Peter Tufford Explained

Peter Tufford
Birth Date:1946
Birth Place:St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
Height Ft:5
Height In:8
Weight Lb:161
Position:Center
Played For:Cornell
Career Start:1966
Career End:1970
Draft:Undrafted

E. Peter Tufford is a Canadian retired ice hockey center who was an All-American for Cornell.

Career

Tufford only managed to play a handful of games over two seasons for the St. Catharines Black Hawks. Despite the few appearances, he was recruited to Cornell University and played on an undefeated freshman team. He debuted for the varsity squad as a sophomore and hit the ground running, leading the team with 28 goals. Tufford helped Cornell win its first ECAC Championship that season and appear in the program's first NCAA Tournament. He assisted on the only goal in the semifinal and, despite being held scoreless, helped Cornell celebrate its first national championship two days later.

Tufford became an alternate captain as a junior and increased his scoring output. The Big Red were again a dominant force in college hockey and ran though the regular season and conference tournament with just a single loss. In the national tournament, however, Cornell's offense was again stifled by North Dakota and limited to just one goal. The team fell 1–3 and, though they recovered a bit in the consolation game, Cornell was disappointed by their 3rd-place finish. As a senior Tufford increased his point total to 60, finishing tied for 6th in the nation and was named as an All-American. He was the fourth player in his recruiting class to be so honored, following Brian Cornell, Ken Dryden and Bruce Pattison. Cornell received its third tournament bid in 1969, this time managing to return to the championship game. Tufford assisted on Cornell's second goal to tie the game but the team was outdueled by Denver in the third period and missed out on another title.[1]

After graduating Tufford played a year of senior hockey with the independent Syracuse Stars before retiring as a player. He briefly returned to the game as a coach for the Ithaca Stars in 1975. Tufford was inducted into the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978.[2]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

  Regular Season Playoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPGAPtsPIMGPGAPtsPIM
1963–64St. Catharines Black HawksOHA10000
1964–65St. Catharines Black HawksOHA20000
1966–67CornellECAC Hockey292819478
1967–68CornellECAC Hockey282033532
1968–69CornellECAC Hockey292040602
1969–70Syracuse StarsIndependent
NCAA Totals86 68 92 160 12

Awards and honors

AwardYear
All-ECAC Hockey First Team1967–68[3]
ECAC Hockey All-Tournament Second Team1968[4]
All-ECAC Hockey First Team1968–69[5]
AHCA East All-American1968–69[6]
NCAA All-Tournament Second Team1969[7]

Notes and References

  1. News: 1969: Great Expectations . Where Angels Fear to Tread . January 5, 1967 . February 16, 2021.
  2. News: E. Peter Tufford . Cornell Big Red . February 16, 2021.
  3. News: ECAC All-Teams. College Hockey Historical Archives. May 19, 2013.
  4. News: All-Tournament Honors. ECAC Hockey. 2014-05-12.
  5. News: ECAC All-Teams. College Hockey Historical Archives. May 19, 2013.
  6. News: 1968-1969 All-American Team . The American Hockey Coaches Association . 2017-06-21.
  7. News: NCAA Frozen Four Records. NCAA.org. 2013-06-19.