10 Best College Hockey Teams of All Time

[Chris 02]

Someone's list of the 10 best college hockey teams of all time. Probably better for discussion during June or July.  

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/886655-college-hockey-the-10-best-teams-of-all-time

[jtwcornell91]

What, no picture of Ken Dryden to accompany it?

[Aaron M. Griffin]

What, no picture of Ken Dryden to accompany it?

Must not have been written by the same Emmy Award-winning crew that produced the Cornell-RPI game last Friday then.

...doubt I was the only one to catch that.

[Al DeFlorio]

BU's 1971 team should be on that list, certainly over teams with eleven losses.

[Ben]

Ten demerits for linking to b/r, ten more for linking to a slideshow.

[RichH]

I loved reading about RPI's "amazing 30-win unbeaten streak" in 1985.

[Josh '99]

BU's 1971 team should be on that list, certainly over teams with eleven losses.

Looks like they only wanted to pick one year's team for any given school (I don't think it'd just coincidentally have worked out that way otherwise), but I can't figure out why you'd pick their 2008-09 team (which was awfully lucky to win the championship) over one of their more dominant teams from the 1970s.

[Al DeFlorio]

BU's 1971 team should be on that list, certainly over teams with eleven losses.

Looks like they only wanted to pick one year's team for any given school (I don't think it'd just coincidentally have worked out that way otherwise), but I can't figure out why you'd pick their 2008-09 team (which was awfully lucky to win the championship) over one of their more dominant teams from the 1970s.

Right.  

That 1971 BU team was so dominant that they were sent to the NCAAs from the ECAC (chosen over ECAC runner-up Clarkson) even though they lost their ECAC semifinal game to Harvard (A Harvard team that, by the way, won that ECAC tournament as a going-away gift for their longtime coach, Cooney Weiland, who was retiring after the 1970-1971 season.  Joe Cavanagh, an all-time great college hockey player, in my opinion, carried that Harvard team on his back to the championship.)  Some Clarkson supporters still lose sleep over that decision, but there's no question it was the right one.  No pairwise, of course, back then.

[Trotsky]

Ten demerits for linking to b/r, ten more for linking to a slideshow.

I'd say 1 for a slideshow and 99 for b/r.  But sentiment seconded.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

My company blocks BleacherReport.  Can somebody post the list without the slideshow?

[Aaron M. Griffin]

My company blocks BleacherReport.  Can somebody post the list without the slideshow?

10. Minnesota '78-79
9.  BU '08-09
8.  Wisconsin '89-90
7.  Northern Michigan '90-91
6.  RPI '84-85
5.  Denver '60-61
4.  BC '48-49
3.  North Dakota '86-87
2.  Maine '92-93
1.  Cornell '69-70

1. Cornell '69-70: Whenever a team goes undefeated in a season and wins a national title, they are bound to land high on a best-of-all-time list. After a tough 4-3 loss to Denver in the national championship in 1969, Cornell would rebound and become the first college hockey team to go undefeated, with a perfect record of 29-0 on the season. The team was coached by the great Ned Harkness, who holds the coaching record for all-time winning percentage. Harkness passed away in 2008. The team still remains the only undefeated team to win a national championship in college hockey history.

Sorry that I copied only the rationale for each team for Cornell '69-70.

[billhoward]

Ten demerits for linking to b/r, ten more for linking to a slideshow.

Especially if you're not trying to serve up ads. Then at least it's in the service of capitalism.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

My company blocks BleacherReport.  Can somebody post the list without the slideshow?

10. Minnesota '78-79
9.  BU '08-09
8.  Wisconsin '89-90
7.  Northern Michigan '90-91
6.  RPI '84-85
5.  Denver '60-61
4.  BC '48-49
3.  North Dakota '86-87
2.  Maine '92-93
1.  Cornell '69-70

1. Cornell '69-70: Whenever a team goes undefeated in a season and wins a national title, they are bound to land high on a best-of-all-time list. After a tough 4-3 loss to Denver in the national championship in 1969, Cornell would rebound and become the first college hockey team to go undefeated, with a perfect record of 29-0 on the season. The team was coached by the great Ned Harkness, who holds the coaching record for all-time winning percentage. Harkness passed away in 2008. The team still remains the only undefeated team to win a national championship in college hockey history.

Sorry that I copied only the rationale for each team for Cornell '69-70.

Thanks, Aaron.  That's pretty cool.