1969–70 NCAA University Division men's ice hockey season

The 1969–70 NCAA University Division men's ice hockey season began in November 1969 and concluded with the 1970 NCAA University Division Men's Ice Hockey Tournament's championship game on March 21, 1970, at the Olympic Arena in Lake Placid, New York. This was the 23rd season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held and is the 76th year overall where an NCAA school fielded a team.

In 1969 the NCAA changed their bylaws to permit freshman to play on the Varsity team. Beginning with this season universities were permitted to not only have first-year students play for their teams but to also have said players earn letters for four seasons rather than the previous limit of three. As a consequence the WCHA offered both a Sophomore-of-the-Year and Freshman-of-the-Year awards with the previous being formally retired following the campaign.

Cornell finished the 1969–70 season with an undefeated record of 29–0, only the second flawless campaign in the modern history of Division I ice hockey. The previous unblemished season (Clarkson in 1955–56), however, came with a caveat as 8 Golden Knight players were 4-year seniors (a violation of NCAA regulations at the time).[1] As a result, the Clarkson team declined to play in the NCAA tournament. Cornell's undefeated team had no such issues and was able to compete in, and win, both their conference tournament and the NCAA tournament to become the first and thus far only undefeated NCAA champion (as of 2022).

Season Outlook

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Pre-season conference polls

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Conference pre-season polls as voted on by coaches. The ECAC coaches voted on the top 10 teams instead of the entire conference.

ECAC Poll
Rank Team
1 Cornell
2 Harvard
3 Boston University
4 Clarkson
5 Boston College
6 St. Lawrence
7 New Hampshire
8 Yale
9 Brown
10 Rensselaer
WCHA Poll
Rank Team
1 Denver
2 Michigan Tech
3 North Dakota
4 Michigan
5 Minnesota Duluth
6 Wisconsin
7 Minnesota
8 Michigan State
9 Colorado College

Regular season

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Season tournaments

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Tournament Dates Teams Champion
Christmas City of the North Tournament November 27–28 4 Michigan Tech
Cleveland Cup Tournament December 17–19 6 Bowling Green
Great Lakes Invitational December 19–20 4 New Hampshire
Big Ten Holiday Tournament December 21–23 4 Wisconsin
ECAC Holiday Hockey Festival December 22–23 4 Cornell
St. Louis Invitational December 28–29 4 Wisconsin
Boston Arena Christmas Tournament December 29–30 4 Boston University
Syracuse Invitational January 2–3 4 Cornell
Rensselaer Holiday Tournament January 2–4 4 Providence
Beanpot February 2, 9 4 Boston University

Standings

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Conference Overall
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Minnesota 12 8 4 0 16 48 41 33 21 12 0 122 112
Wisconsin 12 6 6 0 12 49 36 34 23 11 0 151 98
Michigan 12 5 7 0 10 47 53 30 14 16 0 133 122
Michigan State 12 5 7 0 10 40 49 29 13 16 0 112 124
indicates conference regular season champion
Conference Overall
GP W L T Pct. GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Cornell†* 21 21 0 0 1.000 142 39 29 29 0 0 179 56
Clarkson 17 14 3 0 .824 87 51 32 24 8 0 171 107
Boston University 22 17 5 0 .773 120 67 27 20 7 0 149 82
Harvard 20 14 6 0 .700 116 62 25 16 9 0 145 92
Brown 21 14 6 1 .690 104 70 24 15 8 1 117 81
Boston College 21 14 7 0 .667 116 86 26 16 10 0 143 116
New Hampshire 17 9 6 2 .588 98 73 31 19 10 2 172 120
Colgate 17 7 7 3 .500 65 69 24 14 7 3 117 86
St. Lawrence 17 8 9 0 .471 75 83 26 11 15 0 112 124
Providence 19 7 10 2 .421 65 85 25 11 12 2 89 107
Army 13 5 8 0 .385 32 50 25 13 12 0 72 79
Yale 22 6 16 0 .273 65 107 24 6 18 0 68 113
Dartmouth 19 5 14 0 .263 80 121 24 9 15 0 101 142
Princeton 21 5 15 1 .262 65 132 23 5 17 1 68 139
Rensselaer 17 3 13 1 .206 54 103 24 8 15 1 85 128
Pennsylvania 15 3 12 0 .200 46 80 24 8 16 0 88 114
Northeastern 17 1 16 0 .059 51 105 23 3 20 0 80 138
Championship: Cornell
indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion
Conference Overall
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Clarkson 4 4 0 0 8 21 11 32 24 8 0 171 107
Rensselaer 4 1 3 0 2 16 21 24 8 15 1 85 128
St. Lawrence 4 1 3 0 2 14 19 26 11 15 0 112 124
indicates conference regular season champion
Conference Overall
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Air Force 0 0 0 0 - - - 29 11 17 1 120 133
Alaska–Fairbanks 0 0 0 0 - - - 12 4 7 1 - -
Notre Dame 0 0 0 0 - - - 30 21 8 1 186 108
Ohio State 0 0 0 0 - - - 27 19 7 1 178 82
Conference Overall
GP W L T PCT GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Minnesota 26 18 8 0 .692 106 86 33 21 12 0 122 112
Denver 22 13 8 1 .614 96 78 32 21 10 1 153 107
Michigan Tech* 22 12 7 3 .614 98 79 34 19 12 3 148 127
Wisconsin* 22 12 10 0 .545 84 72 34 23 11 0 151 98
North Dakota 26 12 13 1 .481 98 114 30 14 15 1 115 131
Michigan 24 11 13 0 .458 106 104 30 14 16 0 133 122
Michigan State 22 10 12 0 .455 86 92 29 13 16 0 112 124
Minnesota-Duluth 24 10 13 1 .438 89 93 29 13 15 1 118 107
Colorado College 20 3 17 0 .150 70 115 30 7 22 1 117 154
Championship: Michigan Tech, Wisconsin
indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion

[2][3]

1970 NCAA Tournament

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Semifinals
March 19–20
National Championship
March 21
      
E1 Cornell 2
W2 Wisconsin 1
E1 Cornell 6
E2 Clarkson 4
W1 Michigan Tech 2
E2 Clarkson 4 Third Place Game
W1 Michigan Tech 5
W2 Wisconsin 6

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

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Player stats

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Scoring leaders

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The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the season.

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player Class Team GP G A Pts PIM
Tim Sheehy Senior Boston College 24 28 40 68 20
Louis Frigon Junior New Hampshire 31 27 36 63 24
Curt Bennett Junior Brown 24 26 37 63 22
Tommy Earl Senior Colgate - 37 25 62 -
Dan Lodboa Senior Cornell 29 24 37 61 40
John Noble Freshman Notre Dame 30 24 35 59 22
Jerry Kemp Sophomore Clarkson 32 35 22 57 24
George Morrison Junior Denver 32 30 27 57 12
John Hughes Senior Cornell 28 22 35 57 32
Bob Collyard Junior Colorado College 30 18 39 57 36

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Leading goaltenders

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The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average at the end of the regular season while playing at least 33% of their team's total minutes.

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Player Class Team GP Min W L OT GA SO SV% GAA
Brian Cropper Junior Cornell 29 1710 29 0 0 53 3 .921 1.86
Peter Ormiston Freshman New Hampshire - - - - - - .898 2.00
Tim Regan Sophomore Boston University 23 1340 - - - 63 2 .897 2.82
Wayne Thomas Junior Wisconsin 21 1250 14 7 0 60 1 - 2.88
Dan Scioletti Junior Army 23 1388 13 10 0 68 4 .904 2.94
Bruce Bullock Junior Clarkson 27 1550 19 - - 79 4 .897 3.06
Bill McKenzie Sophomore Ohio State 25 1500 - - - 79 4 - 3.16
Murray McLachlan Senior Minnesota 25 1500 18 7 0 81 2 .904 3.24
Donald McGinnis Senior Brown - 1441 - - - 79 1 .907 3.29
Ron Grahame Freshman Denver 30 1800 19 10 1 103 1 .883 3.43

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Awards

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WCHA

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Award[10] Recipient
Most Valuable Player Murray McLachlan, Minnesota
Freshman of the Year Murray Keogan, Minnesota-Duluth
Sophomore of the Year Don Thompson, Michigan State
Coach of the Year Glen Sonmor, Minnesota
All-WCHA Teams[11]
First Team   Position   Second Team
Murray McLachlan, Minnesota G Wayne Thomas, Wisconsin
John Marks, North Dakota D John Jagger, Wisconsin
Ron Busniuk, Minnesota-Duluth D Wally Olds, Minnesota
George Morrison, Denver F Bernie Gagnon, Michigan
Murray Keogan, Minnesota-Duluth F Murray Heatley, Wisconsin
Bob Collyard, Colorado College F Tom Gilmore, Denver
Round Pick Player College Conference NHL team
2 23 Murray Keogan Minnesota–Duluth WCHA St. Louis Blues
4 50 Bob Gryp Boston University ECAC Hockey Toronto Maple Leafs
4 56 Walt Ledingham Minnesota–Duluth WCHA Chicago Black Hawks
5 65 Mike Stevens Minnesota–Duluth WCHA St. Louis Blues
5 66 Rick Wilson North Dakota WCHA Montreal Canadiens
5 68 Tom Mellor Boston College ECAC Hockey Detroit Red Wings
6 80 Bob Brown Boston University ECAC Hockey Montreal Canadiens
6 83 Murray Wing North Dakota WCHA Boston Bruins
7 84 Tim Regan Boston University ECAC Hockey Buffalo Sabres
7 85 Jack Taggart Denver WCHA St. Louis Blues
7 95 Ed Hays Denver WCHA Detroit Red Wings
8 100 Al Henry North Dakota WCHA California Golden Seals
8 105 Ric Jordan Boston University ECAC Hockey Montreal Canadiens
9 108 Bob Winograd Colorado College WCHA St. Louis Blues
10 111 Mike Lampman Denver WCHA St. Louis Blues
11 112 Jeff Rotsch Wisconsin WCHA St. Louis Blues

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Harrison - Clarkson Athletic Hall of Fame". Clarkson Golden Knights. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  2. ^ "2008–09 ECAC Hockey Media Guide" (PDF). ECAC Hockey. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  3. ^ "2008–09 WCHA Yearbook 97-112" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  4. ^ "NCAA Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  5. ^ a b "1969–70 NCAA Division I Statistics". Elite Prospects. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  6. ^ "NCAA Division I Awards". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  7. ^ "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  8. ^ "ECAC Awards". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  9. ^ "ECAC All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  10. ^ "WCHA Awards". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  11. ^ "WCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  12. ^ "1970 NHL Amateur Draft". Hockey DB. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
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