Rich Boehme writes:
>>* If you want statistics, he is the all-time leading scorer in Eastern
>>college hockey.  No other Eastern player has ever scored 300 points in
>>his career (Phil Latreille doesn't count :-)).
>
>Yes, but who IS Phil Latreille?
 
Latreille played for Middlebury from 1957-61.  The 1989-90 College
Hockey Record Manual has him listed as the NC$$ all-time leading
scorer with 250-96--346.  Yes, *250* goals in four years, 84 games.
 
Phil Latreille by season:
YEAR     GP   G  A  PTS
1957-58  20  36-16--52
1958-59  20  57-33--90
1959-60  23  77-19--96
1960-61  21  80-28--108
TOT      84 250-96--346
 
Back then, there was no ECAC.  Many of the current DivII-III teams
were lumped in with the DivI teams under the heading of "NC$$ East DivI"
where standings are listed.  That's because there were no divisions
then in NC$$ hockey, not until the mid-60s.
 
So some schools had impressive records but actually played competition
that was not of the caliber of what the Ivies, BC, BU, RPI, etc. faced
every night.  I am pretty sure that this is what happened with
Latreille and Middlebury.  There used to be a Tri-State League (later
to be called the ICAC), and members during Latreille's first two
seasons were Clarkson, Middlebury, RPI, and St Lawrence.  Middlebury
won only 1 of 8 Tri-State games (outscored 59-29) during those two
seasons and they dropped out after that.  They are only listed as a
member of the NC$$ East DivI the next two years.  In 1960-61,
Latreille's 80 goal season, they went 19-2-0 and are atop the NC$$
East DivI - but SLU and RPI got the bids to the NC$$ tourney.
Strength of schedule looks to have been a factor back then, too.
 
And if you thought voting for all-star teams is controversial today...
Latreille did not get named to the 1958-59 All Tri-State Team.  But he
is listed as leading the nation with 90 pts and was named to the East
All-America Team.
 
It seems to me that Middlebury probably played weak competition and
that Latreille's numbers are inflated as a result.  So I don't really
consider him as "the all-time leading scorer."  Even the CHRM seems to
waffle on this one.  Latreille is atop the leading scorer list, yet
the "NC$$ Division I Hockey Record" for goals in a season is given as
Mike Donnelly's (MSU) 59 in 1985-86, not Latreille's 80 in 1960-61.
But Latreille *is* listed as the all-time hat trick leader, both
season and career.  So what can you do.
 
I would certainly love to hear more about Latreille, if anyone who
follows DivIII or Middlebury knows.  At the least, I bet there are
some interesting stories out there.
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93
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