The 1929–30 Army Cadets men's ice hockey season was the 27th season of play for the program. The team was coached by Ray Marchand in his 7th season.
Season
Due to the continued inconsistencies with weather, the academy decided to build an artificial rink next to the Lusk Reservoir, the program's former home. However, because the open-air rink would not be ready until the following year, the team had to continue augmenting its use of the Stuart Rink with the nearby venue at Bear Mountain.[1] However, in spite of the weather not cooperating during the early part of the season, Army was able to start off with a win over Connecticut Agriculture. Waters proved his mettle in goal with a shutout, which the team hoped was an omen of things to come.
A week later, Williams arrived, which was expected to be the first big test for the Cadets. The typically strong Ephs skated circles around Army, however, the defense held up the constant attack. Waters turned in another brilliant performance, stopping several scoring chances by the purple forwards. Team captainRoy Lindquist took advantage of the stellar goaltending and scored on a rush to give Army an early lead. The pressure from Williams continued until the visitors finally broke through early in the second but Waters continued his impressive performance afterwards and stopped everything else in the period. Williams pulled ahead with a marker at the 5-minute mark of the third and, with Army's offense virtually nonexistent, it appeared that the Cadets would lose the match. However, with the team now trailing, Army began to attack the Williams cage and turn the tide of the match. With the Ephs suddenly on the back-foot, the visitors were forced to play defense and stem the tide. With under 3 minutes left in regulation, Tapping scored the tying goal and forced the game into overtime. After an extra 10 minute period, the score remained the same and both teams were forced to accept a draw.[2] The next match saw Lindquist as the hero with the center potting 4 goals against Massachusetts Agricultural. Waters made 30 saves in the win despite the ice being covered by a thick fog for most of the match.[3] A few days later, Army was again victorious thanks to the combined efforts of Lindquist and Waters with a 2–0 shutout of Bates.[4]
Army continued its strong season with a tie against Colgate. Despite looking like the better team for most of the match, the Cadets showed a weakness with the offense being entirely dependent on Lindquist. The home team couldn't capitalize on their chances in the first two periods and could only manage a draw thanks to a pair of goal from their captain. After two overtime periods results in no further scoring, the game was called.[5] The final game in January proved to be the biggest win for the Cadets all season, though the team was taking advantage of a Vermont squad that had yet to play a match due to the weather.[6]
In February, the team played some atypical matches, the first of which came against Marquette. The Cadets rarely played teams from the west but put up a good fight against the Hilltopers, who had recently taken down Harvard, and would go on to claim the western collegiate championship.[7] The following week, Army hit the road for its first away game in almost a year. The match was delayed due to a mixup by B&M Rail that caused the team to arrive without its equipment. When the game did finally start, Goodrich took his turn as the team's offensive star, scoring twice in the first two periods to give his team a 2–1 lead. Unfortunately, the Cadets flagged in the final period, surrendering 3 goals and lost their second consecutive match.[8]
Army returned home for their final three games and ended their slump with a solid victory over St. Stephen's. The next match saw Army take on their Canadian counterparts and produce their best result to date against the Royal Military College. Lindquist tied the match late in the third but the Cadets were outclassed by the much more experienced Redmen. After their third loss of the season, Army ended the year with Rensselaer and Waters turned in his fourth shutout of the season, giving Army its best season since the end of World War I.
