1911–12 Harvard Crimson men's ice hockey season

The 1911–12 Harvard Crimson men's ice hockey season was the 15th season of play for the program.

1911–12 Harvard Crimson
men's ice hockey season
ConferenceIndependent
Home iceBoston Arena
Record
Overall7–3–0
Home7–0–0
Road0–1–0
Neutral0–2–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachAlfred Winsor
Captain(s)Frederic Huntington
Harvard Crimson men's ice hockey seasons
« 1910–11 1912–13 »

Season

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During the offseason, Harvard had withdrawn from the Intercollegiate Hockey Association.[1] The team had reservations about the policies enacted by the operators of the St. Nicholas Rink, which delayed Harvard's entry into the conference for several years, but new policies forced the program to cease dealing with the rink, Because the IHA schedule was conducted almost entirely at the St. Nicholas Rink, Harvard had to withdraw from the league.

Despite leaving, Harvard scheduled many of their former conference opponents for the 1911–12 season and were able to use their home rink, the Boston Arena, as the venue for most games. The Crimson had narrowly missed out on championships in the previous two seasons and were eager to prove that they were the cream of the college hockey crop. There was also a moment to promote ice hockey from a minor to a major sport for the university.[2] The team's play over the course of the season would go a long way to furthering those efforts, but the Crimson couldn't have started much worse when they lost 1–4 to MIT, though they were missing many of their regular players.[3]

Due to the winter break, the Crimson had almost three weeks before their next game. When they hit the ice they did so against Princeton who now possessed one of, if not the best, player in college hockey, Hobey Baker. Harvard was not daunted, however, and the Crimson defense produced a stalwart effort. With Gardner between the pipes, Harvard was able to hold back the potent Tiger attack and keep the game knotted at the end of the first half. The defense fought off Princeton in the second half and allowed team captain Huntington to score what proved to be the game-winner.[4] Ten days later the two teams met in a rematch at the Boston Arena. The building was packed to the gills with spectators wanting to see the two best teams in the nation and they were not disappointed. The game progressed as expected with Princeton's mighty offense assailing the stout Crimson defenders, and this time it was the Tigers who ended up as victors with Baker netting the deciding score.[5]

A week later the team played defending champion Cornell in one of the most disorganized performance of the year. The two teams skated to an unsatisfying draw after regulation and when neither could score in the 10-minute overtime, a second sudden-death session was played with Harvard finishing on top from a Duncan shot.[6] This may be the first use of sudden death overtime in an intercollegiate game. Teamwork continued to elude the Crimson in their next contest but their talent allowed them to defeat St. Francis Xavier. When undefeated McGill came to town the Crimson played one of their best games all year and shut out the Reds 3–0.[7]

In their game against Dartmouth the Crimson again played down to their opposition, winning 7–3 despite sloppy play.[8] The team knew they couldn't play that way in the series against Yale to end their season, not if they wanted to win. Once more Harvard's defense was outstanding allowing Gardner and Smart to share the shutout while Sortwell netted his second hat-trick. The second game four days later was played in New Haven under less than ideal circumstances. Sticky ice caused the game to devolve into a disorganized mess and the lack of cohesion allowed Yale to carry the day, winning 3–2 to force a decisive rubber match with Harvard.[9] In their final game the Crimson proved the victors with a 4–2 win. The triumph capped a mostly successful season in which Harvard defeated both the American and Canadian collegiate champions but had no title to call their own.[10]

Roster

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No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team
  Schuyler Adams Sophomore C 5' 6" (1.68 m) 131 lb (59 kg) West Newton, Massachusetts Newton High School
  Herbert Baldwin Junior LW 5' 9" (1.75 m) 146 lb (66 kg) 1891-08-11 Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts Volkmann School
  Robert Blackall Senior D 5' 9" (1.75 m) 168 lb (76 kg) 1889-04-26 Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge Rindge and Latin
  Gouverneur Carnochan Sophomore G 142 lb (64 kg) 1892-06-28 Manhattan, New York St. Paul's School
Robert Duncan Senior C 5' 6" (1.68 m) 132 lb (60 kg)
Henry Gardner Junior G 5' 9" (1.75 m) 152 lb (69 kg)
Donald Hanson Sophomore C/LW 5' 11" (1.8 m) 161 lb (73 kg) Melrose High
Philip Houston Senior D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 161 lb (73 kg) Milton Academy
  Frederic Huntington (C) Senior C 5' 8" (1.73 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1889-12-05 Ashfield, Massachusetts St. Paul's School
Henry Morgan Sophomore RW 5' 9" (1.75 m) 167 lb (76 kg) St. Mark's School
  Franklin Palmer Junior C/LW 5' 8" (1.73 m) 141 lb (64 kg) Plattsburgh, New York
  Edward P. Pierce Jr. Senior RW 5' 7" (1.7 m) 143 lb (65 kg) 1889-06-17 Fitchburg, Massachusetts Middlesex Black Bears
Henry Reeves Senior RW 5' 10" (1.78 m) 159 lb (72 kg) Cambridge Rindge and Latin
  Paul Smart Sophomore D 141 lb (64 kg) Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Newton High School
Stephen Smart Senior G 5' 7" (1.7 m) 150 lb (68 kg)
  Alvin Sortwell Sophomore LW 5' 6" (1.68 m) 146 lb (66 kg) Wiscasset, Maine St. Paul's School
  William Willetts Sophomore D 181 lb (82 kg) 1890-05-13 Skaneateles, New York St. Paul's School
  Dana Wingate Sophomore D 5' 9" (1.75 m) 137 lb (62 kg) 1891-06-08 Winchester, Massachusetts Phillips Exeter Academy

[11]

Standings

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Intercollegiate Overall
GP W L T PCT. GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Amherst 7 2 4 1
Army 5 2 2 1 .500 9 19 5 2 2 1 9 19
Columbia 4 3 1 0 .750 20 16 4 3 1 0 20 16
Connecticut Agricultural 1 0 1 0 .000 0 10 2 1 1 0 2 10
Cornell 9 3 6 0 .333 24 27 12 5 7 0 40 37
Dartmouth 5 0 5 0 .000 12 35 5 0 5 0 12 35
Harvard 8 5 3 0 .625 26 19 10 7 3 0 36 21
Massachusetts Agricultural 7 5 1 1 .786 33 9 7 5 1 1 33 9
MIT 6 5 1 0 .833 32 7 10 6 4 0 43 24
Norwich
Notre Dame 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 7 1
Princeton 10 8 2 0 .800 63 16 10 8 2 0 63 16
Rensselaer 5 1 3 1 .300 5 14 6 2 3 1 10 15
Rochester
Springfield Training
Stevens Tech
Syracuse
Trinity
Williams 6 1 4 1 .250 10 29 7 2 4 1 11 29
Yale 16 9 7 0 .563 41 46 18 11 7 0 46 49

Schedule and Results

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Date Opponent Site Result Record
Regular Season
December 21 vs. MIT* Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts L 1–4  0–1–0
January 10 vs. Princeton* St. Nicholas RinkNew York, New York W 3–2  1–1–0
January 20 vs. Princeton* Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts L 2–3  1–2–0
January 27 vs. Cornell* Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts W 3–2 2OT 2–2–0
January 31 vs. St. Francis Xavier* Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts W 7–2  3–2–0
February 3 vs. McGill* Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts W 3–0  4–2–0
February 9 vs. Dartmouth* Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts W 7–3  5–2–0
February 17 vs. Yale* Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts W 4–0  6–2–0
February 21 at Yale* St. Nicholas RinkNew York, New York L 2–3  6–3–0
February 24 vs. Yale* Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts W 4–2  7–3–0
*Non-conference game.

[12]

Scoring Statistics

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Name Position Games Goals
Frederic Huntington C 9 10
Robert Duncan C 10 9
Alvin Sortwell LW 8 8
Robert Blackall D 9 6
Franklin Palmer C/LW 5 2
Herbert Baldwin LW 1 1
Schuyler Adams C 1 0
Gouverneur Carnochan G 1 0
Paul Smart D 1 0
Dana Wingate D 2 0
Philip Houston D 3 0
Donald Hanson C/LW 3 0
Henry Morgan RW 3 0
Stephen Smart G 3 0
Henry Reeves RW 5 0
Henry Gardner G 9 0
Edward Pierce RW 9 0
William Willetts D 9 0
Total 36

Note: Assists were not recorded as a statistic.

[13]

References

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  1. ^ "BRIGHT PROSPECTS FOR HOCKEY TEAM". The Harvard Crimson. November 10, 1911. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  2. ^ "FIRST HOCKEY GAME". The Harvard Crimson. December 21, 1911. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  3. ^ "Vol XXXI, No. 74" (PDF). The Tech. December 22, 1911. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  4. ^ "HARVARD, 3; PRINCETON, 2". The Harvard Crimson. January 11, 1912. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  5. ^ "PRINCETON WON HOCKEY GAME". The Harvard Crimson. January 22, 1912. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  6. ^ "HARVARD WON IN OVERTIME". The Harvard Crimson. January 29, 1912. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  7. ^ "McGILL DEFEATED IN HOCKEY". The Harvard Crimson. February 5, 1912. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  8. ^ "HARVARD WON IN SLOW GAME". The Harvard Crimson. February 10, 1912. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  9. ^ "HOCKEY TEAM LOST TO YALE". The Harvard Crimson. February 23, 1912. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  10. ^ "THE 1912 HOCKEY TEAM". The Harvard Crimson. February 26, 1912. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  11. ^ "1911-1912 Roster". Elite Prospects. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
  12. ^ "Harvard Men's Hockey year-By-year results" (PDF). Harvard Crimson. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  13. ^ "Sitemap". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved March 22, 2020.