The 1959–60 NCAA men's ice hockey season began in November 1959 and concluded with the 1960 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament's championship game on March 19, 1960 at the Boston Arena in Boston, Massachusetts. This was the 13th season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held and is the 66th year overall where an NCAA school fielded a team.
This was the first season of play for the WCHA. All seven universities were the same from the previous MCHL/WIHL conference that dissolved after the 1957–58 season. Michigan, Michigan State and Minnesota would continue with both the Big Ten and the WCHA concurrently until 1981 when Michigan and Michigan State left the WCHA and no longer played sufficient games against the other Big Ten schools to warrant the continuation of the Big Ten ice hockey conference.
The creation of the WCHA also brought the first formalized conference tournament in NCAA hockey history with the winner(s) receiving the first automatic bids into the postseason championship.
Regular season
Season tournaments Tournament Dates Teams Champion Boston Arena Christmas Tournament December 26–30 7 Toronto Bowdoin Christmas Tournament December 21–23 8 Brown Rensselaer Holiday Tournament December 30–January 2 4 North Dakota Beanpot February 8, 15 4 Harvard
Standings
1960 NCAA Tournament
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
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 Junior Middlebury 22 77 19 96 - Senior Hamilton - 40 32 72 - Junior St. Lawrence 24 34 38 72 4 Junior Denver 34 21 46 67 2 Senior North Dakota 31 34 31 65 12 Senior Boston University - 33 26 59 - Senior Michigan Tech 32 26 31 57 2 Junior Northeastern 24 25 31 56 15 Senior Denver 34 30 25 55 34 Senior Michigan Tech 32 24 31 55 30
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 Sophomore Northeastern 11 - - - - - - .846 1.73 Junior Denver 34 - 27 4 3 - 2 .900 2.50 Sophomore Army 22 1328 16 5 1 62 2 .888 2.80 Sophomore Rensselaer 14 - - - - - - .876 2.97 Junior New Hampshire 13 705 6 5 0 35 2 .900 2.98 Junior Boston University 17 - 12 5 0 - - .907 3.24 Senior Michigan Tech 30 - - - - - - .889 3.26 Junior North Dakota 30 - - - - - 1 .873 3.33 Sophomore Minnesota 19 - - - - - - .877 3.89 Sophomore Yale - - - - - - - - 3.90
Awards
NCAA Award RecipientSpencer Penrose Award Jack Riley, ArmyMost Outstanding Player in NCAA Tournament Lou Angotti, Michigan Tech Bob Marquis, Boston University Barry Urbanski, Boston UniversityAHCA All-American Teams East Team Position West Team Tom Wahman, Dartmouth G George Cuculick, Michigan Tech Red Martin, Boston College D Marty Howe, Denver Rusty Ingersoll, Dartmouth D George Konik, Denver Terry Slater, St. Lawrence F Paul Coppo, Michigan Tech Phil Latreille, Middlebury F Reg Morelli, North Dakota Art Chisholm, Northeastern F Bill Masterton, Denver
WCHA Award RecipientSophomore of the Year George Kirkwood, Denver Lou Angotti, Michigan TechCoach of the Year John MacInnes, Michigan TechAll-WCHA Teams First Team Position Second Team George Kirkwood, Denver G George Cuculick, Michigan Tech Marty Howe, Denver D Guy LaFrance, North Dakota Henry Akervall, Michigan Tech D George Konik, Denver Reg Morelli, North Dakota F Gerald Fabbro, Michigan Tech Bill Masterton, Denver F John MacMillan, Denver John Kosiancic, Michigan Tech F Paul Coppo, Michigan Tech
References
External links College Hockey Historical Archives 1959–60 NCAA Standings