1930–31 Clarkson Golden Knights men's ice hockey season

The 1930–31 Clarkson Golden Knights men's ice hockey season was the 11th season of play for the program. The team was coached by Jack Roos in his 2nd season.

1930–31 Clarkson Golden Knights
men's ice hockey season
Home iceIves Park
Record
Overall9–1–0
Home5–0–0
Road4–1–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachJack Roos
Clarkson Golden Knights men's ice hockey seasons
« 1929–30 1931–32 »

Season

edit

With Clarkson having established itself as one of, if not the, best team in the country outside of the 'Big Four', Tech was able to schedule games against three of college hockey's elites this season. The only missing team from their slate was Harvard and despite rumors to the contrary, the two wouldn't until 1935.[1] Clarkson didn't lose any players to graduation and were expected to be even better this season. Early on, however, injuries and departures left their offense struggling. While the first scheduled game of the season, a match against Loyola, was cancelled, the meeting with Victoria College was able to be played. Without Guest, Levia and Bob Houston, the team's offense looked strong but disjointed, failing to score on several early opportunities. The same could not be said for the defense, which was as stout as it had ever been. Wally Easton earned his first shutout of the season and Clarkson started off the year with a win.[2]

The team then headed south for a swing through southern New England. The first match came against Princeton, who had already compiled a record of 9–1 and were in the running for the national championship.[3] The game was filled with penalties but the defenses for both teams were all but impenetrable. Clarence 'Ike' Houston scored a shorthanded marker near the end of the first and Easton turned aside shot after shot for the remainder of the game. Despite a furious attack from the Tigers, Houston's goal stood as the game-winner and Easton earned a second shutout.[4] Two nights later the team was in Williamstown and had another game slowed by infractions. Easton, however, was equal to the task once more and posted his third goose egg and set a program record for consecutive shutouts that still stands (as of 2021).

For the fourth game of the season, the Knights faces defending national champion Yale. With the way the early part of the season was shaping up, it could possibly decide the eastern intercollegiate championship. Unfortunately for Clarkson, they were completely outplayed by the Elis. The team appeared disorganized and allowed 4 goals to the Bulldogs while their offense was nonexistent. Even late in the game, with Yale down two players, Clarkson was unable to find the back of the net and were themselves shutout for the first time in over 5 years.[5]

The loss seemed to awaken Clarkson's offense from its slumber. While swapping Moore and Guest in as the starting defenseman, the Knights scored 14 goals in two home games against Canadian teams and continued to score for the remainder of the season.[6] 'Peck' Donald was particularly strong during this time, leading the attack from his center position. The match against Dartmouth was more lopsided than expected, not least of which because the Indians were weaker than anticipated this season. This time Ike Houston was the star, netting 4 goals in the game.[7]

Back home, the team found the weather to be freezing, which was good for their ice conditions, but bad for attendance. The sub-zero weather didn't harm the on-ice product, however, and Clarkson kept rolling with wins over St. Patrick's (of Ottawa) and the Ottawa Gee-Gees. The team ended its official season with a road match at Ithaca. On one of the rare occasions that Beebe Lake had good playing ice, Clarkson knocked off Cornell with Donald scoring a hat-trick.[8] The following weekend, the team assembled for an exhibition match against an All-Star squad at the Syracuse Coliseum.

The loss to Yale may have prevented the team from earning its first national championship, however, Clarkson was in a dead heat with Harvard for the runner-up position.

Bernard LaRue served as team manager for the season with Donald Orton as his assistant.

Roster

edit
No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team
Louis Boyle Sophomore D
  John Burke Senior F London, Ontario
  C. Gordon Donald Junior F Carleton Place, Ontario
  Wallace Easton Senior G Renfrew, Ontario
  Wilbur Guest Senior D Renfrew, Ontario
  Clarence Houston Junior F Arnprior, Ontario
  Quain McCarry Junior D Montreal, Quebec
  Robert McNab Freshman F Douglas, Ontario
  Robert Moore Sophomore D Renfrew, Ontario

[9]

Standings

edit
Conference Overall
GP W L T Pct. GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Amherst 7 1 6 0
Army 10 4 6 0 37 34
Bates
Boston University 8 4 4 0 .500 22 30 12 6 6 0 28 41
Bowdoin 8 2 6 0
Brown 10 9 1 0
Clarkson 5 4 1 0 .800 15 9 10 9 1 0 42 15
Colgate 3 1 2 0
Cornell 5 3 2 0 .600 18 15 5 3 2 0 18 15
Dartmouth 13 5 8 0 46 39
Hamilton 9 7 1 1
Harvard 8 6 2 0 .750 39 14 13 11 2 0 62 18
Massachusetts Agricultural 13 9 4 0
Middlebury 10 6 3 1
MIT 9 2 7 0
New Hampshire 12 7 5 0 34 22
Northeastern 11 4 6 1
Norwich 4 0 4 0
Princeton 19 14 5 0
Rensselaer 4 0 4 0
St. John's
Swarthmore
Union 7 2 4 1
Villanova 1 0 1 0 .000 2 6 9 3 6 0 34 59
Williams 13 6 6 1
Yale 17 15 1 1

Schedule and results

edit
Date Opponent Site Result Record
Regular Season
January 8 vs. Victoria* Ives ParkPotsdam, New York W 3–0  1–0–0
January 14 at Princeton* Hobey Baker Memorial RinkPrinceton, New Jersey W 1–0  2–0–0
January 16 at Williams* Weston Field RinkWilliamstown, Massachusetts W 3–0  3–0–0
January 21 at Yale* New Haven ArenaNew Haven, Connecticut L 0–4  3–1–0
January 23 vs. Ashbury* Ives ParkPotsdam, New York W 6–1  4–1–0
January 28 vs. Chesterville* Ives ParkPotsdam, New York W 8–2  5–1–0
February 4 at Dartmouth* Davis RinkHanover, New Hampshire W 6–3  6–1–0
February 14 vs. St. Patrick's A.C.* Ives ParkPotsdam, New York W 4–2  7–1–0
February 21 vs. Ottawa* Ives ParkPotsdam, New York W 6–1  8–1–0
February 28 at Cornell* Beebe LakeIthaca, New York W 5–2  9–1–0
March 6 at Syracuse All-Stars* Syracuse ColiseumSyracuse, New York (Exhibition) W 13–0 
*Non-conference game.

Note: Clarkson's records include a game against 'Prescott' on February 20. The match doesn't appear in either the student newspaper or yearbook.
[1]

Scoring Statistics

edit
Name Position Games Goals Assists Points
Ike Houston RW 10 19 2 21
Gordon Donald C 10 15 7 21
Johnny Burke LW 10 1 4 5
Louis Boyle D 9 3 0 3
Bill Guest D 9 2 0 2
Quain McCarry D 10 2 0 2
Bob McNab W 10 0 1 1
Bob Moore D 10 0 1 1
Wally Easton G 10 0 0 0
Total 42 15 57

Note: Assists were recorded, however, not all assists were reported. The actual assist total is likely much higher than what appears in the boxscores.

Goaltending statistics

edit
Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Shut Outs GAA
Wally Easton 10 600 9 1 0 15 3 1.50

Note: GAA is based upon 60 minutes per game.

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Clarkson Record Book 2021" (PDF). Clarkson Golden Knights. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  2. ^ "Clarkson Integrator., January 15, 1931, Page 1, Image 1". NYS Historic Newspapers. January 15, 1931. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  3. ^ "Men's Hockey Year-by-Year". Princeton Tigers. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  4. ^ "Clarkson Integrator., January 22, 1931, Page 1, Image 1". NYS Historic Newspapers. January 22, 1931. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  5. ^ "Eli Skaters Turn Back Sextet From Clarkson in Fast, Rugged Game". Yale Daily News. January 22, 1931. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  6. ^ "Clarkson Integrator., February 05, 1931, Page 1, Image 1". NYS Historic Newspapers. February 5, 1931. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  7. ^ "Clarkson Integrator., February 12, 1931, Page 1, Image 1". NYS Historic Newspapers. February 12, 1931. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  8. ^ "Clarkson Integrator., March 05, 1931, Page 1, Image 1". NYS Historic Newspapers. March 5, 1931. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  9. ^ "1930-1931 Roster". Elite Prospects. Retrieved November 13, 2021.