Contact: Justin Long

Back: Jim Christen (Mgr.), Bill Bedford, John Muse, John Clinton, Brendan O'Sullivan, Stephen Kuehn, David Wray,  Richard Nagel, Thomas Warner, Bill Borek, Bill Greer, Pierre Vaillancourt, Dennis Laux, Steve Hardy (Coach) Front: Jeff Fine, Paul Vincent, Joshua Stiles, Bill Devin, Matt O'Neil, Drake McFeely, Craig Leonardi, Jim Burdett

AMHERST, Mass. – This year's Amherst College men's hockey team has been one of the best in program history. One of the others will be on campus this Saturday to celebrate a championship it won nearly 36 years ago.  

Prior to Saturday's game against Tufts (7:30 p.m.), Amherst will recognize the 1975-76 Lord Jeffs, who are responsible for one of the ECAC championship banners that hangs in Orr Rink. Several members of that team have not returned to campus since graduation, but they've chosen a good weekend for a reunion as the 2011-12 team tries to wrap up the top seed in the NESCAC Championship.

The evening will begin with the Amherst and Tufts captains gathering at center ice for a ceremonial puck drop with select members of the 1975-76 Lord Jeffs. "It's terrific to welcome back the 1976 team," Amherst head coach Jack Arena '83 says. "Amherst Hockey is full of great history. To be able to recognize a piece of that is well deserved for that team and important for our current players." 

Competing against several Division II opponents, the 1975-76 Jeffs stormed through the second half of their schedule to post an 8-2-1 record in their final 11 games, including a pair of wins at home in the ECAC tournament. 

The ECAC semifinals saw Amherst fall into a 1-0 hole against Framingham after the first period, but a power-play goal from Josh Stiles '76 got the ball rolling as the Jeffs scored three times in less than three minutes to take a 3-1 lead. Framingham cut its deficit to one, but Amherst had a 5-2 lead by the end of the middle period and held on for the convincing win. 

The following day, Bill Borek '78 scored in the first period and Matt O'Neil '76 made it a 2-0 game with a power-play goal 40 seconds into the second frame. The Jeffs carried their two-goal cushion into the final period, but Worcester State scored during a 5-on-4 advantage and tied things up with less than seven minutes to play, setting up a sudden-goal scenario in the championship game. 

Just hours after Amherst's men's basketball team shocked Merrimack to win the ECAC title, the men's hockey team followed suit when Bill Greer '78 scored late in the extra period to hand the championship to the Lord Jeffs and their ecstatic fans. As head coach Ben McCabe said, "It was a beautiful day for Amherst College sports."

Goaltender Jeff Fine '77 was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament after making 45 saves in the title game. Fine would later be named to the ECAC Division III All-Star Team along with Greer and O'Neil.

"For today's student-athletes to appreciate the tradition of the program and help celebrate past successes will hopefully create more significant ties," Arena adds. "Hopefully, it will make what they are experiencing today more meaningful."

Fans unable to attend this weekend's games can follow all of the action on JeffCast. Be sure to tune in to each game 10 minutes prior to the opening face-off to hear pre-game analysis from Hugh Campbell, who is in the midst of his third season covering Amherst hockey.

1975-76 Roster

Coaches: Ben McCabe, Steve Hardy
Captains: Bill Devin III
Assistant Captains: Matthew O'Neil, Joshua Stiles