Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the final four games were played at the Fleet Center in Boston, Massachusetts, the home venue of the NHL's Boston Bruins.
By winning the tournament, Boston University received the Hockey East's automatic bid to the 1997 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The team that finishes ninth in the conference is not eligible for tournament play.
In the semifinals, the highest and lowest seeds and second-highest and second-lowest seeds play a single elimination game, with the winners advancing to the championship game and the losers meeting in a third-place game.
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against [4] Teams are reseeded after the quarterfinals Note: * denotes overtime period(s)