regionals played March 24-26 in Worcester, Mass., Albany, NY, Green Bay, Wis., and Grand Forks, ND; the winner of each regional advances to the Frozen Four in Milwaukee on April 6 and 8. ... Yale and Union played the longest men's hockey game in NCAA History Saturday night. After six hours and 10 minutes, Yale defeated Union, 3-2, in the fifth overtime. Official game time was 141:35, with David Meckler scoring shorthanded to win the game for Yale. The previous NCAA record was 129:30, set March 8, 1997, a Colorado College 1-0 win over Wisconsin. ... Nebraska Omaha junior Scott Parse took the scoring title with a 20-41-61 total; Minnesota's Ryan Potulny, also a junior, topped all goal scorers with 31.

NHL.com's current Top 10

1. Minnesota

2. Miami (Ohio)

3. Boston University

4. Wisconsin

5. Michigan State

6. Maine

7. Cornell

8. Colorado College

9. Denver

10. North Dakota

Bob Snow covers college hockey for NHL.com.