# 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 Poll :
| Rank | Team |
| 1 | Wisconsin (5) |
| 2 | North Dakota (1) |
| 3 | Harvard |
| 4 | Denver |
| 5 | Michigan Tech (1) |
| 6 | Cornell |
| 7 | Boston College (1) |
| 8 | Notre Dame |
| 9 | Boston University |
| 10 | Clarkson |

### Pre-season conference polls

Conference pre-season polls as voted on by coaches.
ECAC Poll :
| Rank | Team |
| 1 | Harvard |
| 2 | Cornell |
| 3 | Boston University |
| 4 | Clarkson |
| 5 | Pennsylvania |
| 6 | Rensselaer |
| 7 | New Hampshire (1) |
| 8 | Providence |
| 9 | Brown |
| 10 | Boston College |
| 11 | Dartmouth |
| 12 | St. Lawrence |
| 13 | Yale |
| 14 | Colgate |
| 15 | Northeastern |
| 16 | Princeton |
| 17 | Army |
CCHA Poll :
| Rank | Team |
| 1 | Saint Louis |
| 2 | Bowling Green |
| 3 | Lake Superior State |
| 4 | Ohio State |
| 5 | Ohio |
WCHA Poll :
| Rank | Team |
| 1 | Wisconsin (7) |
| 2 | North Dakota (2) |
| 3 | Denver |
| 4 | Michigan Tech (1) |
| 5 | Notre Dame |
| 6 | Michigan State |
| 7 | Minnesota Duluth |
| 8 | Colorado College |
| 9 | Minnesota |
| 10 | 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

1972–73 Big Ten standingsvte :
| | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall |
| | GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| Wisconsin† | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 60 | 40 | 40 | 29 | 9 | 2 | 217 | 139 |
| Michigan State† | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 60 | 44 | 36 | 23 | 12 | 1 | 194 | 149 |
| Minnesota | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 50 | 47 | 34 | 15 | 16 | 3 | 124 | 129 |
| Michigan | 12 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 40 | 75 | 34 | 6 | 27 | 1 | 136 | 206 |
| † indicates conference regular season champion |||||||||||||||
1972–73 Central Collegiate Hockey Association standingsvte :
| | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall |
| | GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| Saint Louis† | 16 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 116 | 52 | 38 | 27 | 11 | 0 | 266 | 162 |
| Lake Superior State | 12 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 82 | 53 | 30 | 20 | 10 | 0 | 201 | 129 |
| Ohio State | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 76 | 65 | 30 | 18 | 11 | 1 | 179 | 141 |
| Bowling Green* | 16 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 95 | 94 | 35 | 16 | 19 | 0 | 193 | 191 |
| Ohio | 14 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 36 | 141 | 24 | 6 | 18 | 0 | — | — |
| Championship: Bowling Green † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion |||||||||||||||
1972–73 ECAC Hockey standingsvte :
| | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall |
| | GP | W | L | T | Pct. | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| Cornell†* | 18 | 14 | 3 | 1 | .806 | 81 | 60 | 29 | 23 | 5 | 1 | 156 | 92 |
| Harvard† | 18 | 14 | 3 | 1 | .806 | 117 | 62 | 22 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 141 | 79 |
| Boston College | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | .711 | 118 | 88 | 30 | 22 | 7 | 1 | 188 | 121 |
| Pennsylvania | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | .636 | 90 | 78 | 27 | 16 | 9 | 2 | 115 | 97 |
| New Hampshire | 19 | 11 | 8 | 0 | .579 | 93 | 87 | 29 | 16 | 10 | 3 | 129 | 121 |
| Clarkson | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | .550 | 101 | 82 | 33 | 18 | 15 | 0 | 176 | 137 |
| Rensselaer | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | .550 | 87 | 67 | 31 | 16 | 15 | 0 | 142 | 124 |
| Boston University^ | 18 | 9 | 8 | 1 | .528 | 100 | 51 | 29 | 11 | 17 | 1 | 174 | 86 |
| Brown | 19 | 10 | 9 | 0 | .526 | 72 | 75 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 0 | 84 | 96 |
| Northeastern | 21 | 10 | 11 | 0 | .476 | 93 | 98 | 29 | 17 | 12 | 0 | 144 | 125 |
| St. Lawrence | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | .444 | 87 | 89 | 28 | 15 | 13 | 0 | 149 | 131 |
| Dartmouth | 20 | 8 | 11 | 1 | .425 | 74 | 85 | 24 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 106 | 93 |
| Yale | 15 | 5 | 9 | 1 | .367 | 47 | 69 | 23 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 102 | 89 |
| Providence | 17 | 6 | 11 | 0 | .353 | 62 | 79 | 25 | 11 | 14 | 0 | 107 | 110 |
| Colgate | 17 | 5 | 12 | 0 | .294 | 58 | 94 | 25 | 11 | 14 | 0 | 107 | 165 |
| Princeton | 21 | 3 | 18 | 0 | .143 | 55 | 123 | 23 | 5 | 18 | 0 | 66 | 127 |
| Army | 10 | 1 | 9 | 0 | .100 | 28 | 64 | 27 | 9 | 17 | 1 | 121 | 136 |
| Championship: Cornell † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion ^ Boston University was required to forfeit 11 after the season for using an ineligible player |||||||||||||||
1972–73 NCAA University Division Independent ice hockey standingsvte :
| | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall |
| | GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| Air Force | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 32 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 166 | 190 |
| Alaska–Fairbanks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 25 | 14 | 10 | 1 | - | - |
1972–73 Western Collegiate Hockey Association standingsvte :
| | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall |
| | GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| Denver†* | 28 | 20 | 8 | 0 | 52 | 141 | 85 | 39 | 29 | 9 | 1 | 208 | 116 |
| Notre Dame | 28 | 19 | 9 | 0 | 48 | 150 | 119 | 38 | 23 | 14 | 1 | 199 | 174 |
| Wisconsin* | 28 | 18 | 9 | 1 | 47 | 134 | 101 | 40 | 29 | 9 | 2 | 217 | 139 |
| Michigan State | 26 | 16 | 9 | 1 | 47 | 132 | 114 | 36 | 23 | 12 | 1 | 194 | 149 |
| Michigan Tech | 26 | 16 | 10 | 0 | 44 | 135 | 106 | 38 | 24 | 13 | 1 | 198 | 139 |
| Minnesota | 28 | 12 | 13 | 3 | 35 | 94 | 102 | 34 | 15 | 16 | 3 | 124 | 129 |
| North Dakota | 30 | 13 | 15 | 2 | 32 | 124 | 131 | 36 | 17 | 17 | 2 | 154 | 157 |
| Minnesota-Duluth | 28 | 13 | 15 | 0 | 30 | 123 | 131 | 36 | 19 | 17 | 0 | 166 | 161 |
| Colorado College | 28 | 5 | 23 | 0 | 14 | 103 | 171 | 34 | 10 | 24 | 0 | 150 | 198 |
| Michigan | 30 | 4 | 25 | 1 | 11 | 116 | 183 | 34 | 6 | 27 | 1 | 136 | 206 |
| Championship: Wisconsin, Denver † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion |||||||||||||||

### Final regular season polls

The final top 10 teams as ranked by coaches (WMPL) before the conference tournament finals.
WMPL Media Poll :
| Ranking | Team |
| 1 | Denver (5) |
| 2 | Wisconsin |
| 3 | Cornell (2) |
| 4 | Notre Dame |
| 5 | Harvard (1) |
| 6 | Boston University (1) |
| 7 | Boston College |
| 8 | Michigan State |
| 9 | Michigan Tech |
| 10 | Saint Louis |

## 1973 NCAA Tournament

| Semifinals March 15–16 | Semifinals March 15–16 | Semifinals March 15–16 | National Championship March 17 | National Championship March 17 | National Championship March 17 |
| E1 | Cornell | 5 | | | |
| W2 | Wisconsin | 6* | | | |
| W2 | Wisconsin | 6* | W2 | Wisconsin | 4 |
| | | | W1 | Denver† | 2 |
| W1 | Denver† | 10 | W1 | Denver† | 2 |
| E2 | Boston College | 4 | Third Place Game | Third Place Game | Third Place Game |
| | | | E1 | Cornell | 1 |
| | | | E2 | Boston College | 3 |
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 |
| Rick Kennedy | Sophomore | Saint Louis | 38 | 47 | 49 | 96 | 22 |
| Eddie Bumbacco | Junior | Notre Dame | 38 | 43 | 47 | 90 | 38 |
| John Nestic | Junior | Saint Louis | 38 | 37 | 46 | 83 | 6 |
| Dave Davies | Junior | Saint Louis | 38 | 31 | 47 | 78 | 8 |
| George Clark | Sophomore | Army | - | 39 | 33 | 72 | - |
| Peter McNab | Junior | Denver | 38 | 32 | 40 | 72 | 18 |
| Sean Coughlan | Sophomore | Saint Louis | 38 | 26 | 46 | 72 | 20 |
| Ian Williams | Junior | Notre Dame | 35 | 35 | 34 | 69 | 54 |
| Carlo Ugolini | Junior | Cornell | 29 | 25 | 44 | 69 | 18 |
| Ray Meyers | 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 |
| Ron Grahame | Senior | Denver | 35 | 2094 | 27 | 7 | 1 | 102 | 2 | .921 | 2.90 |
| Ed Walsh | Sophomore | Boston University | 27 | 1612 | - | - | - | 79 | 0 | .911 | 2.94 |
| Dave Elenbaas | Junior | Cornell | 29 | - | - | - | - | - | - | .905 | 3.06 |
| Rick Quance | Sophomore | Michigan Tech | 17 | 1031 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 55 | 0 | .905 | 3.20 |
| Brad Shelstad | Junior | Minnesota | 23 | 1345 | - | - | - | 74 | 0 | .906 | 3.30 |
| Cap Raeder | Freshman | New Hampshire | 20 | 1200 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 67 | 1 | .897 | 3.35 |
| Dick Perkins | Sophomore | Wisconsin | 17 | 1021 | - | - | - | 58 | 2 | .892 | 3.41 |
| Kevin Woods | Senior | Clarkson | 14 | 789 | 11 | - | - | 46 | 2 | .893 | 3.50 |
| Ned Yetten | Sophomore | Boston College | 20 | 1180 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 70 | 1 | .895 | 3.56 |
| Don Cutts | Junior | Rensselaer | 30 | 1800 | - | - | - | 109 | 1 | .898 | 3.63 |

## 1973 NHL Amateur Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | College | Conference | NHL team |
| 3 | 46 | John Campbell $^‡$ | Notre Dame | WCHA | New York Rangers |
| 4 | 53 | Dean Talafous | Wisconsin | WCHA | Atlanta Flames |
| 4 | 56 | Alan Hangsleben | North Dakota | WCHA | Montreal Canadiens |
| 5 | 67 | Paul O'Neil | Boston University | ECAC Hockey | Vancouver Canucks |
| 5 | 69 | John Flesch | Lake Superior State | CCHA | Atlanta Flames |
| 6 | 81 | Kevin Smith | Brown | ECAC Hockey | New York Islanders |
| 7 | 97 | Don Cutts | Rensselaer | ECAC Hockey | New York Islanders |
| 7 | 101 | Tom Machowski | Wisconsin | WCHA | Atlanta Flames |
| 7 | 108 | Bob Young | Denver | WCHA | Buffalo Sabres |
| 8 | 117 | Bob Law | North Dakota | WCHA | Atlanta Flames |
| 8 | 122 | Norm Barnes | Michigan State | WCHA | Philadelphia Flyers |
| 8 | 123 | George Lyle $^†$ | Michigan Tech | WCHA | Detroit Red Wings |
| 9 | 129 | Bob Lorimer | Michigan Tech | WCHA | New York Islanders |
| 9 | 132 | Dave Pay | Wisconsin | WCHA | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| 9 | 136 | Jim Johnston | Wisconsin | WCHA | Minnesota North Stars |
| 9 | 140 | Jack Johnson | Wisconsin | WCHA | Chicago Black Hawks |
| 9 | 141 | Steve Alley | Wisconsin | WCHA | Chicago Black Hawks |
| 10 | 144 | Lee Palmer | Clarkson | ECAC Hockey | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| 10 | 147 | Bob Peace | Cornell | ECAC Hockey | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| 10 | 154 | Ken Gibb | North Dakota | WCHA | Detroit Red Wings |
| 10 | 155 | Mitch Brandt | Denver | WCHA | Detroit Red Wings |
| 10 | 156 | Rick Clubbe | North Dakota | WCHA | Chicago Black Hawks |
| 11 | 160 | Angie Moretto | Michigan | WCHA | California Golden Seals |
| 11 | 162 | Greg Fox | Michigan | WCHA | Atlanta Flames |
| 12 | 167 | Cap Raeder | New Hampshire | ECAC Hockey | Montreal Canadiens |
† incoming freshman ‡ John Campbell had left school after the previous season