1960–61 NCAA men's ice hockey season

The 1960–61 NCAA men's ice hockey season began in November 1960 and concluded with the 1961 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament's championship game on March 18, 1961 at the University of Denver Arena in Denver, Colorado. This was the 14th season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held and is the 67th year overall where an NCAA school fielded a team.

1960–61 NCAA men's ice hockey season
Duration	November 1960– March 18, 1961
NCAA tournament	1961
National championship	University of Denver Arena Denver, Colorado
NCAA champion	Denver
List of NCAA Division I men's ice hockey seasons ← 1959–60 1961–62 →

Regular season

Season tournaments

Tournament	Dates	Teams	Champion
Cornell Invitational	December 19–21	6	Bowdoin, Williams
Boston Arena Christmas Tournament	December 27–29	6	Providence
Rensselaer Holiday Tournament	December 28–30	4	Rensselaer
Beanpot	February 6, 13	4	Boston College

Standings

1960–61 Big Ten standings v t e
	Conference								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
Michigan†	8	6	2	0	12	34	21		28	16	10	2	108	89
Minnesota	8	5	3	0	10	36	32		29	17	11	1	126	111
Michigan State	8	1	7	0	2	22	39		27	11	16	0	121	115
† indicates conference regular season champion

1960–61 NCAA Independent ice hockey standings v t e
	Intercollegiate								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	Pct.	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
Amherst	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		17	4	13	0	–	–
American International	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		17	5	12	0	–	–
Army	21	13	8	0	.619	107	58		25	17	8	0	139	62
Boston College	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		25	19	5	1	143	55
Boston University	24	10	14	0	.417	98	104		24	10	14	0	98	104
Bowdoin	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		20	15	5	0	–	–
Brown	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		20	0	20	0	30	117
Colby	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		23	18	5	0	–	–
Colgate	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		24	8	15	1	88	110
Connecticut	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		11	4	6	1	55	69
Cornell	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		19	7	12	0	66	58
Dartmouth	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		19	8	11	0	87	118
Hamilton	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		17	2	14	1	–	–
Harvard	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		24	18	4	2	106	47
Massachusetts	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		14	7	6	1	45	69
Merrimack	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		12	5	7	0	52	64
Middlebury	16	14	2	0	.875	158	44		21	19	2	0	192	56
MIT	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		14	8	6	0	–	–
New Hampshire	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		14	3	11	0	41	74
Northeastern	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		26	12	14	0	106	131
Norwich	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		21	10	11	0	–	–
Princeton	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		23	9	14	0	82	127
Providence	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		20	11	9	0	120	90
St. Olaf	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		7	3	4	0	–	–
Williams	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		20	16	4	0	–	–
Yale	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		25	12	12	1	92	94

1960–61 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference ice hockey standings v t e
	Conference								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
Minnesota–Duluth †	5	5	0	0	1.000	–	–		16	13	3	0	–	–
Augsburg	7	2	5	0	.286	–	–		11	3	8	0	–	–
Concordia	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		9	2	7	0	–	–
Gustavus Adolphus	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		12	4	7	1	–	–
Hamline	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		–	–	–	–	–	–
Macalester	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		–	–	–	–	–	–
Saint John's	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		15	9	6	0	–	–
Saint Mary's	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		8	1	6	1	–	–
St. Thomas	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		10	6	4	0	–	–
† indicates conference champion

1960–61 Tri-State League standings v t e
	Conference								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
St. Lawrence†	4	3	1	0	6	14	15		21	16	5	0	123	78
Rensselaer	4	2	2	0	4	18	14		22	16	5	1	135	66
Clarkson	4	1	3	0	2	13	16		22	14	8	0	104	84
† indicates conference regular season champion

1960–61 Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings v t e
	Conference								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	PCT	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
Denver†*	18	17	1	0	.944	127	31		32	30	1	1	242	59
Minnesota*	20	14	6	0	.700	100	68		29	17	11	1	126	111
Michigan	24	15	8	1	.646	97	79		28	16	10	2	108	89
Michigan Tech	24	13	11	0	.542	92	58		29	16	13	0	132	78
North Dakota	24	7	16	0	.313	81	133		29	9	19	1	100	151
Michigan State	20	5	15	0	.250	55	90		27	11	16	0	121	115
Colorado College	22	4	18	0	.182	68	161		24	4	20	0	76	175
Championship: Minnesota, Denver † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion

^[1]

1961 NCAA Tournament

Main article: 1961 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament

	Semifinals March 16–17					National championship March 18
	E1	St. Lawrence	6
	E2	Rensselaer	3
						E1	St. Lawrence	2
						W1	Denver	12
	W1	Denver	6
	W2	Minnesota	1			Third-place game
						E2	Rensselaer	3
						W2	Minnesota	4

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

^[2]

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	Senior	Middlebury	21	80	28	108	-
Jerry Walker	Junior	Denver	32	56	29	85	-
Bill Masterton	Senior	Denver	32	24	56	80	4
Bill Daley	Senior	Boston College	-	33	41	74	-
Tom Roe	Sophomore	Williams	20	34	33	67	-
Art Chisholm	Senior	Northeastern	25	35	26	61	25
Red Martin	Senior	Boston College	-	13	40	53	–
Marshall Tschida	Junior	Providence	–	27	25	52	-
Mike Denihan	Sophomore	Boston University	24	30	20	50	6
Trevor Kaye	Junior	Rensselaer	22	24	26	50	4

^[3]

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
George Kirkwood	Senior	Denver	32	-	30	1	1	59	4	.910	1.84
Jim Logue	Senior	Boston College	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2.17
Ron Chisholm	Junior	Army	25	1483	17	8	0	61	3	.900	2.47
Bill Rowe	Senior	Michigan Tech	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	.891	2.72
Stu Benton	Junior	Rensselaer	20	1190	15	4	1	55	1	.892	2.77
Wayne Gibbons	Sophomore	Clarkson	15	-	9	-	-	-	-	.878	2.80
Mike Haley	Senior	Minnesota-Duluth	13	-	-	-	-	-	-	.904	3.00
Laing Kennedy	Sophomore	Cornell	19	-	-	-	-	-	-	.913	3.05
Joe Sherin	Senior	St. Lawrence	10	607	-	-	-	32	0	.888	3.16
Mike Larson	Sophomore	Minnesota	17	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3.20

^[3]

Awards

NCAA Award[4] Recipient Spencer Penrose Award Murray Armstrong, Denver Most Outstanding Player in NCAA Tournament Bill Masterton, Denver AHCA All-American Teams[5] East Team   Position   West Team Rod Blackburn, New Hampshire G George Kirkwood, Denver Arlie Parker, St. Lawrence D Marty Howe, Denver Red Martin, Boston College D Grant Munro, Denver Terry Slater, St. Lawrence F Red Berenson, Michigan Phil Latreille, Middlebury F Bill Masterton, Denver Art Chisholm, Northeastern F Jerry Walker, Denver

WCHA Award[6] Recipient Most Valuable Player Jerry Walker, Denver Sophomore of the Year Jack Wilson, Denver Coach of the Year Murray Armstrong, Denver All-WCHA Teams[7] First Team   Position   Second Team George Kirkwood, Denver G Bill Rowe, Michigan Tech Marty Howe, Denver D John Palenstein, Michigan George Konik, Denver D Henry Akervall, Michigan Tech Red Berenson, Michigan F Lou Angotti, Michigan Tech Bill Masterton, Denver F Bill Colpitts, North Dakota Jerry Walker, Denver F Jerry Sullivan, Michigan Tech