# 1965–66 NCAA University Division men's ice hockey season

The 1965–66 NCAA University Division men's ice hockey season began in November 1965 and concluded with the 1966 NCAA University Division Men's Ice Hockey Tournament's championship game on March 19, 1966, at the Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This was the 19th season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held and is the 72nd year overall where an NCAA school fielded a team.
Minnesota–Duluth joined the WCHA beginning with this season. Pennsylvania promoted their club program to varsity status and began playing as an independent.

## Regular season
### Season tournaments

| Tournament | Dates | Teams | Champion |
| New Brunswick Invitational | November 26–27 | 4 | |
| Boston Christmas Holiday Festival | December 17–18 | 6 | |
| ECAC Holiday Hockey Festival | December 19–22 | 6 | Cornell |
| Great Lakes Invitational | December 21–22 | 4 | Toronto |
| Boston Arena Christmas Tournament | December 27–29 | 4 | Boston University |
| Yankee Conference Tournament | December 28–29 | 4 | New Hampshire |
| Rensselaer Holiday Tournament | December 28–30 | 4 | Western Ontario |
| Brown Holiday Tournament | December 29–30 | 4 | Brown |
| St. Paul College Hockey Tournament | December 29–30 | 4 | Minnesota |
| Nichols School Invitational | December 31–January 1 | 4 | Yale |
| Beanpot | February 7, 14 | 4 | Boston University |

### Standings

1965–66 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 | 34 | 29 | 27 | 16 | 11 | 0 | 117 | 94 |
| Michigan State | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 34 | 32 | 29 | 16 | 13 | 0 | 123 | 111 |
| Michigan | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 25 | 32 | 28 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 125 | 109 |
| † indicates conference regular season champion |||||||||||||||
1965–66 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 |
| Clarkson†* | 12 | 11 | 1 | 0 | .917 | 67 | 28 | 27 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 150 | 70 |
| Boston University | 19 | 17 | 2 | 0 | .895 | 105 | 75 | 35 | 27 | 8 | 0 | 178 | 92 |
| Cornell | 18 | 16 | 2 | 0 | .889 | 92 | 33 | 27 | 22 | 5 | 0 | 151 | 54 |
| Brown | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | .667 | 86 | 60 | 25 | 16 | 9 | 0 | 114 | 85 |
| St. Lawrence | 15 | 8 | 6 | 1 | .567 | 75 | 54 | 24 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 130 | 95 |
| Boston College | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | .545 | 105 | 80 | 28 | 16 | 12 | 0 | 135 | 101 |
| Colgate | 16 | 8 | 7 | 1 | .531 | 79 | 67 | 26 | 14 | 11 | 1 | 137 | 98 |
| Northeastern | 18 | 9 | 8 | 1 | .528 | 80 | 71 | 29 | 16 | 12 | 1 | 140 | 120 |
| Harvard | 19 | 8 | 11 | 0 | .421 | 77 | 81 | 23 | 10 | 12 | 1 | 104 | 99 |
| Yale | 21 | 8 | 12 | 1 | .405 | 82 | 103 | 23 | 10 | 12 | 1 | 86 | 105 |
| Army | 10 | 3 | 6 | 1 | .350 | 34 | 69 | 25 | 17 | 7 | 1 | 132 | 85 |
| Princeton | 19 | 6 | 12 | 1 | .342 | 76 | 101 | 20 | 7 | 12 | 1 | 76 | 101 |
| Dartmouth | 18 | 2 | 14 | 2 | .167 | 55 | 111 | 24 | 5 | 17 | 2 | 80 | 127 |
| Providence | 14 | 2 | 12 | 0 | .143 | 42 | 77 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 77 | 93 |
| Rensselaer | 13 | 0 | 13 | 0 | .000 | 18 | 112 | 22 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 42 | 161 |
| Championship: Clarkson † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion |||||||||||||||
1965–66 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 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 32 | 9 | 27 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 150 | 70 |
| St. Lawrence | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 22 | 9 | 24 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 130 | 95 |
| Rensselaer | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 40 | 22 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 42 | 161 |
| † indicates conference regular season champion |||||||||||||||
1965–66 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 |
| Alaska–Fairbanks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | - | - |
| Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 75 | 65 |
| Pennsylvania | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 24 | 16 | 8 | 0 | | |
| Wisconsin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 21 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 105 | 66 |
1965–66 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† | 20 | 15 | 4 | 1 | .775 | 77 | 48 | 30 | 23 | 6 | 1 | 141 | 82 |
| North Dakota | 22 | 13 | 9 | 0 | .591 | 97 | 85 | 30 | 17 | 12 | 1 | 135 | 115 |
| Minnesota | 22 | 13 | 9 | 0 | .591 | 92 | 76 | 27 | 16 | 11 | 0 | 117 | 94 |
| Denver* | 20 | 10 | 7 | 3 | .575 | 81 | 61 | 32 | 18 | 11 | 3 | 137 | 100 |
| Michigan | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | .500 | 74 | 72 | 28 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 125 | 109 |
| Michigan State* | 20 | 9 | 11 | 0 | .450 | 88 | 85 | 29 | 16 | 13 | 0 | 123 | 111 |
| Colorado College | 18 | 4 | 12 | 2 | .278 | 51 | 93 | 29 | 9 | 18 | 2 | 98 | 147 |
| Minnesota-Duluth | 20 | 3 | 15 | 2 | .200 | 60 | 100 | 28 | 7 | 19 | 2 | 96 | 137 |
| Championship: Michigan State, Denver † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion |||||||||||||||

## 1966 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 |
| W1 | Denver | 3 | | | |
| E2 | Clarkson | 4 | | | |
| E2 | Clarkson | 4 | E2 | Clarkson | 1 |
| | | | W2 | Michigan State | 6 |
| E1 | Boston University | 1 | W2 | Michigan State | 6 |
| W2 | Michigan State | 2 | Third Place Game | Third Place Game | Third Place Game |
| | | | W1 | Denver | 4 |
| | | | E1 | Boston University | 3 |
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 |
| Doug Ferguson | Junior | Cornell | 27 | 37 | 34 | 71 | 76 |
| Fred Bassi | Junior | Boston University | 35 | 35 | 29 | 64 | 33 |
| Michael Doran | Junior | Cornell | 27 | 23 | 39 | 62 | 48 |
| Doug Volmar | Sophomore | Michigan State | 29 | 26 | 28 | 54 | 57 |
| Terry Casey | Senior | North Dakota | 30 | 26 | 28 | 54 | 2 |
| Bruce Fennie | Senior | Boston University | 32 | 23 | 30 | 53 | 21 |
| David Ferguson | Junior | Cornell | 27 | 23 | 29 | 52 | 41 |
| Mel Wakabayashi | Junior | Michigan | 28 | 19 | 33 | 52 | 2 |
| Dennis Macks | Sophomore | Brown | 25 | 24 | 26 | 50 | - |
| Raymond Clegg | Junior | Wisconsin | 22 | 27 | 22 | 49 | 9 |
| Robert Empie | Sophomore | Clarkson | 25 | 27 | 22 | 49 | 16 |
| Jim Quinn | Junior | Boston University | 35 | 24 | 25 | 49 | 21 |

### 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 |
| Errol McKibbon | Senior | Cornell | 16 | - | - | - | - | - | - | .928 | 1.94 |
| David Quarrie | Junior | Cornell | 11 | - | - | - | - | - | - | .912 | 1.99 |
| Wayne Ryan | Junior | Boston University | 13 | 640 | - | - | - | 24 | 0 | .903 | 2.25 |
| Terry Yurkiewicz | Senior | Clarkson | - | 1366 | 24 | - | 0 | 56 | 0 | .906 | 2.46 |
| Rick Best | Junior | Michigan Tech | 13 | - | - | - | - | - | - | .901 | 2.62 |
| Tony Esposito | Junior | Michigan Tech | 19 | - | - | - | - | - | - | .909 | 2.69 |
| David Ferguson | Senior | Brown | 25 | 1500 | 16 | 9 | 0 | 77 | 0 | .898 | 3.08 |
| Buddy Blom | Senior | Denver | 32 | 1918 | 18 | 11 | 3 | 99 | 0 | .898 | 3.09 |
| Gaye Cooley | Sophomore | Michigan State | 18 | 1080 | - | - | - | 56 | 0 | .903 | 3.10 |
| Gary Johnson | Junior | Wisconsin | 21 | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | .905 | 3.14 |

## Awards
### WCHA

| Award | Award | Recipient |
| Most Valuable Player | Most Valuable Player | Mel Wakabayashi, Michigan |
| Sophomore of the Year | Sophomore of the Year | Gary Gambucci, Minnesota |
| Coach of the Year | Coach of the Year | John MacInnes, Michigan Tech |
| All-WCHA Teams |||
| First Team | Position | Second Team |
| Tony Esposito, Michigan Tech | G | John Lothrop, Minnesota |
| Wayne Smith, Denver | D | Dennis Huculak, Michigan Tech |
| Bruce Riutta, Michigan Tech | D | Bob Hill, Minnesota-Duluth |
| Doug Volmar, Michigan State | F | Wayne Weller, Michigan Tech |
| Terry Casey, North Dakota | F | Mel Wakabayashi, Michigan |
| Dennis Hextall, North Dakota | F | Gary Gambucci, Minnesota |

## 1966 NHL Amateur Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | College | Conference | NHL team |
| 4 | 21 | Brian Morenz $^†$ | Denver | WCHA | Chicago Black Hawks |
† incoming freshman