13 December

Two-time defending national champion BU, winner of six of its first seven games, traveled to Lynah Rink in Ithaca for a matchup with Cornell, the team the Terrier had beaten in both the ECAC and NCAA finals the previous spring. With a nearly all-new cast following graduations and several pro defections, BU trounced the Big Red 9-0 with sophomore forward Dick Decloe netting a hattrick and goalie Ed Walsh stopping 13 shots.

A week later, the ECAC began investigating eligibility issues concerning Decloe--at the request of Cornell's athletic director. Eventually, Decloe was declared ineligible by the ECAC because, unbeknownst to him, his junior team in Canada had paid a local school tax of $132 after he had taken other precautions to protect his eligibility. BU was forced to forfeit the victory over Cornell and ten other wins in which Decloe had played.

“The Decloe Affair” caused a stir and outrage in the college hockey community. For further details, see Sports Illustrated’s Feb. 19, 1973 “Scorecard.” And read “The Game That Never Was,” a feature article written for The Terrier Hockey Blog by Dave Warner, a defenseman on three Terrier teams, including the ’71 and ’72 NCAA champs.