For those die-hard Big Red hockey fans just mentioning the year 1970 will make you sit up straight and leave you with a hint of a smile. This week 45 years ago the Cornell Men’s Ice Hockey team capped off the greatest season in NCAA hockey history by winning the national championship 6-4 over Clarkson in Lake Placid, NY. With the victory “the icemen” completed the only perfect season in collegiate hockey history by finishing with a record of 29-0-0. To this day, no college hockey team has succeed in matching the accomplishments of that remarkable team of 1969-1970.
The Big Red reached the championship game by cruising through Ivy League and ECAC play, followed by a 2-1 victory over Wisconsin in the national semifinals. The impressive run set up the March 21 matchup with a familiar, league foe, the Clarkson Golden Knights. Just a week before the national championship game, Cornell edged Clarkson in a tightly contested 3-2 game to clinch the ECAC championship. However, the game in Lake Placid was far less competitive as the Big Red managed to score 3 goals in 8 minutes after entering the 3rd Period in a 3-3 tie. They were able to hold off a futile last-effort by Clarkson to secure the school’s second title in four years.
By far the star of that 1970 squad was senior defensemen, Dan Lobdoa. Lobdoa was named the most outstanding player of the NCAA tournament after he willed his team to a victory with a hat trick in the national championship game. However, the team captain had been the superstar for that team throughout that incredible season as he amounted 24 goals and 37 assists. He was the first Cornell defensemen to lead his team in scoring. Undoubtedly, the amazing season put together by Lobdoa and his teammates has cemented them in Cornell sports immortality, as we celebrate their accomplishments 35 years later.
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