The 1923–24 Bates men's ice hockey season was the 5th season of play for the program.

Season

After claiming the state championship the previous year, coach Wiggin was hoping for an bigger profile for the ice hockey team. Unfortunately, at the first meeting of the season, only about 20 men bothered to show up. Wiggin implored any among the student body with skating experience to show up to further practices but, due to a lack of ice before the winter break, all early-season training was done inside the campus gymnasium.^[1] Despite the difficulties, many former players were available for the Garnet and the team was well sorted by the time the season began. They opened with a practice game against Jordan High School who, unfortunately, did not have a goaltender on hand. Dave Wyllie agreed to sub into the goal for the opposition and had his hands busy in the match.

The first official game for the team happened a few days later when they faced the Association of St. Dominique's. The amateur squad played a fast, physical game but the teamwork and passing employed by Bates helped them carry the day. Cogan's two goals were the only markers in the game and the defense kept Wyllie from seeing too much action. At the end of the week, Bates welcomed Bowdoin to town for a resumption of the annual rivalry. The fast, experienced Garnet were leagues ahead of their black and white foes and took the opening match 7–0. Due to the prowess of the Stanleys and Scott on the blueline, hardly any scoring opportunities made it to the Bates cage and whatever did get through was easily turned aside by Wyllie.^[2] Cogan's 5 goals in the game were a sign if things to come and of particular import as Leonardi had missed the game with an illness.

After that strong start, the team travelled south to take on Williams but they ran into a problem. The ice on the Weston Field Rink was too soft so the teams decided to wait until the following day in the hopes of better conditions.^[3] Luckily, the rink was serviceable by the next afternoon and the Garnet were able to display their typical effective play. Following the win over the Ephs, Bates met Army for their toughest test of the season. Not only was Army a well-disciplined team, but their ice surface was in poor condition, leaving Bates to battle two different opponents in the match. While the offense wasn't suited to the slog, the Garnet defense was as strong as it had been in earlier games. Bates produced its third shutout in four games while Red Scott score the only goal of the game.^[4] Just before the exam break, Bates played a rematch with St. Dominique's and the two were evenly matched throughout. Cogan was the only one to score for Bates, however, Wyllie kept his team in the game and forced overtime. After 11 minutes, the winning tally came from A.S.D. and was the first blemish on the year for the Garnet.

When the team reconvened after exams, they did so without defensive stalwart Red Scott. The captain of the football team had graduated in the interim and was no longer eligible to play, leaving the team to contend with the loss in experience and talent.^[5] Maine was next up for the Garnet and they were expecting a hard fight after two close games the year before. Wyllie, however, had other ideas and continued his rare form in goal. The netminder recorded his 4th shutout of the season while the offense did its part. The inspired play continued the next week when Bates dropped both Colby and Maine to all but guarantee themselves another state championship. Cogan had another 5-goal game by scoring every marker against the Mules but could 'only' manage a hat-trick in the rematch with the Orono squad. Wyllie's 5th shutout on the year also set a program record.^[6]

The rematch with Colby would decide the state championship and both teams showed up to play. The game was much more physical than the earlier meeting but the Garnet netminder was impenetrable once more. Even with poor lighting for the rink, Cogan scored the first goal for Bates and that was all the team needed for the victory. O'Connor's first goal of the season capped off the game and left the team undefeated in intercollegiate play.^[7] In the final week of the season, Bates met St. Dominique's for the rubber match to decide the season series between the two. Unfortunately, without Red Scott on hand, the Garnet were unable to hold off the fast aggregation and fell 0–4. The final game came at the Augusta Winter Sports Carnival and they faced Colby for the third time that year. Just like the previous two occurrences, Bates came away as the victor with Cogan leading the scoring charge.^[8] The victory left Bates with not only an undefeated season in intercollegiate play, but also allowed them to take home the Governor Baxter trophy as the state champions in ice hockey.

Clarence Gilpatric served as team manager.

Note: Bates did not adopt the 'Bobcats' moniker until 1924.

Roster

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team
		Donald P. Bryant	Freshman	D/F			1903-09-06	Lewiston, Maine
		Joseph W. Cogan	Senior	C			1902-01-01	Stoneham, Massachusetts
		Ralph L. Corey	Junior	LW/RW			1898-05-10	Springvale, Maine
		Almon G. Lane Jr.	Freshman	C/LW			1905-07-12	Lewiston, Maine
		Arthur A. Leonardi	Sophomore	LW
		John F. O'Connor	Junior	LW/RW			1901-13-01	Dorchester, Massachusetts
		Arthur B. Scott	Senior	D			1900-02-26	South Boston, Massachusetts
		John P. Stanley Jr.	Sophomore	D/LW
		Richard J. Stanley (C)	Senior	D			1902-08-20	Lewiston, Maine
		David Wyllie	Sophomore	G			1904-07-11	Whitneyville, Connecticut

^[9]

Standings

Schedule and results

Scoring statistics

References