The 1925–26 Bowdoin Polar Bears men's ice hockey season was the 7th season of play for the program.
Season
In the offseason, the team received some welcome news when Ben Houser signed a 3-year contract to remain with the college. While primarily a baseball coach, his success in the abbreviated '25 season showed that he wasn't bad at leading the ice hockey team.[1] Additionally, the team had come in well under budget, costing $283.48 against a total funding of $482.50. The team held its first meeting immediately after the conclusion of the football season and tried to get a jump on the year. With the team returning six veterans, hopes were high for the Bears and they attempted to put together an ambitious schedule that included a 3-game swing through Massachusetts.[2] Construction on the rink was nearly complete by the second week of December, thanks in part to an early winter, and floodlight were installed so that games could be played at night.[3] As part of a new initiative by the school, students were required to participate in at least one sport to encourage physical fitness. While track and field was by far the most popular, with 193 participants, ice hockey came in second with 62 men working out on a daily basis. The popularity of the relatively new sport, despite all of the problems that had occurred over the past several seasons, was good news for the long-term future of the program.[4]
After the winter break, Bowdoin kicked off the year by heading to Lewiston. They first took on Bates and had the measure of the Bobcats all night. the Polar Bears more than doubled the Garnet in shots (36 to 17) and Berry didn't give an inch in goal. The offense came from all quarters: starting center (Cutter), defense (Cole) and reserve forward (Thayer) to give the Whites a total victory over a team that was typically the class of the state. The team stayed in town for a match against St. Dominique but the game devolved into an ugly affair for the Polar Bears. The team was widely outplayed and were swept off the ice 0–5. Jim Berry played a tremendous game in goal, stopping 45 shots in 45 minutes, an impressive feat under any circumstance.[5] The Bears returned home for a match with Colby and got into a pitched battle with the Mules. The match started slow but soon the Bowdoin offense began attacking the opposing cage. Cutter scored twice to pace all players but the Colby netminder, Fagerstrom, was the star of the game. Fortunately, Berry played another strong game and allowed the Polar Bears to eke out a 3–2 victory.[6]
Bowdoin travelled south the following week to take on Amherst, however, the games was cancelled due to bad weather. A couple of days later, Bowdoin took on Boston University for the second year in a row and had about a much success the second time around. The Bears were swept off the ice by the Terriers 0–6 and were unable to score despite attacking the BU goal throughout the game. The ice was choppy due to an earlier game between Harvard and Williams but Boston University didn't appear to have any difficulties in the match.[7] Bowdoin returned to Maine afterwards to take on Bates in a rematch. Despite having to use mostly reserve players (Bucknam and Widen were the only regulars in the lineup) the Bears were able to pull out a narrow victory. Lord played an admirable game in goal to match the standard set by Berry. The win made Bowdoin a virtual lock for the state championship as only the rematch with Colby remained.
Bowdoin went into hibernation for the exam break and emerged with a match against MIT. The time off appeared to have softened the Bears' defense as they weren't able to sustain a strong effort over the course of the game. Bowdoin held an early lead but allowed two goals in both the second and third periods to let the game slip away from them. Berry played his weakest game of the season while Cutter led a valiant effort from the offense that fell short by 1 goal.[8] The following day they travelled to face Colby and posted their best performance of the year. Despite poor ice, Bowdoin's offense was in high gear with Cutter netting a hat-trick. The Bears' defense was unassailable and notched its third shutout of the season to win both the game and the state championship.[9]
After the program won its second consecutive title, calls for better facilities began with a request for the school to build a rink that would not be as vulnerable to the weather as their current venue.[10] At the time, Hebron Academy and St. Dominique had both built rinks for about $25,000, a considerable sum of money at the time, but Reggie Forsythe argued that the team and the sport had proven themselves to be worthy of investment.
Note: Whitman was listed as a starting winger for the team, however, no Whitman was attending Bowdoin at the time. Its possible that this was actually a misidentified Gordon Whitman Bryant.
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