# 1955–56 NCAA men's ice hockey season

The 1955–56 NCAA men's ice hockey season began in November 1955 and concluded with the 1956 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament's championship game on March 17, 1956, at the Broadmoor Ice Palace in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This was the 9th season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held and is the 62nd year overall where an NCAA school fielded a team.
Clarkson completed the first undefeated season, going 23–0, since the inception of the NCAA tournament. As of 2016 only Cornell (in 1970) has been able to accomplish the same feat.

## Regular season
### Season tournaments

| Tournament | Dates | Teams | Champion |
| Boston Arena Christmas Tournament | December 26–31 | 9 | Clarkson |
| Rensselaer Holiday Tournament | December 30–January 2 | 4 | Minnesota |
| Beanpot | February 6, 8 | 4 | Boston College |

### Standings

1955–56 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 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | – | – |
| American International | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 15 | 11 | 4 | 0 | – | – |
| Army | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 62 | 42 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 72 | 46 |
| Babson | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Boston College | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 21 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 105 | 82 |
| Boston University | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | .500 | 107 | 113 | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 107 | 113 |
| Bowdoin | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | – | – |
| Brown | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 19 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 82 | 62 |
| Colby | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 13 | 5 | 8 | 0 | – | – |
| Dartmouth | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 23 | 5 | 18 | 0 | 71 | 134 |
| Hamilton | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 13 | 4 | 9 | 0 | – | – |
| Harvard | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 25 | 15 | 10 | 0 | 125 | 77 |
| Lehigh | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .167 | 9 | 25 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 58 |
| Massachusetts | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 11 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 44 | 46 |
| MIT | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 23 | 43 |
| New Hampshire | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 39 | 80 |
| Northeastern | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 25 | 13 | 12 | 0 | 123 | 130 |
| Norwich | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12 | 6 | 6 | 0 | – | – |
| Princeton | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 80 | 70 |
| Providence | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 23 | 7 | 16 | 0 | 100 | 152 |
| St. Olaf | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | – | – |
| Tufts | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 17 | 5 | 12 | 0 | – | – |
| Williams | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 13 | 5 | 8 | 0 | – | – |
| Yale | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 60 | 68 |
1955–56 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 † | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | – | – | 23 | 17 | 6 | 0 | – | – |
| Augsburg | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Concordia | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | – | – |
| Gustavus Adolphus | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 11 | 7 | 4 | 0 | – | – |
| Hamline | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Macalester | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Saint John's | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 17 | 12 | 4 | 1 | – | – |
| St. Thomas | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12 | 6 | 8 | 0 | – | – |
| † indicates conference champion |||||||||||||||
1955–56 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 |
| Clarkson† | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 44 | 12 | 23 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 172 | 58 |
| St. Lawrence | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 31 | 24 | 23 | 18 | 5 | 0 | 130 | 47 |
| Rensselaer | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 26 | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 105 | 56 |
| Middlebury | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 42 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 0 | – | – |
| † indicates conference regular season champion |||||||||||||||
1955–56 Western Intercollegiate Hockey League vte :
| | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall |
| | GP | W | L | T | PCT | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| Michigan† | 18 | 15 | 2 | 1 | .858 | 19 | 80 | 37 | 23 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 109 | 49 |
| Michigan Tech | 20 | 14 | 6 | 0 | .700 | 17 | 82 | 61 | 28 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 156 | 83 |
| Colorado College | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | .556 | 14 | 72 | 66 | 28 | 17 | 11 | 0 | 144 | 100 |
| Minnesota | 22 | 11 | 10 | 1 | .523 | 12 | 63 | 60 | 29 | 16 | 12 | 1 | 106 | 80 |
| North Dakota | 20 | 7 | 13 | 0 | .350 | 10 | 67 | 93 | 28 | 11 | 16 | 1 | 100 | 129 |
| Denver | 16 | 6 | 8 | 2 | .438 | 10 | 58 | 58 | 26 | 12 | 11 | 3 | 130 | 84 |
| Michigan State | 18 | 1 | 17 | 0 | .056 | 2 | 35 | 82 | 23 | 5 | 18 | 0 | 55 | 96 |
| † indicates conference regular season champion Note: All games played between league members counted in the standings. When teams played each other twice, two points were awarded for a win, one point for a tie. When teams met each other four times, one point was awarded for a win, one-half point for a tie. Maximum of 24 points available. ||||||||||||||||

## 1956 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 |
| W1 | Michigan | 2* | | | |
| E2 | St. Lawrence | 1 | | | |
| E2 | St. Lawrence | 1 | W1 | Michigan | 7 |
| | | | W2 | Michigan Tech | 5 |
| E1 | Boston College | 4 | W2 | Michigan Tech | 5 |
| W2 | Michigan Tech | 10 | Third-place game | Third-place game | Third-place game |
| | | | E1 | Boston College | 2 |
| | | | E2 | St. Lawrence | 6 |
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 |
| Ed Rowe | Junior | Clarkson | 23 | 27 | 38 | 65 | - |
| Ken Yackel | Senior | Minnesota | 30 | 31 | 27 | 58 | 102 |
| Garry Kearns | Sophomore | Rensselaer | 18 | 26 | 32 | 58 | 23 |
| Richard Cavanaugh | Junior | Northeastern | 24 | 30 | 27 | 57 | - |
| Grant Childerhouse | Sophomore | Clarkson | 23 | 36 | 17 | 53 | - |
| Jack McManus | Junior | Michigan Tech | 28 | 29 | 23 | 52 | 14 |
| John Andrews | Freshman | Colorado College | - | 27 | 25 | 52 | - |
| Bill Reichart | Junior | North Dakota | 28 | 28 | 23 | 51 | 24 |
| Clare Smith | Junior | Colorado College | - | 24 | 26 | 50 | - |
| Bob Cleary | Sophomore | Harvard | 25 | 23 | 27 | 50 | - |

### 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 |
| Andy LaHaye | Junior | Michigan Tech | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | .928 | 2.00 |
| Bill Sloan | Senior | St. Lawrence | 20 | 1049 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 37 | 4 | .912 | 2.12 |
| Dave Broadbelt | Sophomore | Denver | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | .907 | 2.50 |
| Eddie MacDonald | Sophomore | Clarkson | 23 | 1381 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 2 | - | 2.52 |
| Jack McCartan | Sophomore | Minnesota | 24 | 1440 | - | - | - | 67 | 0 | - | 2.80 |
| John Stopen | Junior | Rensselaer | 18 | 1088 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 56 | 2 | .892 | 3.09 |
| Bob McManus | Junior | Michigan Tech | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | .895 | 3.13 |
| George Scherer | Senior | Yale | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.38 |
| Tom Yurkovich | Junior | North Dakota | 28 | - | 11 | 16 | 1 | - | 2 | .862 | 3.96 |