The 1920–21 Bates men's ice hockey season was the 2nd season of play for the program.
Season
As the season was just getting underway, Bates decided to promote the year-old program to 'major' status.[1] As did many college teams at the time, Bates was in the process of switching from a 7-player team to a 6-player team as the position of rover was being abolished, though they did play with the extra man during the season.[2] Bates' first game came against Boston College and the team looked lost against the Bostonian outfit. Bates was whipped 0–5 by their more experienced and better supplied opponents but didn't let the loss scuttle their season. The next week, after addressing some of their issues, the team looked much better against an amateur outfit from Berlin. The defense showed up well and didn't allow a single goal to the men from New Hampshire. The only problem what that Bates couldn't score either. Even after 2 overtime periods the scoresheet remained empty. Captain Cutler won a coin toss and decided to extend the game by two additional 10-minute periods and the gamble paid off. Cutler scored the only goal of the match in the third extra period and the defense held for the remainder of time to give the program its first ever win.[3] Two days later, Cutler scored a pair of goal en route to the team's second win and first over local rival Bowdoin.
Bates continued to roll with a 10–0 win over the St. Dominique team from Lewiston. Many substitutions were used in the game and allowed the regulars to play out of place. Wiggin, the regular goaltender for Bates, got a spell at wing and managed to score one of the team's goals.[4] Bates suffered a setback in their next game and got swamped by the Portland Country Club and then lost the rematch with Berlin in overtime. Despite being without Cutler in the Bowdoin rematch, Bates was able to defeat the Bears once more.[5] In the final game of the season, Bates played under the old rules with two 20-minute periods but still made it a close game. Still without Cutler, the team had trouble scoring and had to rely on acting captain Wiggin in goal. While they ultimately lost the game, Bates was still lauded for putting up a solid performance.[6]
Leroy Gross served as team manager.
Note: Bates did not adopt the 'Bobcats' moniker until 1924.
