the WIHL or the NCAA's rules of the period, the four exiting schools accused Denver, North Dakota and Colorado College of breaking a gentlemen's agreement by recruiting overage Canadians. Thorndycraft era Without a conference UND competed as an independent Division I team for the 1958–59 season. Barry Thorndycraft took over for May as head coach and continued the winning tradition established in the previous season. UND again reached the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season and again advanced to the championship with a 4–3 overtime win over St. Lawrence. UND beat former WIHL member Michigan State with another 4–3 overtime victory to win the university's first ice hockey national championship. UND ended with a record of 20–10–1 on the season. 1959 marked the official founding of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and after three seasons in the WCHA UND returned to the national stage for the 1963 NCAA Tournament held in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts at the McHugh Forum. North Dakota blew away the hometown Boston College Eagles 8–2 and won the school's second ice hockey championship with a 6–5 win over rival Denver. The team finished with a record of 22–7–3 and coach Thorndycraft was named WCHA Coach of the Year for 1962–63. Peters, Selman, Bjorkman years Thorndycraft left the program in 1964 and under new coach R.H. "Bob" Peters, UND won the MacNaughton Cup for the WCHA regular season championship in 1964–65. The team advanced to the 1965 NCAA Tournament but lost 3–4 in the semi-final round to Boston College. Bill Selman became coach in 1966 and led the team to their third MacNaughton Cup in history and a spot in the 1967 NCAA Tournament. UND's run ended with a loss to Cornell 0–1 but Selman received the 1966–67 WCHA Coach of the Year award. The following season UND received an at-large bid to the 1968 NCAA Tournament. North Dakota beat Cornell 4–1 in a rematch of the 1967 semi-final game. UND advanced to the National Championship game for the first time since winning it 5 seasons earlier in 1963. UND again found themselves in the National Championship game matched up with conference rival Denver, North Dakota would fall to the Pioneers 0–4. Rube Bjorkman became the 9th coach in program history after previously serving as head coach at the University of New Hampshire. Over the 10 seasons as coach UND finished with two winning seasons, one