1972–73 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season

The 1972–73 NCAA University Division men's ice hockey season began in November 1972 and concluded with the 1973 NCAA University Division Men's Ice Hockey Tournament's championship game on March 17, 1973 at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. This was the 26th season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held and is the 79th year overall where an NCAA school fielded a team.
After the season Denver's participation in the NCAA tournament was vacated due to violations of NCAA regulations.
After the season Army was classified as a Division II squad as part of the NCAA's numerical classification system.
Lake Superior State began to sponsor their ice hockey program and the team was promptly admitted into the CCHA.
==Regular season==
===Season tournaments===
Tournament 	Dates 	Teams	Champion
Christmas City of the North Tournament	November 23–25	4 	Minnesota–Duluth†
North County Thanksgiving Festival 	November 23–25	4 	Clarkson
Cleveland Cup Invitational 	November 29–30	4 	Michigan State
Yale Invitational 	December 18–19	4 	Northeastern
ECAC Holiday Hockey Festival 	December 19–20	4 	Saint Louis
Great Lakes Invitational 	December 27–28	4 	Harvard
Williams Invitational 	December 27–29	4 	Bowdoin
Rensselaer Holiday Tournament 	December 28–30	4 	Minnesota–Duluth
St. Louis Fireman's Invitational 	December 28–30	4 	Wisconsin
Nichols School Invitational 	December 29–30	4 	St. Lawrence
Syracuse Invitational 	December 29–30	4 	Clarkson
Beanpot 	February 5, 12	4 	Boston University
†Boston University won the tournament but was forced to forfeit each of the three games played after the conclusion of the season.
===Standings===
==1973 NCAA Tournament==
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)Note: † Denver's participation was later vacated due to NCAA violations
==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
 	Sophomore	Saint Louis	38	47	49	96 	22
 	Junior 	Notre Dame 	38	43	47	90 	38
 	Junior 	Saint Louis	38	37	46	83 	6
 	Junior 	Saint Louis	38	31	47	78 	8
 	Sophomore	Army 	- 	39	33	72 	-
 	Junior 	Denver 	38	32	40	72 	18
 	Sophomore	Saint Louis	38	26	46	72 	20
 	Junior 	Notre Dame 	35	35	34	69 	54
 	Junior 	Cornell 	29	25	44	69 	18
 	Junior 	Ohio State 	30	33	35	68 	44
===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
 	Senior 	Denver 	35	2094	27	7	1 	102	2 	.921	2.90
 	Sophomore	Boston University	27	1612	- 	-	- 	79 	0 	.911	2.94
 	Junior 	Cornell 	29	- 	- 	-	- 	- 	- 	.905	3.06
 	Sophomore	Michigan Tech 	17	1031	11	4	1 	55 	0 	.905	3.20
 	Junior 	Minnesota 	23	1345	- 	-	- 	74 	0 	.906	3.30
 	Freshman 	New Hampshire 	20	1200	- 	-	- 	67 	0 	.897	3.35
 	Sophomore	Wisconsin 	17	1021	- 	-	- 	58 	2 	.892	3.41
 	Senior 	Clarkson 	14	789 	11	-	- 	46 	2 	.893	3.50
 	Sophomore	Boston College 	20	1180	15	4	1 	70 	1 	.895	3.56
 	Junior 	Rensselaer 	30	1800	- 	-	- 	109	1 	.898	3.63
==Awards==
===NCAA===
Award 	Award 	Recipient
Spencer Penrose Award (Coach of the Year) 	Spencer Penrose Award (Coach of the Year) 	Len Ceglarski, Boston College
Most Outstanding Player in NCAA Tournament	Most Outstanding Player in NCAA Tournament	Dean Talafous, Wisconsin
AHCA All-American Teams 	AHCA All-American Teams	AHCA All-American Teams
East Team 	  Position   	West Team
Ed Walsh, Boston University 	G 	Ron Grahame, Denver
Tom Mellor, Boston College 	D 	Bob Boyd, Michigan State
Keith Smith, Brown 	D 	Bill Nyrop, Notre Dame
Gordie Clark, New Hampshire 	F 	Pat Boutette, Minnesota-Duluth
Steve Dolloff, Boston University	F 	Eddie Bumbacco, Notre Dame
Bob McManama, Harvard 	F 	Rob Palmer, Denver
===CCHA===
No Awards
All-CCHA Teams 	All-CCHA Teams 	All-CCHA Teams
First Team 	  Position  	Second Team
Ralph Kloiber, Saint Louis 	G 	Don Boyd, Bowling Green
 	G 	Don Muio, Lake Superior State
Roger Archer, Bowling Green 	D 	Chuck Gyles, Bowling Green
Bill Slewidge, Lake Superior State	D 	Jim Witherspoon, Ohio State
Rick Kennedy, Saint Louis 	F 	Julio Francella, Lake Superior State
John Nestic, Saint Louis 	F 	Mike Bartley, Bowling Green
Ray Meyers, Ohio State 	F 	Dave Davies, Saint Louis
===ECAC===
Award 	Award 	Recipient
Player of the Year 	Player of the Year 	Tom Mellor, Boston College
Rookie of the Year 	Rookie of the Year 	Vic Stanfield, Boston University
Most Outstanding Player in Tournament	Most Outstanding Player in Tournament	Carlo Ugolini, Cornell
All-ECAC Hockey Teams 	All-ECAC Hockey Teams 	All-ECAC Hockey Teams
First Team 	  Position  	Second Team
Ned Yetten, Boston College 	G 	Don Cutts, Rensselaer
Tom Mellor, Boston College 	D 	Bill Murray, Cornell
Vic Stanfield, Boston University	D 	Keith Smith, Brown
Gordie Clark, New Hampshire 	F 	Bill Corkery, Harvard
Bob McManama, Harvard 	F 	Steve Dolloff, Boston University
Carlo Ugolini, Cornell 	F 	Dave Wisener, Boston University
===WCHA===
Award 	Award 	Recipient
Most Valuable Player	Most Valuable Player	Ron Grahame, Denver
Freshman of the Year	Freshman of the Year	Mike Zuke, Michigan Tech
Coach of the Year 	Coach of the Year 	Lefty Smith, Notre Dame
All-WCHA Teams 	All-WCHA Teams 	All-WCHA Teams
First Team 	  Position  	Second Team
Ron Grahame, Denver 	G 	Jim Makey, Wisconsin
Bob Boyd, Michigan State 	D 	Bill Nyrop, Notre Dame
Bruce Affleck, Denver 	D 	Jim Nahrgang, Michigan Tech
Rob Palmer, Denver 	F 	Ian Williams, Notre Dame
Eddie Bumbacco, Notre Dame	F 	Norm Cherrey, Wisconsin
Peter McNab, Denver 	F 	Pat Boutette, Minnesota-Duluth
==References==
==External links==
*College Hockey Historical Archives
*1972–73 NCAA Standings
 
NCAA