1972–73 NCAA University Division men's ice hockey season

The 1972–73 NCAA University Division men's ice hockey season began in November 1972 and concluded with the 1973 NCAA University Division Men's Ice Hockey Tournament's championship game on March 17, 1973 at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. This was the 26th season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held and is the 79th year overall where an NCAA school fielded a team.

After the season Denver's participation in the NCAA tournament was vacated due to violations of NCAA regulations.

After the season Army was classified as a Division II squad as part of the NCAA's numerical classification system.

Lake Superior State began to sponsor their ice hockey program and the team was promptly admitted into the CCHA.

Season Outlook Pre-season poll The top teams in the nation voted on by coaches before the start of the season.

Bob Olson, owner of radio station WMPL, started compiling a national poll in 1972. WMPL PollRankTeam1 Wisconsin (5)2 North Dakota (1)3 Harvard4 Denver5 Michigan Tech (1)6 Cornell7 Boston College (1)8 Notre Dame9 Boston University10 Clarkson

Pre-season conference polls Conference pre-season polls as voted on by coaches. ECAC PollRankTeam1 Harvard2 Cornell3 Boston University4 Clarkson5 Pennsylvania6 Rensselaer7 New Hampshire (1)8 Providence9 Brown10 Boston College11 Dartmouth12 St. Lawrence13 Yale14 Colgate15 Northeastern16 Princeton17 Army CCHA PollRankTeam1 Saint Louis2 Bowling Green3 Lake Superior State4 Ohio State5 Ohio WCHA PollRankTeam1 Wisconsin (7)2 North Dakota (2)3 Denver4 Michigan Tech (1)5 Notre Dame6 Michigan State7 Minnesota Duluth8 Colorado College9 Minnesota10 Michigan

Regular season Season tournaments Tournament Dates Teams Champion Christmas City of the North Tournament November 23–25 4 Minnesota–Duluth† North Country Thanksgiving Festival November 23–25 4 Clarkson Cleveland Cup Invitational November 29–30 4 Michigan State Yale Invitational December 18–19 4 Northeastern ECAC Christmas Tournament December 19–20 4 Dartmouth ECAC Holiday Hockey Festival December 19–20 4 Saint Louis Great Lakes Invitational December 27–28 4 Harvard Williams Invitational December 27–29 4 Bowdoin Rensselaer Holiday Tournament December 28–30 4 Minnesota–Duluth St. Louis Fireman's Invitational December 28–30 4 Wisconsin Nichols School Invitational December 29–30 4 St. Lawrence Syracuse Invitational December 29–30 4 Clarkson Beanpot February 5, 12 4 Boston University †Boston University won the tournament but was forced to forfeit each of the three games played after the conclusion of the season.

Standings

Final regular season polls The final top 10 teams as ranked by coaches (WMPL) before the conference tournament finals. WMPL Media PollRankingTeam1 Denver (5)2 Wisconsin3 Cornell (2)4 Notre Dame5 Harvard (1)6 Boston University (1)7 Boston College8 Michigan State9 Michigan Tech10 Saint Louis

1973 NCAA Tournament

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)Note: † Denver's participation was later vacated due to NCAA violations

Player stats Scoring leaders 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 Sophomore Saint Louis 38 47 49 96 22 Junior Notre Dame 38 43 47 90 38 Junior Saint Louis 38 37 46 83 6 Junior Saint Louis 38 31 47 78 8 Sophomore Army - 39 33 72 - Junior Denver 38 32 40 72 18 Sophomore Saint Louis 38 26 46 72 20 Junior Notre Dame 35 35 34 69 54 Junior Cornell 29 25 44 69 18 Junior Ohio State 30 33 35 68 44

Leading goaltenders 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 Senior Denver 35 2094 27 7 1 102 2 .921 2.90 Sophomore Boston University 27 1612 - - - 79 0 .911 2.94 Junior Cornell 29 - - - - - - .905 3.06 Sophomore Michigan Tech 17 1031 11 4 1 55 0 .905 3.20 Junior Minnesota 23 1345 - - - 74 0 .906 3.30 Freshman New Hampshire 20 1200 9 7 2 67 1 .897 3.35 Sophomore Wisconsin 17 1021 - - - 58 2 .892 3.41 Senior Clarkson 14 789 11 - - 46 2 .893 3.50 Sophomore Boston College 20 1180 15 4 1 70 1 .895 3.56 Junior Rensselaer 30 1800 - - - 109 1 .898 3.63

Awards

NCAA Award RecipientSpencer Penrose Award Len Ceglarski, Boston CollegeMost Outstanding Player in NCAA Tournament Dean Talafous, WisconsinAHCA All-American Teams East Team   Position   West Team Ed Walsh, Boston University G Ron Grahame, Denver Tom Mellor, Boston College D Bob Boyd, Michigan State Keith Smith, Brown D Bill Nyrop, Notre Dame Gordie Clark, New Hampshire F Pat Boutette, Minnesota-Duluth Steve Dolloff, Boston University F Eddie Bumbacco, Notre Dame Bob McManama, Harvard F Rob Palmer, Denver

CCHA No AwardsAll-CCHA Teams First Team   Position   Second Team Ralph Kloiber, Saint Louis G Don Boyd, Bowling Green G Don Muio, Lake Superior State Roger Archer, Bowling Green D Chuck Gyles, Bowling Green Bill Slewidge, Lake Superior State D Jim Witherspoon, Ohio State Rick Kennedy, Saint Louis F Julio Francella, Lake Superior State John Nestic, Saint Louis F Mike Bartley, Bowling Green Ray Meyers, Ohio State F Dave Davies, Saint Louis

ECAC Award RecipientPlayer of the Year Tom Mellor, Boston CollegeRookie of the Year Vic Stanfield, Boston UniversityMost Outstanding Player in Tournament Carlo Ugolini, CornellAll-ECAC Hockey Teams First Team   Position   Second Team Ned Yetten, Boston College G Don Cutts, Rensselaer Tom Mellor, Boston College D Bill Murray, Cornell Vic Stanfield, Boston University D Keith Smith, Brown Gordie Clark, New Hampshire F Bill Corkery, Harvard Bob McManama, Harvard F Steve Dolloff, Boston University Carlo Ugolini, Cornell F Dave Wisener, Boston University

WCHA Award RecipientMost Valuable Player Ron Grahame, DenverFreshman of the Year Mike Zuke, Michigan TechCoach of the Year Lefty Smith, Notre DameAll-WCHA Teams First Team   Position   Second Team Ron Grahame, Denver G Jim Makey, Wisconsin Bob Boyd, Michigan State D Bill Nyrop, Notre Dame Bruce Affleck, Denver D Jim Nahrgang, Michigan Tech Rob Palmer, Denver F Ian Williams, Notre Dame Eddie Bumbacco, Notre Dame F Norm Cherrey, Wisconsin Peter McNab, Denver F Pat Boutette, Minnesota-Duluth

1973 NHL Amateur Draft

Round Pick Player College Conference NHL team 3 46 ‡ Notre Dame WCHA 4 53 Wisconsin WCHA 4 56 North Dakota WCHA 5 67 Boston University ECAC Hockey 5 69 Lake Superior State CCHA 6 81 Brown ECAC Hockey 7 97 Rensselaer ECAC Hockey 7 101 Wisconsin WCHA 7 108 Denver WCHA 8 117 North Dakota WCHA 8 122 Michigan State WCHA 8 123 † Michigan Tech WCHA 9 129 Michigan Tech WCHA 9 132 Wisconsin WCHA 9 136 Wisconsin WCHA 9 140 Wisconsin WCHA 9 141 Wisconsin WCHA 10 144 Clarkson ECAC Hockey 10 147 Cornell ECAC Hockey 10 154 North Dakota WCHA 10 155 Denver WCHA 10 156 North Dakota WCHA 11 160 Michigan WCHA 11 162 Michigan WCHA 12 167 New Hampshire ECAC Hockey † incoming freshman ‡ John Campbell had left school after the previous season

See also 1972–73 NCAA College Division men's ice hockey season

References

External links College Hockey Historical Archives 1972–73 NCAA Standings