1970–71 Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey season

College ice hockey team season

1970–71 Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey season


National champion Boston Arena Christmas Tournament, champion Beanpot, champion ECAC Hockey, champion NCAA tournament, champion

Conference	1st ECAC Hockey
Home ice	Boston Arena
Record
Overall	28–2–1
Conference	18–1–1
Home	13–0–0
Road	8–1–1
Neutral	7–1
Coaches and captains
Head coach	Jack Kelley
Assistant coaches	Bob Crocker
Captain(s)	Steve Stirling
Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey seasons « 1969–70 1971–72 »

The 1970–71 Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey team represented Boston University in college ice hockey. In its 9th year under head coach Jack Kelley the team compiled a 28–2–1 record and reached the NCAA tournament for the seventh time. The Terriers defeated Minnesota 4–2 in the championship game at the Onondaga War Memorial in Syracuse, New York to win the national championship.

Season

Early Season

After a very good season in 1970, BU set their sights firmly on improving over their third place ECAC finish. Jack Kelley's Terriers opened the season in St. Louis, playing the new varsity team for Saint Louis University. Not surprisingly, the experienced easterners dominated the Billikens, winning both games by a combined score of 17–1. The squad returned home for their next contest three days later, defeating Brown soundly before hitting the road again (through not traveling nearly as far away as their first two games). After dropping New Hampshire BU faced Harvard in their first big test on the season and the two teams fought to a 4–4 draw. The Terriers returned to their home rink to take on two non-conference opponents and thoroughly dispatched both. First was College Division Merrimack followed by a down Minnesota team ten days later. BU Shut out both opponents and glided into their winter break with a 6–0–1 record.

Christmas Tournament

At the end of December BU played host in the Boston Arena Christmas Tournament for the 17th and final time. In the first game the Terriers dropped a good Providence team then beat the independent Notre Dame team 7–3 to claim the championship.

After the calendar changed to 1971, BU welcomed Princeton to the Boston Arena with the second-largest shutout victory in program history (14–0). After travelling across town to defeat arch-rival Boston College the Terriers returned home to face Northeastern on their shared rink. The Huskies were no match for Boston University and Kelley's boys posted their fifth shutout of the season.

After brushing off another College Division program, this time in the form of Bowling Green, BU hosted Dartmouth and trounced the Big Green 13–4, their sixth win by at least 8 goals in only 14 games.

First Blemish

In late January BU left New England for the first time in almost two months to face defending national champion Cornell. Cornell had not lost at home in over four years and, despite their best efforts, the first-place Terriers were unable to end the Big Red's streak, suffering their first loss of the season 1–5. BU took their frustrations out on Providence to begin another winning streak, defeating four conference opponents in quick succession (including second-place Clarkson) to head into the Beanpot narrowly holding onto the top spot in the ECAC.

BU's first opponent in the Beanpot was a very weak Northeastern team and the match was more or less a repeat of the first meeting between the two with the Terriers winning 12–2. Kelley's team played three games during the two-week break and won all three contests by a 5-goal margin. When the time came for the championship BU was able to hold Harvard to a single goal and won their second consecutive Beanpot.

ECAC Tournament

The Terriers finished their regular season with two more wins, finishing with an 18–1–1 ECAC record while possessing the top offense and #2 defense in the 17-team conference. BU played host to Rensselaer in the conference quarterfinals and won the match easily, 11–0. When the tournament shifted to the Boston Garden BU faced Harvard in the semifinal and disaster struck, for the fourth year in a row the Terriers lost in the conference semis, losing 2–4 to their cross-town rivals. Ordinarily that would have meant that BU would not have an opportunity to make the NCAA tournament but because that was only the Terriers' second loss of the season there was a small chance that the selection committee would choose BU as the second eastern seed. To give them a better shot at the tournament the Terriers would have to defeat Cornell in the third place game.

Cornell got off to a fast start, scoring less than four minutes into the game but BU was able to tie the match in less than two minutes. The two teams exchanged goals three more times before the first period was over and Cornell led 3–2 after one. The Terriers tied the game early in the second and then Cornell got into penalty trouble. BU score two power play goals in a 5-minute span and took a 5–3 lead before Cornell got their own man-advantage marker with three minutes left in the second. BU reestablished the 2-goal margin 33 seconds later but the Big Red were able to cut close the gap with 14 seconds left in the middle frame. After allowing the fifth goal on 31 shots, Kelley pulled starter Dan Brady in favor of Tim Regan and the later responded by putting up a wall in front of the BU net. Cornell fired a further 13 shots in the third period but Regan turned away everything and BU skated to a 6–5 win and a third-place finish in the ECAC tournament, the team's first win over the Big Red in 45 years.

Unfortunately for BU, Harvard won the ECAC tournament, meaning that the selection committee would be choosing between runner-up Clarkson (28–4–1) and third-place BU (26–2–1). However, with BU having defeated the Golden Knights back on February 5 (the two team's only meeting), and Clarkson having lost to Bowling Green the committee chose to give the Terriers the nod.

NCAA tournament

Boston University returned to the national tournament after 4 years on the outside and faced Denver in the semifinal. BU had lost each of their previous four meetings but this year was different and the Terriers managed to triumph over the western powerhouse 4–2. BU reached the championship for the first time and met Minnesota for the second time that season. The Golden Gophers were the first team to reach the title tilt with a losing record (and remain the only squad to do so as of 2019) and had been relying on strong goaltending from Dennis Erickson from the start of postseason play. BU opened the scoring just past the five-minute mark with a power play goal from team captain Steve Stirling and shortly thereafter a slapshot from Bob Brown caught Erickson in an unprotected part of his knee and injured the goaltender. After an extended pause in the game Erickson remained in the game and continued to play well but allowed another goal before the first had ended and a second goal to Stirling on a breakaway in the middle frame. Brady, the BU starter, faced almost as many shots in the game but looked calm in the net, turning aside the 23 shots he faced through two periods.

In the third BU played a much more defensive game and limited Minnesota's chances. The game was beginning to look like another shutout for the terriers until Mike LaGarde was called for holding. While the Terriers managed to kill off the disadvantage the Golden Gophers continued to keep the pressure on and scored 5 seconds after the penalty had expired. With momentum having swung in their direction Minnesota went on the attack but Brady stood tall and kept the put out of the BU net. With just over two minutes remaining BU found themselves on a two-on-one and Ron Anderson was able to give the Terriers a three-goal lead. Dean Blais would score Minnesota's second goal with 16 seconds left in the contest but the game was effectively over and BU won their first national championship.

Dan Brady was named as the Tournament MOP (the first American so honored since Barry Urbanski in 1960) and was named to the All-Tournament Team with Bob Brown, Don Cahoon and Steve Stirling. Both Brown and Stirling were named to the AHCA All-American East Team and were joined by John Danby on the All-ECAC Hockey First Team while Ric Jordan made the Second Team. Brown was also awarded the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year, an obvious choice perhaps with Brown having led all defensemen in scoring.

Standings

1970–71 ECAC Hockey standings v t e
	Conference							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

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Record
Regular Season
November 27	at Saint Louis*	St. Louis Arena • St. Louis, Missouri	W 8–0	1–0
November 29	at Saint Louis*	St. Louis Arena • St. Louis, Missouri	W 9–1	2–0
December 2	vs. Brown	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	W 5–1	3–0 (1–0)
December 5	at New Hampshire	Snively Arena • Durham, New Hampshire	W 6–1	4–0 (2–0)
December 9	at Harvard	Donald C. Watson Rink • Boston, Massachusetts	T 4–4	4–0–1 (2–0–1)
December 12	vs. Merrimack*	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	W 8–0	5–0–1 (2–0–1)
December 22	at Minnesota	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	W 6–0	6–0–1 (2–0–1)
Boston Arena Christmas Tournament
December 28	vs. Providence	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts (Boston Arena Christmas Tournament)	W 4–1	7–0–1 (3–0–1)
December 29	vs. Notre Dame*	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts (Boston Arena Christmas Tournament)	W 7–3	8–0–1 (3–0–1)
January 4	vs. Princeton	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	W 14–0	9–0–1 (4–0–1)
January 9	at Boston College	McHugh Forum • Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts	W 8–3	10–0–1 (5–0–1)
January 13	vs. Northeastern	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	W 9–0	11–0–1 (6–0–1)
January 16	vs. Bowling Green*	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	W 6–1	12–0–1 (6–0–1)
January 20	vs. Dartmouth	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	W 13–4	13–0–1 (7–0–1)
January 23	at Cornell	Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York	L 1–5	13–1–1 (7–1–1)
January 27	at Providence	Rhode Island Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island	W 7–1	14–1–1 (8–1–1)
January 30	vs. St. Lawrence	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	W 6–3	15–1–1 (9–1–1)
February 3	at Yale	Ingalls Rink • New Haven, Connecticut	W 5–1	16–1–1 (10–1–1)
February 5	vs. Clarkson	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	W 4–1	17–1–1 (11–1–1)
Beanpot
February 8	vs. Northeastern	Boston Garden • Boston, Massachusetts (Beanpot Semifinal)	W 12–2	18–1–1 (12–1–1)
February 13	vs. New Hampshire	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	W 8–3	19–1–1 (13–1–1)
February 16	vs. Boston College	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	W 9–4	20–1–1 (14–1–1)
February 19	at Rensselaer	Houston Field House • Troy, New York	W 7–2	21–1–1 (15–1–1)
February 22	vs. Harvard	Boston Garden • Boston, Massachusetts (Beanpot championship)	W 4–1	22–1–1 (16–1–1)
February 27	vs. Providence	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	W 6–3	23–1–1 (17–1–1)
March 5	at Colgate	Starr Rink • Hamilton, New York	W 7–2	24–1–1 (18–1–1)
ECAC Hockey Tournament
March 9	vs. Rensselaer*	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts (ECAC Quarterfinal)	W 11–0	25–1–1 (18–1–1)
March 13	vs. Harvard*	Boston Garden • Boston, Massachusetts (ECAC Semifinal)	L 2–4	25–2–1 (18–1–1)
March 14	vs. Cornell*	Boston Garden • Boston, Massachusetts (ECAC Third Place Game)	W 6–5	26–2–1 (18–1–1)
NCAA tournament
March 19	vs. Denver*	Onondaga War Memorial • Syracuse, New York (National Semifinal)	W 4–2	27–2–1 (18–1–1)
March 21	vs. Minnesota*	Onondaga War Memorial • Syracuse, New York (National championship)	W 4–2	28–2–1 (18–1–1)
*Non-conference game. Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. Source:

Roster and scoring statistics

No.	Name	Year	Position	Hometown	Games	Goals	Assists	Pts	PIM
9	Steve Stirling	Senior	C	Clarkson, ON	31	27	43	70	20
12	John Danby	Junior	C	Port Credit, ON	31	28	36	64	10
2	Bob Brown	Sophomore	D	Scarborough, ON	31	17	43	60	38
7	Ric Jordan	Sophomore	D	Mississauga, ON	30	12	38	50	55
21	Don Cahoon	Junior	W	Marblehead, MA	31	24	20	44	20
19	Ron Anderson	Sophomore	W	Moncton, NB	31	20	21	41	17
11	Wayne Gowing	Senior	W	Kitchener, ON	31	16	24	40	6
17	Bob Gryp	Junior	W	Merlin, ON	30	20	19	39	51
18	Steve Dolloff	Sophomore	C	Melrose, MA	31	15	22	37	8
16	Guy Burrowes	Junior	W	Niagara Falls, ON	31	9	23	32	18
8	Paul Giandomenico	Junior	W	Walpole, MA	30	9	15	24	8
20	Bob Murray	Junior	D	Quincy, MA	31	3	13	16	54
27	Mike LaGarde	Junior	D	Roxboro, PQ	26	2	13	15	38
25	Peter Thornton	Sophomore	W	Scarborough, ON	15	5	7	12	10
4	Peter Yetten	Senior	D	Waltham, MA	27	0	9	9	16
23	Larry Abbott	Sophomore	D	Melrose, MA	20	1	3	4	4
5	Bill Flynn	Sophomore	W	Stoneham, MA	18	0	3	3	4
10	Ray Cornoyea	Sophomore	W	Chippawa, ON	14	2	0	2	0
14	Olivier Prechac	Sophomore	W	Versailles, Fr	5	0	2	2	2
24	Dave Warner	Sophomore	D	Niagara Falls, ON	1	0	0	0	0
3	Bill Fenwick	Junior	D	Komoka, ON	0	-	-	-	-
15	Bruce Hatton	Senior	W	Sudbury, MA	0	-	-	-	-
1	Stefan Brueckner	Junior	G	Buena Park, CA	1	0	0	0	0
1	Tim Regan	Junior	G	Providence, RI	14	0	0	0	0
30	Dan Brady	Junior	G	Canton, NY	18	0	0	0	0
Total

Goaltending statistics

No.	Name	Games	Minutes	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals Against	Saves	Shut Outs	SV %	GAA
1	Stefan Brueckner	1	60				1	12	0	.923	1.00
1	Tim Regan	14	780				23	299		.929	1.77
30	Dan Brady	18	1060				36	396		.917	2.04
Total		31		28	2	1	60	707	6	.922	1.92

1971 championship game

(E2) Boston University vs. (W2) Minnesota

March 20

Boston University

4 – 2

Minnesota

Onondaga War Memorial

Scoring summary
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	BU	Steve Stirling - PP	Danby and Brown	5:32	1–0 BU
1st	BU	Bob Gryp	Gowing	10:10	2–0 BU
2nd	BU	Steve Stirling - GW	unassisted	29:13	3–0 BU
3rd	MIN	Doug Peltier	Sarner and McIntosh	53:07	3–1 BU
	BU	Ron Anderson	Dolloff and Brown	57:45	4–1 BU
	MIN	Dean Blais	McIntosh	59:44	4–2 BU
Penalty summary
Period	Team	Player	Penalty	Time	PIM
1st	MIN	Frank Sanders	Charging	5:01	2:00
1st	BU	Bob Murray	Holding	14:18	2:00
2nd	BU	Mike LaGarde	High–Sticking	29:32	2:00
	BU	Ron Anderson	Elbowing	37:18	2:00
	MIN	Wally Olds	Interference	39:44	2:00
3rd	BU	Mike LaGarde	Holding	51:04	2:00
	BU	Bob Murray	Hooking	58:09	2:00
	MIN	Doug Peltier	Offensive Check	58:09	2:00
	MIN	Dean Blais	Cross–Checking	59:49	2:00

Shots by period
Team	1	2	3	T
Minnesota	13	11	8	32
Boston University	12	11	9	32

Goaltenders
Team	Name	Saves	Goals against	Time on ice
MIN	Dennis Erickson	28	4
BU	Dan Brady	30	2

References

^ "Year-By-Year Results" (PDF). Boston University Terriers. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
"Clarkson Hockey 2018-19 Media Guide". Clarkson Golden Knights. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
Beanpot official site http://www.beanpothockey.com
"March 13, 1971" (PDF). The Big Red What. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
"1971 NCAA Hockey Championship". YouTube. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
"Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
"ECAC All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
"Gostisbehere, Bodie, Carr earn spots on ECAC Hockey All-League Teams". Union Athletics. March 21, 2013. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
"Boston University Terriers 1970-71 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
"Boston University Championship Teams" (PDF). Boston University Terriers. Retrieved February 26, 2017.

v t e NCAA Division I men's ice hockey champions
1948 Michigan 1949 Boston College 1950 Colorado College 1951 Michigan 1952 Michigan 1953 Michigan 1954 RPI 1955 Michigan 1956 Michigan 1957 Colorado College 1958 Denver 1959 North Dakota 1960 Denver 1961 Denver 1962 Michigan Tech 1963 North Dakota 1964 Michigan 1965 Michigan Tech 1966 Michigan State 1967 Cornell 1968 Denver 1969 Denver 1970 Cornell 1971 Boston University 1972 Boston University 1973 Wisconsin 1974 Minnesota 1975 Michigan Tech 1976 Minnesota 1977 Wisconsin 1978 Boston University 1979 Minnesota 1980 North Dakota 1981 Wisconsin 1982 North Dakota 1983 Wisconsin 1984 Bowling Green 1985 RPI 1986 Michigan State 1987 North Dakota 1988 Lake Superior State 1989 Harvard 1990 Wisconsin 1991 Northern Michigan 1992 Lake Superior State 1993 Maine 1994 Lake Superior State 1995 Boston University 1996 Michigan 1997 North Dakota 1998 Michigan 1999 Maine 2000 North Dakota 2001 Boston College 2002 Minnesota 2003 Minnesota 2004 Denver 2005 Denver 2006 Wisconsin 2007 Michigan State 2008 Boston College 2009 Boston University 2010 Boston College 2011 Minnesota–Duluth 2012 Boston College 2013 Yale 2014 Union 2015 Providence 2016 North Dakota 2017 Denver 2018 Minnesota–Duluth 2019 Minnesota Duluth 2020 No tournament 2021 UMass 2022 Denver 2023 Quinnipiac 2024 Denver

NCAA Division I men's ice hockey champions

1948: Michigan
1949: Boston College
1950: Colorado College
1951: Michigan
1952: Michigan
1953: Michigan
1954: RPI
1955: Michigan
1956: Michigan
1957: Colorado College
1958: Denver
1959: North Dakota
1960: Denver
1961: Denver
1962: Michigan Tech
1963: North Dakota
1964: Michigan
1965: Michigan Tech
1966: Michigan State
1967: Cornell
1968: Denver
1969: Denver
1970: Cornell
1971: Boston University
1972: Boston University
1973: Wisconsin
1974: Minnesota
1975: Michigan Tech
1976: Minnesota
1977: Wisconsin
1978: Boston University
1979: Minnesota
1980: North Dakota
1981: Wisconsin
1982: North Dakota
1983: Wisconsin
1984: Bowling Green
1985: RPI
1986: Michigan State
1987: North Dakota
1988: Lake Superior State
1989: Harvard
1990: Wisconsin
1991: Northern Michigan
1992: Lake Superior State
1993: Maine
1994: Lake Superior State
1995: Boston University
1996: Michigan
1997: North Dakota
1998: Michigan
1999: Maine
2000: North Dakota
2001: Boston College
2002: Minnesota
2003: Minnesota
2004: Denver
2005: Denver
2006: Wisconsin
2007: Michigan State
2008: Boston College
2009: Boston University
2010: Boston College
2011: Minnesota–Duluth
2012: Boston College
2013: Yale
2014: Union
2015: Providence
2016: North Dakota
2017: Denver
2018: Minnesota–Duluth
2019: Minnesota Duluth
2020: No tournament
2021: UMass
2022: Denver
2023: Quinnipiac
2024: Denver

v t e Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey
Playing venues	Boston Arena (1918–1971) Walter Brown Arena (1971–2005) Agganis Arena (2005–present)
Head coaches	Edgar Burkhardt (1917–1918) Harold Stuart (1919–1920) John J. O'Hare (1922–1924) Chippy Gaw (1924–1928) Wayland Vaughan (1928–1940) Syd Borofsky (1940–1941) Wayland Vaughan (1941–1943) Harry Cleverly (1945–1962) Jack Kelley (1962–1972) Leon Abbott (1972–1973) Jack Parker (1973–2013) David Quinn (2013–2018) Albie O'Connell (2018–2022) Jay Pandolfo (2022–present)
Seasons	1917–18 1919–20 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Conference affiliations	ECAC Hockey (1961–1984) Hockey East (1984–Present)
Rivalries	Boston College Eagles (Green Line Rivalry) Beanpot Maine Black Bears
All-time leaders	Statistical leaders John Cullen (241 Points) Chris Drury (113 Goals) Sean Fields (62 Wins)
National championships	1971 1972 1978 1995 2009
Frozen Four appearances	1950 1951 1953 1960 1966 1967 1971 1972 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1990 1991 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 2009 2015 2023 2024
NCAA Tournament appearances	1950 1951 1953 1960 1966 1967 1971 1972 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1984 1986 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 2000 2002 2003 2005 2006 2007 2009 2012 2015 2016 2017 2018 2021 2023 2024
Conference Tournament titles	ECAC Hockey: 1972 1974 1975 1976 1977 Hockey East: 1986 1991 1994 1995 1997 2006 2009 2015 2018 2023
Hobey Baker winners	Chris Drury (1998) Matt Gilroy (2009) Jack Eichel (2015)
Boston University Boston, MA

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