The historic 1967 Cornell men’s hockey championship team is returning to its old stomping grounds. Prominent members of the team, which earned the University its first NCAA championship in the sport, will celebrate its 50th anniversary at a reception on Saturday Jan. 28th, one part of a weekend of festivities.
Legendary goaltender and NHL Hall of Famer Ken Dryden, co-captain Murray Deathe and 1967 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Walt “Skip” Stanowski are expected to headline the group.
The hockey-filled weekend kicks off Friday afternoon when members of the 1967 team will join current head coach Mike Schafer ’86 for a lunch in advance of the team’s matchup against Harvard, arguably the biggest and most highly-anticipated game of the season. The following day, the decorated alumni will have breakfast and watch the current team’s morning skate before the reception from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
The reception — which will be hosted by Cornell Athletics along with the Cornell Hockey Association — is open to the public. Tickets are available for $10, and the event will take place in room G10 of the Biotechnology Building.
Following the reception, the Red takes on another Ivy-foe in Dartmouth at 7 p.m. in neighboring Lynah Rink. During the first intermission, the attending members of the 1967 team will be honored during a brief ceremony.
The 1967 team — led by longtime Cornell head coach Ned Harkness, who has since passed away — finished the championship season with a 25-1-1 record, won the ECAC tournament and defeated North Dakota and Boston University en route to the national championship. The NCAA title was not only the school’s first but also the first for any Ivy League institution in the sport.
While Dryden is one of the greatest goalies to ever play for Cornell, he is also regarded as one of the NHL’s all-time greats. Dryden went on to play seven seasons for the Montreal Canadiens, earn five Vezina Trophies — awarded to the league’s top netminder — and see his legacy cemented with his jersey retired by the Canadiens along with his selection to the Hall of Fame in 1983.
He also earned his law degree at McGill and was elected to serve in the Canadian Parliament where he served multiple terms. Dryden’s No. 1 jersey number now forever hangs in the rafters in Lynah Rink as one of only two jerseys to have been retired by the Red.