The tournament featured four rounds of play. In the first round, the seventh and tenth seeds and eighth and ninth seeds played a single game with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals. There, the first seed and lower-ranked first-round winner, the second seed and higher-ranked first-round winner, the third and sixth seeds, and the fourth and fifth seeds played a best-of-three series, with the winner advancing to the semifinals. In the semifinals, the highest and lowest seeds and second-highest and second-lowest seeds played a single game each, with the winners advancing to the championship game. The tournament champion received an automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament.
Regular season standings
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against