# 1970–71 NCAA University Division men's ice hockey season

The 1970–71 NCAA University Division men's ice hockey season began in November 1970 and concluded with the 1971 NCAA University Division Men's Ice Hockey Tournament's championship game on March 20, 1971 at the Onondaga War Memorial in Syracuse, New York. This was the 24th season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held and is the 77th year overall where an NCAA school fielded a team.
Saint Louis begins to sponsor their ice hockey program as an independent.

## Season Outlook
### Pre-season poll

The top teams in the nation as voted on by coaches.
Gary Bender, sports director of WKOW television and radio stations in Madison, Wisconsin, started compiling a national poll in 1970. The poll lasted one season.
WKOW Poll :
| Rank | Team |
| 1 | Boston University |
| 2 | Minnesota Duluth |
| 3 | Michigan Tech |
| 4 | Colorado College |
| 5 (tie) | Harvard |
| 5 (tie) | Wisconsin |
| 7 | North Dakota |
| 8 | Denver |
| 9 | Cornell |
| 10 | Clarkson |

## Regular season
### Season tournaments

| Tournament | Dates | Teams | Champion |
| North Country Thanksgiving Festival | November 26–28 | 4 | Clarkson |
| ECAC Christmas Hockey Tournament | December 18–19 | 4 | Cornell |
| ECAC Holiday Hockey Festival | December 21–22 | 4 | Harvard |
| St. Louis Invitational | December 27–28 | 4 | Wisconsin |
| Boston Arena Christmas Tournament | December 28–29 | 4 | Boston University |
| Great Lakes Invitational | December 29–30 | 4 | Michigan Tech |
| Nichols School Invitational | January 1–2 | 4 | Dartmouth |
| Rensselaer Holiday Tournament | January 2–4 | 4 | Wisconsin |
| Beanpot | February 8, 22 | 4 | Boston University |

### Standings

1970–71 Big Ten 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 |
| Michigan State† | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 56 | 47 | 31 | 19 | 12 | 0 | 152 | 124 |
| Wisconsin | 12 | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 51 | 40 | 34 | 20 | 13 | 1 | 180 | 110 |
| Minnesota | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 38 | 42 | 32 | 14 | 17 | 1 | 116 | 128 |
| Michigan | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | .200 | 40 | 56 | 30 | 9 | 21 | 0 | 118 | 147 |
| † indicates conference regular season champion |||||||||||||||
1970–71 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 |
| Boston University† | 20 | 18 | 1 | 1 | .925 | 139 | 42 | 31 | 28 | 2 | 1 | 210 | 60 |
| Clarkson | 19 | 16 | 2 | 1 | .868 | 76 | 38 | 33 | 28 | 4 | 1 | 151 | 75 |
| Cornell | 20 | 17 | 3 | 0 | .850 | 111 | 44 | 27 | 22 | 5 | 0 | 159 | 63 |
| Harvard* | 21 | 15 | 5 | 1 | .738 | 124 | 55 | 27 | 18 | 8 | 1 | 146 | 74 |
| Brown | 19 | 13 | 6 | 0 | .684 | 70 | 63 | 24 | 13 | 10 | 0 | 77 | 87 |
| Providence | 19 | 12 | 7 | 0 | .632 | 94 | 70 | 28 | 17 | 11 | 0 | 141 | 106 |
| Pennsylvania | 19 | 11 | 8 | 0 | .579 | 90 | 74 | 25 | 14 | 11 | 0 | 129 | 93 |
| Rensselaer | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | .571 | 119 | 81 | 25 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 125 | 95 |
| New Hampshire | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | .550 | 119 | 92 | 29 | 20 | 9 | 0 | 210 | 112 |
| Boston College | 21 | 9 | 12 | 0 | .429 | 92 | 112 | 26 | 11 | 15 | 0 | 121 | 141 |
| Army | 11 | 3 | 7 | 1 | .318 | 32 | 48 | 23 | 8 | 14 | 1 | 81 | 80 |
| St. Lawrence | 17 | 5 | 12 | 0 | .294 | 57 | 73 | 24 | 10 | 14 | 0 | 105 | 97 |
| Dartmouth | 21 | 6 | 15 | 0 | .286 | 76 | 106 | 24 | 9 | 15 | 0 | 96 | 114 |
| Yale | 20 | 5 | 15 | 0 | .250 | 64 | 105 | 24 | 6 | 17 | 1 | 74 | 127 |
| Colgate | 17 | 4 | 13 | 0 | .235 | 54 | 111 | 24 | 7 | 17 | 0 | 87 | 156 |
| Northeastern | 19 | 3 | 16 | 0 | .158 | 35 | 122 | 29 | 7 | 22 | 0 | 77 | 175 |
| Princeton | 21 | 1 | 20 | 0 | .048 | 54 | 140 | 23 | 1 | 22 | 0 | 56 | 155 |
| Championship: Harvard † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion |||||||||||||||
1970–71 Independent College Athletic Conference 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† | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 19 | 7 | 33 | 28 | 4 | 1 | 151 | 175 |
| St. Lawrence | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 10 | 24 | 10 | 14 | 0 | 105 | 97 |
| Rensselaer | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 20 | 25 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 125 | 95 |
| † indicates conference regular season champion |||||||||||||||
1970–71 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 | - | - | - | 28 | 15 | 11 | 2 | 132 | 121 |
| Alaska–Fairbanks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 28 | 13 | 14 | 1 | - | - |
| Notre Dame | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 31 | 13 | 16 | 2 | 116 | 137 |
| Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 29 | 20 | 9 | 0 | 160 | 78 |
| Saint Louis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 30 | 9 | 19 | 2 | | |
1970–71 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 |
| Michigan Tech† | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0 | .818 | 112 | 62 | 33 | 25 | 6 | 2 | 173 | 105 |
| Denver* | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | .682 | 114 | 92 | 36 | 25 | 10 | 1 | 178 | 133 |
| Wisconsin | 22 | 13 | 9 | 0 | .591 | 102 | 77 | 34 | 20 | 13 | 1 | 180 | 110 |
| Michigan State | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | .545 | 101 | 97 | 31 | 19 | 12 | 0 | 152 | 124 |
| Minnesota* | 22 | 9 | 12 | 1 | .432 | 77 | 88 | 32 | 14 | 17 | 1 | 116 | 128 |
| Minnesota-Duluth | 24 | 10 | 14 | 0 | .417 | 98 | 106 | 34 | 16 | 17 | 1 | 147 | 146 |
| North Dakota | 26 | 10 | 15 | 1 | .404 | 92 | 116 | 33 | 14 | 17 | 2 | 123 | 141 |
| Colorado College | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | .389 | 81 | 100 | 29 | 11 | 17 | 1 | 142 | 168 |
| Michigan | 22 | 5 | 17 | 0 | .227 | 77 | 116 | 30 | 9 | 21 | 0 | 118 | 147 |
| Championship: Minnesota, Denver † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion |||||||||||||||

### Final regular season poll

The final top 10 teams were compiled before the conference tournaments.
WKOW Coaches Poll :
| Ranking | Team |
| 1 | Boston University (11) |
| 2 | Michigan Tech (2) |
| 3 | Denver |
| 4 | Cornell |
| 5 | Clarkson |
| 6 | Wisconsin |
| 7 | Michigan State |
| 8 | Harvard |
| 9 | Brown |
| 10 | Minnesota Duluth |

## 1971 NCAA Tournament

| Semifinals March 18–19 | Semifinals March 18–19 | Semifinals March 18–19 | National Championship March 20 | National Championship March 20 | National Championship March 20 |
| E1 | Harvard | 5 | | | |
| W2 | Minnesota | 6* | | | |
| W2 | Minnesota | 6* | W2 | Minnesota | 2 |
| | | | E2 | Boston University | 4 |
| W1 | Denver | 2 | E2 | Boston University | 4 |
| E2 | Boston University | 4 | Third Place Game | Third Place Game | Third Place Game |
| | | | W1 | Denver | 1 |
| | | | E2 | Harvard | 0 |
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 |
| Louis Frigon | Senior | New Hampshire | 29 | 38 | 48 | 86 | 58 |
| Joe Cavanagh | Senior | Harvard | 27 | 22 | 50 | 72 | - |
| Steve Stirling | Senior | Boston University | 31 | 27 | 43 | 70 | 20 |
| Ray Meyers | Freshman | Ohio State | - | 27 | 39 | 66 | - |
| John Danby | Junior | Boston University | 31 | 28 | 36 | 64 | 10 |
| Rich Pumple | Junior | Providence | - | 22 | 41 | 63 | 46 |
| Bill Munroe | Senior | New Hampshire | 29 | 21 | 39 | 60 | 18 |
| Bob Brown | Junior | Boston University | 31 | 17 | 43 | 60 | 38 |
| Mike McShane | Senior | New Hampshire | 29 | 15 | 43 | 58 | 90 |
| Jerry Kemp | Junior | Clarkson | 32 | 26 | 31 | 57 | 16 |
| Bob Collyard | Senior | Colorado College | 30 | 20 | 37 | 57 | 6 |
| Don Thompson | Sophomore | Michigan State | 31 | 19 | 38 | 57 | 35 |

### 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 |
| Joseph Bertagna | Freshman | Harvard | 13 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.60 |
| Tim Regan | Junior | Boston University | 14 | 780 | - | - | - | 23 | - | .929 | 1.77 |
| Dan Brady | Junior | Boston University | 18 | 1060 | - | - | - | 36 | - | .917 | 2.04 |
| Gary Enberg | Senior | Wisconsin | 10 | 498 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 1 | .930 | 2.29 |
| Bruce Bullock | Senior | Clarkson | 30 | 1800 | 27 | 1 | 1 | 71 | 1 | .920 | 2.37 |
| Brian Cropper | Senior | Cornell | 25 | 1410 | 19 | 5 | 0 | 57 | - | .923 | 2.43 |
| John Anderson | Senior | Wisconsin | 14 | 750 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 32 | 0 | .825 | 2.56 |
| Bruce Durno | Senior | Harvard | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5 | - | 2.60 |
| Bill McKenzie | Junior | Ohio State | 24 | 1420 | - | - | - | 65 | 2 | - | 2.74 |
| Chad Ramsdell | Freshman | New Hampshire | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.78 |

## Awards
### WCHA

| Award | Award | Recipient |
| Most Valuable Player | Most Valuable Player | Bob Murray, Michigan Tech |
| Freshman of the Year | Freshman of the Year | Mike Usitalo, Michigan Tech |
| Coach of the Year | Coach of the Year | John MacInnes, Michigan Tech |
| All-WCHA Teams |||
| First Team | Position | Second Team |
| Morris Trewin, Michigan Tech | G | Chico Resch, Minnesota-Duluth |
| Mike Christie, Denver | D | John Jagger, Wisconsin |
| Bob Murray, Michigan Tech | D | Wally Olds, Minnesota |
| Walt Ledingham, Minnesota-Duluth | F | Murray Heatley, Wisconsin |
| Don Thompson, Michigan State | F | Vic Venasky, Denver |
| Bob Collyard, Colorado College | F | Mike Usitalo, Michigan Tech |

## 1971 NHL Amateur Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | College | Conference | NHL team |
| 1 | 8 | Larry Wright $^‡$ | Minnesota–Duluth | WCHA | Philadelphia Flyers |
| 3 | 31 | Jim Cahoon | North Dakota | WCHA | Montreal Canadiens |
| 3 | 34 | Vic Venasky | Denver | WCHA | Los Angeles Kings |
| 4 | 53 | Greg Hubick | Minnesota–Duluth | WCHA | Montreal Canadiens |
| 4 | 56 | Dave Hynes | Harvard | ECAC Hockey | Boston Bruins |
| 5 | 58 | Earl Anderson | North Dakota | WCHA | Detroit Red Wings |
| 5 | 60 | Dave Murphy | North Dakota | WCHA | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| 5 | 61 | Steve Warr | Clarkson | ECAC Hockey | Buffalo Sabres |
| 5 | 62 | Gary Crosby | Michigan Tech | WCHA | Los Angeles Kings |
| 5 | 67 | Mike Busniuk | Denver | WCHA | Montreal Canadiens |
| 5 | 68 | Dean Blais | Minnesota | WCHA | Chicago Black Hawks |
| 6 | 74 | Ian Williams | Notre Dame | Independent | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| 7 | 86 | Jim Nahrgang | Michigan Tech | WCHA | Detroit Red Wings |
| 7 | 87 | Bill Green | Notre Dame | Independent | Vancouver Canucks |
| 7 | 88 | Doug Elliott | Harvard | ECAC Hockey | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| 7 | 89 | Peter Harasym | Clarkson | ECAC Hockey | Los Angeles Kings |
| 7 | 91 | Bruce Abbey $^†$ | Michigan Tech | WCHA | Minnesota North Stars |
| 8 | 100 | Bob Boyd | Michigan State | WCHA | Detroit Red Wings |
| 8 | 101 | Norm Cherrey | Wisconsin | WCHA | Vancouver Canucks |
| 8 | 103 | Lorne Stamler | Michigan Tech | WCHA | Los Angeles Kings |
| 8 | 106 | Jerome Mrazek | Minnesota–Duluth | WCHA | Philadelphia Flyers |
| 9 | 113 | Mike Antonovich | Minnesota | WCHA | Minnesota North Stars |
† incoming freshman ‡ Wright had left school the year before