1971–72 NCAA University Division men's ice hockey season

The 1971–72 NCAA University Division men's ice hockey season began in November 1971 and concluded with the 1972 NCAA University Division Men's Ice Hockey Tournament's championship game on March 18, 1972 at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. This was the 25th season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held and is the 78th year overall where an NCAA school fielded a team.

This was the first year of play for the CCHA with former independents Ohio State and Saint Louis being joined by new programs from Bowling Green and Ohio.[1]

Notre Dame joined the WCHA.

For the final time the ICAC awarded a trophy to the league champion.[2]

Season Outlook

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Pre-season conference polls

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Conference pre-season polls as voted on by coaches.

ECAC Poll
Rank Team
1 Boston University
2 Cornell
3 Clarkson
4 Harvard
5 Brown
6 Pennsylvania
7 New Hampshire
8 Rensselaer
9 St. Lawrence
10 Providence
11 Northeastern
12 Boston College
13 Yale
14 Dartmouth
15 Colgate
16 Army
17 Princeton
CCHA Poll
Rank Team
1 Bowling Green
2 Saint Louis
3 Ohio State
4 Ohio
WCHA Poll
Rank Team
1 Michigan Tech
2 Denver
3 Michigan State
4 Wisconsin
5 Notre Dame
6 Minnesota Duluth
7 North Dakota
8 Minnesota
9 Michigan
10 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 25–27 4 Lake Superior State
North Country Thanksgiving Festival November 25–27 4 St. Lawrence
Cleveland Cup Invitational December 20–21 4 Bowling Green
ECAC Holiday Hockey Festival December 20–21 4 Notre Dame
ECAC Christmas Hockey Tournament December 21–22 4 Boston University
Flint IMA Tournament December 28–29 4 Michigan
Great Lakes Invitational December 28–29 4 Michigan Tech
Rensselaer Holiday Tournament December 28–30 4 Clarkson
Syracuse Invitational December 29–30 4 Cornell
Bowdoin Invitational January 1–2 4
Beanpot February 7, 14 4 Boston University

Standings

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Conference Overall
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Wisconsin 10 6 4 0 12 48 29 38 27 10 1 170 106
Michigan 10 5 5 0 10 34 44 34 16 18 0 132 186
Michigan State 10 5 5 0 10 39 44 36 20 16 0 154 129
Minnesota 10 4 6 0 8 31 42 32 8 24 0 97 157
indicates conference regular season champion
Conference Overall
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Ohio State†* 12 8 4 0 16 44 35 29 24 5 0 154 71
Saint Louis 12 7 3 2 16 64 49 33 15 15 3 194 156
Bowling Green 12 6 4 2 14 60 48 33 21 10 2 172 123
Ohio 12 1 11 0 2 34 70 24 7 17 0 97 132
Championship: Ohio State
indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion
Conference Overall
GP W L T Pct. GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Cornell 20 17 3 0 .850 117 58 29 23 6 0 175 82
Harvard 21 16 4 1 .786 118 62 26 17 8 1 127 76
Boston University* 20 15 4 1 .775 88 53 31 26 4 1 155 69
Pennsylvania 21 14 7 0 .667 107 75 25 16 9 0 122 90
New Hampshire 18 12 6 0 .667 82 61 30 20 10 0 140 109
Clarkson 20 12 8 0 .600 96 74 30 20 10 0 158 102
Rensselaer 17 9 7 1 .559 64 62 27 17 9 1 123 84
Providence 17 9 8 0 .529 73 75 24 14 9 1 106 102
Dartmouth 18 9 8 1 .528 81 78 24 13 10 1 120 103
Boston College 21 10 11 0 .476 93 106 30 14 16 0 130 155
Brown 21 9 11 1 .452 70 75 23 10 12 1 78 84
St. Lawrence 18 5 12 1 .306 63 78 26 10 14 2 100 108
Yale 17 5 12 0 .294 70 105 24 10 14 0 108 128
Colgate 19 5 14 0 .263 52 94 26 8 18 0 83 122
Princeton 19 5 14 0 .263 52 108 23 5 18 0 62 127
Northeastern 20 3 17 0 .150 68 118 26 6 20 0 102 145
Army 10 1 9 0 .100 29 44 25 11 14 0 99 88
Championship: Boston University
indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion
Conference Overall
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Rensselaer 4 2 1 1 5 16 15 27 17 9 1 123 84
Clarkson 4 2 2 0 4 17 15 30 20 10 0 158 102
St. Lawrence 4 1 2 1 3 13 16 26 10 14 2 100 108
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 - - - 31 25 6 0 226 119
Alaska–Fairbanks 0 0 0 0 - - - 11 6 5 0 - -
Conference Overall
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Denver†* 28 19 9 0 54 148 104 38 27 11 0 205 137
Wisconsin* 28 20 8 0 48 134 87 38 27 10 1 170 106
North Dakota 28 18 10 0 44 130 109 36 21 14 1 161 138
Michigan State 28 15 13 0 42 119 103 36 20 16 0 154 129
Minnesota-Duluth 28 15 13 0 40 129 123 35 16 18 1 148 150
Michigan 28 12 16 0 32 108 163 34 16 18 0 132 186
Michigan Tech 26 11 15 0 30 120 124 34 16 17 1 152 148
Notre Dame 26 10 16 0 28 120 121 34 14 20 0 164 160
Colorado College 28 11 17 0 28 140 165 32 13 19 0 170 184
Minnesota 28 7 21 0 14 83 132 32 8 24 0 97 157
Championship: Wisconsin, Denver
indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion

[3][4][5]

1972 NCAA Tournament

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Semifinals
March 16–17
National championship
March 18
      
E1 Boston University 4
W2 Wisconsin 1
E1 Boston University 4
E2 Cornell 0
W1 Denver 2
E2 Cornell 7 Third-place game
W1 Denver 2
W2 Wisconsin 5

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

[6]

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
Dave Skalko Junior Air Force 31 27 49 76 33
Doug Palazzari Sophomore Colorado College 32 32 40 72 42
Bob Ross Senior Air Force 31 39 31 70 8
Tom Peluso Sophomore Denver 37 32 37 69 73
Mike Bartley Sophomore Bowling Green 33 37 31 68 -
Don Thompson Junior Michigan State 35 32 35 67 66
Peter McNab Sophomore Denver 38 27 38 65 16
Larry Fullan Senior Cornell 29 20 43 63 28
John Gray Senior New Hampshire 30 29 33 63 44
Guy Smith Senior New Hampshire 29 21 41 62 75

[7]

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
Dick Perkins Freshman Wisconsin 13 719 8 2 1 23 1 .940 1.92
Dan Brady Senior Boston University 27 - - - - - - - 2.22
Bill McKenzie Senior Ohio State 22 1280 19 - - 48 4 - 2.25
Dave Elenbaas Sophomore Cornell 28 - - - - - - .902 2.79
Jim Makey Sophomore Wisconsin 28 1578 22 6 0 81 0 .900 3.08
Terry Miskolczi Junior Bowling Green 15 - - - - - - - 3.22
Lou Reycroft Senior Brown - 1142 - - - 63 0 .888 3.31
Kevin Woods Junior Clarkson 17 980 11 - - 54 0 .887 3.33
Eric Gorzelnik Junior Army 25 1496 11 14 0 85 1 .904 3.41
Don Cutts Sophomore Rensselaer 21 1260 - - - 72 1 .898 3.43

[7]

Awards

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WCHA

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Award[12] Recipient
Most Valuable Player Doug Palazzari, Colorado College
Freshman of the Year Alan Hangsleben, North Dakota
Coach of the Year Jeff Sauer, Colorado College
All-WCHA Teams[13]
First Team   Position   Second Team
Jim Watt, Michigan State G Jim Makey, Wisconsin
Alan Hangsleben, North Dakota D Bob Boyd, Michigan State
Bob Winograd, Colorado College D Rick Wilson, North Dakota
Jim Cahoon, North Dakota F Walt Ledingham, Minnesota-Duluth
Doug Palazzari, Colorado College F Bernie Gagnon, Michigan
Tom Peluso, Denver F Don Thompson, Michigan State
Round Pick Player College Conference NHL team
3 42 Bob Krieger Denver WCHA Detroit Red Wings
4 61 Tom Peluso Denver WCHA Chicago Black Hawks
4 62 Dave Elenbaas Cornell ECAC Hockey Montreal Canadiens
5 66 Bill Nyrop Notre Dame WCHA Montreal Canadiens
5 74 Dennis Johnson North Dakota WCHA Detroit Red Wings
6 84 Mike Usitalo Michigan Tech WCHA Los Angeles Kings
6 85 Peter McNab Denver WCHA Buffalo Sabres
6 93 Rob Palmer Denver WCHA Chicago Black Hawks
6 94 D'Arcy Ryan Yale ECAC Hockey Montreal Canadiens
7 104 D’Arcy Keating Notre Dame WCHA Pittsburgh Penguins
7 107 Monte Miron Clarkson ECAC Hockey Toronto Maple Leafs
7 112 Gordie Clark New Hampshire ECAC Hockey Boston Bruins
8 121 Gary Winchester Wisconsin WCHA St. Louis Blues
8 124 Bob Lundeen Wisconsin WCHA Minnesota North Stars
8 125 Billy Reay Wisconsin WCHA Chicago Black Hawks
9 138 George Kuzmicz Cornell ECAC Hockey Detroit Red Wings
9 139 Pat Boutette Minnesota–Duluth WCHA Toronto Maple Leafs
9 142 Eddie Bumbacco Notre Dame WCHA Montreal Canadiens
9 143 Gary Schofield Clarkson ECAC Hockey Toronto Maple Leafs
10 150 Dave Arundel Wisconsin WCHA Detroit Red Wings
10 151 Fred Riggall Dartmouth ECAC Hockey Montreal Canadiens

[14]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "CCHA Regular Season Standings". College Hockey Historical Archive. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  2. ^ "History of the Tri-State League/ICAC". College Hockey Historical Archive. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  3. ^ "2012-13 CCHA Media Guide". CCHA. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  4. ^ "2008-09 ECAC Hockey Media Guide" (PDF). ECAC Hockey. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  5. ^ "2008-09 WCHA Yearbook 97-112" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  6. ^ "NCAA Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  7. ^ a b "1971-72 NCAA Division I Statistics". Elite Prospects. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  8. ^ "NCAA Division I Awards". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  9. ^ "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  10. ^ "ECAC Awards". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  11. ^ "ECAC All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  12. ^ "WCHA Awards". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  13. ^ "WCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  14. ^ "1972 NHL Amateur Draft". Hockey DB. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
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