# 1959–60 NCAA men's ice hockey season

The 1959–60 NCAA men's ice hockey season began in November 1959 and concluded with the 1960 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament's championship game on March 19, 1960 at the Boston Arena in Boston, Massachusetts. This was the 13th season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held and is the 66th year overall where an NCAA school fielded a team.
This was the first season of play for the WCHA. All seven universities were the same from the previous MCHL/WIHL conference that dissolved after the 1957–58 season. Michigan, Michigan State and Minnesota would continue with both the Big Ten and the WCHA concurrently until 1981 when Michigan and Michigan State left the WCHA and no longer played sufficient games against the other Big Ten schools to warrant the continuation of the Big Ten ice hockey conference.
The creation of the WCHA also brought the first formalized conference tournament in NCAA hockey history with the winner(s) receiving the first automatic bids into the postseason championship.

## Regular season
### Season tournaments

| Tournament | Dates | Teams | Champion |
| Boston Arena Christmas Tournament | December 26–30 | 7 | Toronto |
| Bowdoin Christmas Tournament | December 21–23 | 8 | Brown |
| Rensselaer Holiday Tournament | December 30–January 2 | 4 | North Dakota |
| Beanpot | February 8, 15 | 4 | Harvard |

### Standings

1959–60 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 |
| Minnesota† | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 37 | 23 | 27 | 9 | 16 | 2 | 111 | 121 |
| Michigan | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 29 | 26 | 24 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 97 | 81 |
| Michigan State | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 23 | 39 | 24 | 4 | 18 | 2 | 54 | 130 |
| † indicates conference regular season champion |||||||||||||||
1959–60 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 | 9 | 8 | 0 | – | – |
| American International | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 15 | 6 | 9 | 0 | – | – |
| Army | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | .725 | 100 | 55 | 22 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 119 | 62 |
| Boston College | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 24 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 121 | 76 |
| Boston University | 27 | 19 | 8 | 0 | .704 | 118 | 84 | 27 | 19 | 8 | 0 | 118 | 84 |
| Bowdoin | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | – | – |
| Brown | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 26 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 76 | 94 |
| Colby | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 23 | 16 | 7 | 0 | – | – |
| Colgate | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 15 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 40 | 100 |
| Cornell | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 21 | 2 | 19 | 0 | 33 | 158 |
| Dartmouth | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 96 | 48 |
| Hamilton | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | – | – |
| Harvard | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 24 | 16 | 7 | 1 | 110 | 68 |
| Massachusetts | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 17 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 48 | 82 |
| Merrimack | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 38 | 45 |
| Middlebury | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | – | – |
| MIT | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 11 | 3 | 8 | 0 | – | – |
| New Hampshire | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 19 | 11 | 8 | 0 | 79 | 66 |
| Northeastern | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 24 | 8 | 16 | 0 | 96 | 142 |
| Norwich | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 18 | 6 | 12 | 0 | – | – |
| Princeton | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 23 | 12 | 11 | 0 | 109 | 75 |
| Providence | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 110 | 69 |
| St. Olaf | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12 | 2 | 9 | 1 | – | – |
| Tufts | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 17 | 2 | 15 | 0 | – | – |
| Williams | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 19 | 5 | 14 | 0 | – | – |
| Yale | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 25 | 10 | 15 | 0 | 105 | 114 |
1959–60 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 † | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | – | – | 20 | 15 | 5 | 0 | – | – |
| Augsburg | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | .750 | – | – | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 | – | – |
| St. Thomas | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | .714 | – | – | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | – | – |
| Macalester | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | .625 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Gustavus Adolphus | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | .571 | – | – | 12 | 4 | 7 | 1 | – | – |
| Saint John's | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | .500 | – | – | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | – | – |
| Hamline | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | .250 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Saint Mary's | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .125 | – | – | 12 | 2 | 10 | 0 | – | – |
| Concordia | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | .000 | – | – | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | – | – |
| † indicates conference champion |||||||||||||||
1959–60 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 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 21 | 12 | 24 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 122 | 119 |
| Rensselaer | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 17 | 19 | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 109 | 71 |
| Clarkson | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 21 | 20 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 80 | 102 |
| † indicates conference regular season champion |||||||||||||||
1959–60 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†* | 22 | 17 | 4 | 1 | .795 | 128 | 55 | 34 | 27 | 4 | 3 | 204 | 88 |
| Michigan Tech* | 22 | 15 | 6 | 1 | .705 | 107 | 72 | 32 | 21 | 10 | 1 | 152 | 107 |
| North Dakota | 22 | 14 | 7 | 1 | .659 | 93 | 80 | 32 | 19 | 11 | 2 | 157 | 115 |
| Colorado College | 20 | 8 | 12 | 0 | .400 | 72 | 101 | 26 | 8 | 17 | 1 | 87 | 146 |
| Michigan | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | .389 | 63 | 71 | 24 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 97 | 81 |
| Minnesota | 24 | 8 | 15 | 1 | .354 | 102 | 109 | 27 | 9 | 16 | 2 | 111 | 121 |
| Michigan State | 24 | 4 | 18 | 2 | .208 | 54 | 130 | 24 | 4 | 18 | 2 | 54 | 130 |
| Championship: Michigan Tech, Denver † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion |||||||||||||||

## 1960 NCAA Tournament

| Semifinals March 17–18 | Semifinals March 17–18 | Semifinals March 17–18 | National championship March 19 | National championship March 19 | National championship March 19 |
| E1 | St. Lawrence | 3 | | | |
| W2 | Michigan Tech | 13 | | | |
| W2 | Michigan Tech | 13 | W2 | Michigan Tech | 3 |
| | | | W1 | Denver | 5 |
| W1 | Denver | 6 | W1 | Denver | 5 |
| E2 | Boston University | 4 | Third-place game | Third-place game | Third-place game |
| | | | E1 | St. Lawrence | 6 |
| | | | E2 | Boston University | 7 |
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 | Junior | Middlebury | 22 | 77 | 19 | 96 | - |
| Tim Norbeck | Senior | Hamilton | - | 40 | 32 | 72 | - |
| Terry Slater | Junior | St. Lawrence | 24 | 34 | 38 | 72 | 4 |
| Bill Masterton | Junior | Denver | 34 | 21 | 46 | 67 | 2 |
| Reg Morelli | Senior | North Dakota | 31 | 34 | 31 | 65 | 12 |
| Bob Marquis | Senior | Boston University | - | 33 | 26 | 59 | - |
| Paul Coppo | Senior | Michigan Tech | 32 | 26 | 31 | 57 | 2 |
| Art Chisholm | Junior | Northeastern | 24 | 25 | 31 | 56 | 15 |
| John MacMillan | Senior | Denver | 34 | 30 | 25 | 55 | 34 |
| John Kosiancic | Senior | Michigan Tech | 32 | 24 | 31 | 55 | 30 |

### 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 |
| John Wilson | Sophomore | Northeastern | 11 | - | - | - | - | - | - | .846 | 1.73 |
| George Kirkwood | Junior | Denver | 34 | - | 27 | 4 | 3 | - | 2 | .900 | 2.50 |
| Ron Chisholm | Sophomore | Army | 22 | 1328 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 62 | 2 | .888 | 2.80 |
| Jim MacLean | Sophomore | Rensselaer | 14 | - | - | - | - | - | - | .876 | 2.97 |
| Rod Blackburn | Junior | New Hampshire | 13 | 705 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 35 | 2 | .900 | 2.98 |
| Barry Urbanski | Junior | Boston University | 17 | - | 12 | 5 | 0 | - | - | .907 | 3.24 |
| George Cuculick | Senior | Michigan Tech | 30 | - | - | - | - | - | - | .889 | 3.26 |
| George Gratton | Junior | North Dakota | 30 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | .873 | 3.33 |
| Chuck Steinweg | Sophomore | Minnesota | 19 | - | - | - | - | - | - | .877 | 3.89 |
| Charles Hamlin | Sophomore | Yale | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.90 |