1940–41 Lafayette Leopards men's ice hockey season

The 1940–41 Lafayette Leopards men's ice hockey season was the 4th season of play for the program. The Leopards represented Lafayette College and were coached by Henry W. Clark in his 4th seasons.

1940–41 Lafayette Leopards
men's ice hockey season
ConferenceIndependent
Record
Overall3–2–0
Conference3–2–0
Road1–1–0
Neutral2–1–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachHenry W. Clark
Lafayette Leopards men's ice hockey seasons
« 1939–40  

Season

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Continuing with the increasing profile of the program, Lafayette was set to join a new 6-team conference for 1941.[1] The initial group included former conference opponents Lehigh and Penn, as well as St. Joseph's, La Salle and Drexel. On top of those league games, the Leopards were also expecting to play Penn State and Georgetown and Princeton J.V., which would nearly double the number of games they had played the year before. Owing to the eastern shift of the new conference, all league games would be played at the Philadelphia Arena on Mondays.[2]

For the first time in its short history, Lafayette won its season opener. Largely on the strength of Tony Cavallo and Donald Bush, the team was able to hold Drexel off the scoresheet in mostly defensive battle.[3] They were originally schedulted to play Temple the following week but that game was cancelled and the Leopards didn't play again until February. Once they returned to the ice, they lost a hard-fought game to Lehigh due to the spectacular exploits of the Engineer goalie.[4] The team's offense finally began to click in their third game and Lafayette thumped La Salle to the tune of 9–0.[5] A further trouncing of St. Joe's put the Leopards into a three-way tie for first place in the league standings.[6]

Lafayette had its big chance to win the title when they took on Penn in mid March. However, in what was expected to be a close affair, the Quakers dominated and shattered the Leopards championship dreams with a 6-1 drubbing.[7] Unfortunately for Lafayette, that was the final game of the season. None of the non-conference games ever materialized and the solid Leopard team wasn't able to build upon its success.

Roster

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No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team
Kenny Allen D
Donald Bush Freshman G
Tony Cavallo Graduate D
Clint Everett F
Goldberg Senior F/D
Jack Henry Sophomore F
Ray Milici Sophomore F
Palmer Sophomore D
Frank Prausa F
Quinn Sophomore F
Reoch Sophomore F
Sterner
Stickle D
Textor D
Tucker D

Standings

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Intercollegiate Overall
GP W L T Pct. GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Army 11 4 6 1 38 39
Boston College 14 13 1 0 130 48
Boston University 14 7 6 1 .536 67 75 14 7 6 1 67 75
Bowdoin 6 0 6 0
Clarkson 13 10 3 0 121 45
Colgate 11 6 5 0
Cornell 7 2 5 0 .286 16 29 7 2 5 0 16 29
Dartmouth 14 7 5 2 55 43
Hamilton 9 5 4 0
Harvard 12 2 9 1
Lafayette 1 0 1 0 .000 1 3 5 3 2 0 19 9
Lehigh
Middlebury 14 3 8 3
MIT 13 2 11 0
New Hampshire 12 5 7 0 48 63
Northeastern 9 6 3 0
Norwich 6 2 3 1
Penn State 2 1 1 0 .500 6 4 10 6 3 1 36 26
Princeton 15 9 5 1
St. Lawrence 8 3 5 0
Union 8 2 5 1
Williams 8 6 2 0
Yale 17 11 4 2

Schedule and results

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Date Opponent Site Result Record
Regular Season
January 13 vs. Drexel Philadelphia ArenaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania W 1–0  1–0–0 (1–0–0)
February 3 vs. Lehigh Philadelphia ArenaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania L 1–3  1–1–0 (1–1–0)
February 10 at La Salle Philadelphia ArenaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania W 9–0  2–1–0 (2–1–0)
February 24 vs. St. Joseph's Philadelphia ArenaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania W 7–0  3–1–0 (3–1–0)
March 10 at Pennsylvania Philadelphia ArenaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania L 1–6  3–2–0 (3–2–0)
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll.

References

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  1. ^ "Lafayette Enters New Puck League". The Lafayette. November 7, 1940. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  2. ^ "Sextet Begins Work for Hard Schedule". The Lafayette. December 4, 1940. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  3. ^ "Hockey Team Wins Inaugural". The Lafayette. January 16, 1941. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  4. ^ "Engineer Pucksters Beat Leopards, 3-1". The Lafayette. February 6, 1941. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  5. ^ "Sextet Routs Explorers, 9-0". The Lafayette. February 6, 1941. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  6. ^ "St. Joe Routed by Maroon Six". The Lafayette. February 27, 1941. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  7. ^ "Unbeaten Quakers Top Hockeymen, 6-1". The Lafayette. March 13, 1941. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
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