A perfect season is a sports season including any requisite playoff portion, in which a team remains and finishes undefeated and untied. The feat is extremely rare at the professional level of any team sport, and has occurred more commonly at the collegiate and scholastic levels in the United States. A perfect regular season (known by other names outside the United States of America) is a season excluding any playoffs, where a team remains undefeated and untied; it is less rare than a complete perfect season but still exceptional.
A perfect season may be part of a multi-season winning streak.
Exhibition games are generally not counted toward standings, for or against. For example, the 1972 Miami Dolphins (below) lost three of their preseason ("exhibition" games in 1972 NFL vernacular) games but are considered to have had a perfect season.
NCAA Ice Hockey[]
Among schools in the top level of men's ice hockey, the 1969–70 Cornell Big Red went 29–0–0 in the University Division (the predecessor to today's Division I) en route to a national championship.
Since Cornell's 29–0–0 season in 1969–70, the closest Division I Men's Ice Hockey Team to having a perfect season was the 1992–93 Maine Black Bears, who finished that year at 42–1–2, including a national title game victory against Lake Superior State. Their only loss came on February 19, 1993, against Boston University, where they lost 7–6 in overtime, and their only ties were on October 24 against Providence, 3-3, and on January 15 against Clarkson, 4-4.
The last men's team to finish unbeaten and untied and be national champions was the 1983–84 Bemidji State Beavers (31–0–0), who were then competing in Division II, a level of competition that no longer conducts a championship.
The 1955–56 Clarkson Golden Knights were undefeated and untied (23–0–0), but skipped the NCAA tournament because as the team had seniors with four years of college play which was against NCAA tournament rules at the time (not regular season rules).
The 1967–68 Iona Gaels went 16–0–0 in their inaugural season as an independent in Division III, but did not participate in a national championship as none existed for Division III at that time.
The most recent unbeaten and untied season in NCAA ice hockey at the highest level was in 2012–13 when the Minnesota Golden Gophers became the first NCAA women's team ever to accomplish the feat (41–0–0).[1]
ACHA Hockey[]
The 2007–08 University of Illinois Fighting Illini, a club team, are the only American Collegiate Hockey Association team to record a perfect season with a record of 38–0–0.
U Sports Hockey[]
Men[]
The 1972–73 University of Toronto Varsity Blues (22–0–0) are the only men's hockey team in U Sports to win a national championship with no losses and no ties in the regular season and post season. The Varsity Blues won all 17 regular season games to place first in the Ontario University Athletics Association's East Division. In sudden death OUAA playoff action, the U of T defeated the University of Waterloo 13–2 and the University of Western Ontario 8–1. The University of Toronto downed the University of Alberta 5–2 and 5–3 in the University Cup semi final at Edmonton and shaded St. Mary's University 3–2 in the University Cup final at Toronto.
CCAA Hockey[]
Men[]
The 1975–76 St. Clair College Saints (26–0–0) of Windsor, Ontario were the first of two Canadian Colleges Athletic Association men's hockey teams to go unbeaten and untied in the regular season and post season en route to a national title. After winning all 20 regular season games to finish atop the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association's Western Division, St. Clair outscored Fanshawe 5–2 and 6–3 to win the division playoff series and advance to the conference championships where they topped Algonquin 8–2 and Humber 11–2. At the CCAA Hockey National Championships in Camrose, Alberta, St. Clair downed Cape Breton 10–4 in the semi final and Selkirk 11–2 in the final.
The 1984–85 Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) Ooks (33–0–0) of Edmonton won all 25 of their regular season games in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference prior to sweeping the Camrose Lutheran College Vikings in a best-of-three conference semifinal series and the Red Deer College Kings in a best-of-five conference final series. At the CCAA Hockey National Championships in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, NAIT outscored the Cariboo College Chiefs 8–2, the Seneca College Braves 5–2 and the Victoriaville College Vulkins 9–2 to hoist the CCAA Championship Bowl.
- ↑ "Gophers get first perfect season", ESPN, March 24, 2013.