# 1960–61 NCAA men's ice hockey season

The 1960–61 NCAA men's ice hockey season began in November 1960 and concluded with the 1961 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament's championship game on March 18, 1961 at the University of Denver Arena in Denver, Colorado. This was the 14th season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held and is the 67th year overall where an NCAA school fielded a team.

## Regular season
### Season tournaments

| Tournament | Dates | Teams | Champion |
| Cornell Invitational | December 19–21 | 6 | Bowdoin, Williams |
| Boston Arena Christmas Tournament | December 27–29 | 6 | Providence |
| Rensselaer Holiday Tournament | December 28–30 | 4 | Rensselaer |
| Beanpot | February 6, 13 | 4 | Boston College |

### Standings

1960–61 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 |
| Michigan† | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 34 | 21 | 28 | 16 | 10 | 2 | 108 | 89 |
| Minnesota | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 36 | 32 | 29 | 17 | 11 | 1 | 126 | 111 |
| Michigan State | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 39 | 27 | 11 | 16 | 0 | 121 | 115 |
| † indicates conference regular season champion |||||||||||||||
1960–61 NCAA Independent ice hockey standingsvte :
| | Intercollegiate | Intercollegiate | Intercollegiate | Intercollegiate | Intercollegiate | Intercollegiate | Intercollegiate | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall |
| | GP | W | L | T | Pct. | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| Amherst | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 17 | 4 | 13 | 0 | – | – |
| American International | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 17 | 5 | 12 | 0 | – | – |
| Army | 21 | 13 | 8 | 0 | .619 | 107 | 58 | 25 | 17 | 8 | 0 | 139 | 62 |
| Boston College | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 25 | 19 | 5 | 1 | 143 | 55 |
| Boston University | 24 | 10 | 14 | 0 | .417 | 98 | 104 | 24 | 10 | 14 | 0 | 98 | 104 |
| Bowdoin | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 20 | 15 | 5 | 0 | – | – |
| Brown | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 20 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 30 | 117 |
| Colby | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 23 | 18 | 5 | 0 | – | – |
| Colgate | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 24 | 8 | 15 | 1 | 88 | 110 |
| Connecticut | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 11 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 55 | 69 |
| Cornell | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 19 | 7 | 12 | 0 | 66 | 58 |
| Dartmouth | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 19 | 8 | 11 | 0 | 87 | 118 |
| Hamilton | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 17 | 2 | 14 | 1 | – | – |
| Harvard | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 24 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 106 | 47 |
| Massachusetts | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 45 | 69 |
| Merrimack | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 52 | 64 |
| Middlebury | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 21 | 19 | 2 | 0 | – | – |
| MIT | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | – | – |
| New Hampshire | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 41 | 74 |
| Northeastern | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 26 | 12 | 14 | 0 | 106 | 131 |
| Norwich | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 21 | 10 | 11 | 0 | – | – |
| Princeton | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 23 | 9 | 14 | 0 | 82 | 127 |
| Providence | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 120 | 90 |
| St. Olaf | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | – | – |
| Williams | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 20 | 16 | 4 | 0 | – | – |
| Yale | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 25 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 92 | 94 |
1960–61 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 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 |
| Minnesota–Duluth † | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | – | – | 16 | 13 | 3 | 0 | – | – |
| Augsburg | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | .286 | – | – | 11 | 3 | 8 | 0 | – | – |
| Concordia | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | – | – |
| Gustavus Adolphus | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12 | 4 | 7 | 1 | – | – |
| Hamline | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Macalester | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Saint John's | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 15 | 9 | 6 | 0 | – | – |
| Saint Mary's | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 8 | 1 | 6 | 1 | – | – |
| St. Thomas | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | – | – |
| † indicates conference champion |||||||||||||||
1960–61 Tri-State League 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 |
| St. Lawrence† | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 15 | 21 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 123 | 78 |
| Rensselaer | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 14 | 22 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 135 | 66 |
| Clarkson | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 16 | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 104 | 84 |
| † indicates conference regular season champion |||||||||||||||
1960–61 Western Collegiate Hockey Association 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 |
| Denver†* | 18 | 17 | 1 | 0 | .944 | 127 | 31 | 32 | 30 | 1 | 1 | 242 | 59 |
| Minnesota* | 20 | 14 | 6 | 0 | .700 | 100 | 68 | 29 | 17 | 11 | 1 | 126 | 111 |
| Michigan | 24 | 15 | 8 | 1 | .646 | 97 | 79 | 28 | 16 | 10 | 2 | 108 | 89 |
| Michigan Tech | 24 | 13 | 11 | 0 | .542 | 92 | 58 | 29 | 16 | 13 | 0 | 132 | 78 |
| North Dakota | 24 | 7 | 16 | 0 | .313 | 81 | 133 | 29 | 9 | 19 | 1 | 100 | 151 |
| Michigan State | 20 | 5 | 15 | 0 | .250 | 55 | 90 | 27 | 11 | 16 | 0 | 121 | 115 |
| Colorado College | 22 | 4 | 18 | 0 | .182 | 68 | 161 | 24 | 4 | 20 | 0 | 76 | 175 |
| Championship: Minnesota, Denver † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion |||||||||||||||

## 1961 NCAA Tournament

| Semifinals March 16–17 | Semifinals March 16–17 | Semifinals March 16–17 | National championship March 18 | National championship March 18 | National championship March 18 |
| E1 | St. Lawrence | 6 | | | |
| E2 | Rensselaer | 3 | | | |
| E2 | Rensselaer | 3 | E1 | St. Lawrence | 2 |
| | | | W1 | Denver | 12 |
| W1 | Denver | 6 | W1 | Denver | 12 |
| W2 | Minnesota | 1 | Third-place game | Third-place game | Third-place game |
| | | | E2 | Rensselaer | 3 |
| | | | W2 | Minnesota | 4 |
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 |
| Phil Latreille | Senior | Middlebury | 21 | 80 | 28 | 108 | - |
| Jerry Walker | Junior | Denver | 32 | 56 | 29 | 85 | - |
| Bill Masterton | Senior | Denver | 32 | 24 | 56 | 80 | 4 |
| Bill Daley | Senior | Boston College | - | 33 | 41 | 74 | - |
| Tom Roe | Sophomore | Williams | 20 | 34 | 33 | 67 | - |
| Art Chisholm | Senior | Northeastern | 25 | 35 | 26 | 61 | 25 |
| Red Martin | Senior | Boston College | - | 13 | 40 | 53 | – |
| Marshall Tschida | Junior | Providence | – | 27 | 25 | 52 | - |
| Mike Denihan | Sophomore | Boston University | 24 | 30 | 20 | 50 | 6 |
| Trevor Kaye | Junior | Rensselaer | 22 | 24 | 26 | 50 | 4 |

### 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 |
| George Kirkwood | Senior | Denver | 32 | - | 30 | 1 | 1 | 59 | 4 | .910 | 1.84 |
| Jim Logue | Senior | Boston College | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.17 |
| Ron Chisholm | Junior | Army | 25 | 1483 | 17 | 8 | 0 | 61 | 3 | .900 | 2.47 |
| Bill Rowe | Senior | Michigan Tech | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | .891 | 2.72 |
| Stu Benton | Junior | Rensselaer | 20 | 1190 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 55 | 1 | .892 | 2.77 |
| Wayne Gibbons | Sophomore | Clarkson | 15 | - | 9 | - | - | - | - | .878 | 2.80 |
| Mike Haley | Senior | Minnesota-Duluth | 13 | - | - | - | - | - | - | .904 | 3.00 |
| Laing Kennedy | Sophomore | Cornell | 19 | - | - | - | - | - | - | .913 | 3.05 |
| Joe Sherin | Senior | St. Lawrence | 10 | 607 | - | - | - | 32 | 0 | .888 | 3.16 |
| Mike Larson | Sophomore | Minnesota | 17 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.20 |