1963–64 NCAA men's ice hockey season

The 1963–64 NCAA men's ice hockey season began in November 1963 and concluded with the 1964 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament's championship game on March 21, 1964 at the University of Denver Arena in Denver, Colorado. This was the 17th season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held and is the 70th year overall where an NCAA school fielded a team.

1963–64 NCAA men's ice hockey season
Duration	November 1963– March 21, 1964
NCAA tournament	1964
National championship	University of Denver Arena Denver, Colorado
NCAA champion	Michigan
List of NCAA Division I men's ice hockey seasons ← 1962–63 1964–65 →

This was the final year where no distinction in classification was made for NCAA ice hockey. The following year saw 14 members of the ECAC drop down to a new College Division to separate teams on a more equal financial footing. While some would resurface at the D-I level in later years most would remain in the lower-tier leagues.

This was the first season of play for both Wisconsin and Ohio State as university sponsored clubs. While both were members of the Big Ten Conference they did not play the other three member schools and thus did not qualify for the informal ice hockey conference.

Regular season

Season tournaments

Tournament	Dates	Teams	Champion
ECAC Holiday Hockey Festival	December 19–20	4	Clarkson
Lake Placid Holiday Tournament	December 20–21	4	St. Lawrence
Boston Garden Christmas Hockey Festival	December 20–23	6	Harvard
Yankee Conference Tournament	December 27–28	4	New Hampshire
Rensselaer Holiday Tournament	January 2–4	4	Rensselaer
Brown Holiday Tournament	January 3–4	4	Colorado College
Beanpot	February 3, 10	4	Boston College

Standings

1963–64 Big Ten standings v t e
	Conference								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
Michigan†	8	7	1	0	14	55	22		29	24	4	1	217	80
Minnesota	8	5	3	0	10	33	36		25	14	11	0	105	115
Michigan State	8	0	8	0	0	22	52		26	8	17	1	100	134
† indicates conference regular season champion

1963–64 ECAC Hockey standings v t e
	Conference								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	Pct.	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
Providence†*	19	16	3	0	.842	88	56		26	19	7	0	110	80
Army	21	17	4	0	.810	118	44		28	20	8	0	154	69
Colgate	21	15	6	0	.714	99	48		27	19	8	0	109	59
Harvard	21	15	6	0	.714	95	61		24	17	7	0	108	70
Boston College	24	16	7	1	.688	126	74		28	18	9	1	144	90
Dartmouth	21	14	7	0	.667	106	72		21	14	7	0	106	72
Rensselaer	18	12	6	0	.667	91	50		26	18	8	0	121	69
Clarkson	16	10	5	1	.656	86	48		25	17	7	1	135	76
Northeastern	22	14	8	0	.636	114	81		24	14	10	0	116	92
Vermont	8	4	2	2	.625	45	31		10	5	3	2	54	38
Bowdoin	20	12	8	0	.600	87	66		22	14	8	0	87	66
Brown	22	12	8	2	.591	97	72		24	13	9	2	104	78
Norwich	17	9	7	1	.559	73	65		19	10	8	1	79	74
St. Lawrence	16	8	7	1	.531	61	41		25	13	10	2	91	66
New Hampshire	25	13	12	0	.520	89	112		25	13	12	0	89	112
Cornell	20	9	10	1	.475	55	65		23	12	10	1	64	67
Williams	17	8	9	0	.471	71	100		18	9	9	0	71	100
Merrimack	13	6	7	0	.462	54	56		15	8	7	0	54	56
Massachusetts	16	6	8	2	.438	55	60		17	6	9	2	55	60
Boston University	21	9	12	0	.429	69	63		24	9	13	0	78	74
Hamilton	17	5	12	0	.294	45	90		18	6	12	0	45	90
Connecticut	7	2	5	0	.286	24	54		11	3	8	0	42	74
Colby	20	5	14	1	.275	63	110		19	6	12	1	68	115
Princeton	22	6	16	0	.273	79	113		24	8	16	0	79	113
American International	15	4	11	0	.267	69	97		18	7	11	0	104	103
Middlebury	20	4	16	0	.200	57	125		23	4	19	0	60	136
Yale	20	4	16	0	.200	48	97		22	4	18	0	52	102
Amherst	16	2	14	0	.125	48	94		19	5	14	0	48	94
MIT	10	0	10	0	.000	16	74		16	0	16	0	18	86
Championship: Providence † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion

1963–64 NCAA Independent ice hockey standings v t e
	Overall
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
Minnesota–Duluth	25	11	14	0	95	95
Ohio State	10	2	8	0	27	104
St. Olaf	8	0	8	0	–	–
Wisconsin	16	8	5	3	81	69

1963–64 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
Saint Mary's †	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		15	14	1	0	–	–
Macalester	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		–	–	–	–	–	–
Hamline	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		–	–	–	–	–	–
Augsburg	12	4	8	0	.333	–	–		16	7	9	0	–	–
Concordia	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		11	3	7	1	–	–
St. Thomas	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		11	4	6	1	–	–
Saint John's	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		12	3	8	1	–	–
† indicates conference champion

1963–64 Tri-State League standings v t e
	Conference								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
Clarkson†	4	2	1	1	5	20	13		25	17	7	1	135	76
St. Lawrence†	4	2	1	1	5	12	7		25	13	10	2	91	66
Rensselaer	4	1	3	0	2	9	21		26	18	8	0	121	69
† indicates conference regular season champion

1963–64 Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings v t e
	Conference								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	PCT	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
Michigan†	14	12	2	0	.857	90	37		29	24	4	1	217	80
Denver*	10	7	2	1	.750	33	17		31	20	7	4	141	76
Minnesota	16	10	6	0	.625	65	65		25	14	11	0	105	115
Michigan Tech	16	9	7	0	.563	57	47		27	14	12	1	95	79
North Dakota	14	5	8	1	.393	37	41		25	12	11	2	79	72
Colorado College	16	4	11	1	.281	57	84		26	11	14	1	121	131
Michigan State	14	1	12	1	.107	42	90		26	8	17	1	100	134
Championship: Denver † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion

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1964 NCAA Tournament

Main article: 1964 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament

	Semifinals March 19–20					National Championship March 21
	W1	Denver	4
	E2	Rensselaer	1
						W1	Denver	3
						W2	Michigan	6
	E1	Providence	2
	W2	Michigan	3			Third Place Game
						E1	Providence	1
						E2	Rensselaer	2

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

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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
Jerry Knightley	Junior	Rensselaer	26	33	42	75	33
Bob Brinkworth	Senior	Rensselaer	26	35	35	70	2
Gary Butler	Senior	Michigan	29	38	30	68	26
Gordon Wilkie	Senior	Michigan	–	16	51	67	20
Wilf Martin	Junior	Michigan	–	34	24	58	10
Corby Adams	Senior	Clarkson	29	27	27	54	–
John Cunniff	Sophomore	Boston College	28	27	25	52	0
Phil Dyer	Sophomore	Boston College	–	–	–	52	–
Grant Heffernan	Junior	Providence	–	18	30	48	–
Tom Polanic	Junior	Michigan	–	8	38	46	92

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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
Bob Perani	Sophomore	St. Lawrence	21	1270	-	-	-	47	1	.933	2.22
Neil Mieras	Senior	Army	27	1553	19	8	0	59	5	.901	2.28
Buddy Blom	Sophomore	Denver	-	-	19	-	-	-	4	.934	2.30
Bob Bellemore	Sophomore	Providence	26	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2.47
Bill Sack	Junior	Rensselaer	26	1554	18	8	0	68	4	.920	2.63
Joe Lech	Junior	North Dakota	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	.900	2.69
Garry Bauman	Senior	Michigan Tech	24	-	-	-	-	-	-	.912	2.70
Bob Gray	Senior	Michigan	24	-	-	-	-	65	4	.914	2.70
John Dunham	Senior	Brown	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2.78
Errol McKibbon	Sophomore	Cornell	23	-	-	-	-	-	-	.898	2.83

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Awards

NCAA Award[5] Recipient Spencer Penrose Award Tom Eccleston, Providence Most Outstanding Player in NCAA Tournament Bob Gray, Michigan AHCA All-American Teams[6] East Team   Position   West Team Bob Perani, St. Lawrence G Garry Bauman, Michigan Tech Richie Green, Boston University D Carl Lackey, Michigan State Larry Kish, Providence D Tom Polanic, Michigan Cal Wagner, Clarkson D Corby Adams, Clarkson F Craig Falkman, Minnesota Bob Brinkworth, Rensselaer F John Simus, Colorado College Jerry Knightley, Rensselaer F Gordon Wilkie, Michigan WCHA Award[7] Recipient Most Valuable Player none selected Sophomore of the Year Tom Polanic, Michigan Coach of the Year Al Renfrew, Michigan All-WCHA Teams[8] First Team   Position   Second Team Garry Bauman, Michigan Tech G Buddy Blom, Denver Norm Wimmer, Michigan Tech D Wayne Smith, Denver Tom Polanic, Michigan D Jim Kenning, Denver D Carl Lackey, Michigan State Bill Staub, Denver F Craig Falkman, Minnesota Gordon Wilkie, Michigan F Scott Watson, Michigan Tech Gary Butler, Michigan F George Hill, Michigan Tech John Simus, Colorado College F

ECAC Award[9] Recipient Player of the Year Bob Brinkworth, Rensselaer Rookie of the Year John Cunniff, Boston College Outstanding Defenseman Richie Green, Boston University Most Outstanding Player in Tournament Bob Perani, St. Lawrence All-ECAC Hockey Teams[10] First Team   Position   Second Team Bob Perani, St. Lawrence G Jack Ferriera, Boston University Bill Sack, Rensselaer G Neil Mieras, Army Larry Kish, Providence D Dick Peterson, Army Jim Salfi, St. Lawrence D Bill Grisdale, Rensselaer Richie Green, Boston University D Mike Petterson, Harvard Fred Kitchen, Rensselaer D Robert Gaudreau, Brown John Mechem, Colby D Ron Butterfield, Army Bob Brinkworth, Rensselaer F Brian Wilkinson, Clarkson Jerry Knightley, Rensselaer F Terry Chapman, Brown Corby Adams, Clarkson F Roger Purdie, Clarkson Gene Kinasewich, Harvard F John Keough, Providence Grant Heffernan, Providence F Arnie O'Reilly, St. Lawrence Ray Mooney, Providence F Bruce Fennie, Boston University John Cunniff, Boston College F Steve Riggs, Colgate Ike Ikauniks, Harvard F Dave Ross, St. Lawrence Mike Thompson, Army F Phil Dyer, Boston College Leo Dupere, Northeastern F Bruce Davey, Colby Leon Bryant, Brown F Larry Bone, Northeastern

1964 NHL Amateur Draft

Main article: 1964 NHL amateur draft

Round	Pick	Player	College	Conference	NHL team
1	2	Alex Campbell †	St. Lawrence	ECAC Hockey	Boston Bruins
2	7	Brian Watts †	Michigan Tech	WCHA	Detroit Red Wings
3	14	Ken Dryden †	Cornell	ECAC Hockey	Boston Bruins
3	15	Gordie Lowe †	Cornell	ECAC Hockey	New York Rangers
4	21	Syl Apps Jr. †	Princeton	ECAC Hockey	New York Rangers

† incoming freshman
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