| 1952–53Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey season | |
|---|---|
 | |
| MCHL Co–Champion National champion 1953 NCAA Tournament, champion | |
| Conference | T–1stMCHL |
| Home ice | Michigan Coliseum |
| Record | |
| Overall | 17–7–0 |
| Home | 10–4 |
| Road | 5–3 |
| Neutral | 2–0 |
| Coaches and captains | |
| Head coach | Vic Heyliger |
| Captain | John Matchefts |
| Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey seasons «1951–52 1953–54 » | |
The1952–53Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey team represented theUniversity of Michigan incollege ice hockey. In its ninth year under head coachVic Heyliger, the team compiled a 17–7–0 record, outscored opponents 139 to 71, and won the1953 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.[1] The season was the third consecutive, and the fourth overall under Vic Heyliger, in which the Michigan hockey team won the NCAA championship. The team also finished the regular season in at tie withMinnesota as the co-champion of theMidwest Collegiate Hockey League.[2]
Team captainJohn Matchefts, a senior fromEveleth, Minnesota, was the leading scorer with 48 points on 18 goals and 30 assists. Michigan left wing Johnny McKennell, a senior fromToronto, was suspended for the remainder of the season after he allegedly punched referee Milo Yalich inDenver, Colorado, following a 5–4 overtime loss to theDenver Pioneers on December 23, 1952. McKennell was accused of slugging Yalich three times while disputing Denver's game-winning overtime goal. Athletic directorFritz Crisler announced the suspension after receiving a notarized report from the president of the Rocky Mountain Hockey Officials Association in early January 1953.[3][4][5] McKennell denied hitting the referee and claimed that he was the victim of a plot byColorado College coachCheddy Thompson to "get even" with Michigan coachVic Heyliger. Heyliger opined that the suspension was too severe, noting that McKennell had no prior disciplinary action in three years and the evidence was conflicting as to whether McKennell even hit Yalich. Heyliger noted, "This has ruined Johnny's whole college career."[6]
Right winger Earl Keyes, who served as captain of the 1951–52 Michigan hockey team, graduated in January 1953 and played his final game for the Wolverines on January 17, 1953. At the time,The Michigan Daily called Keyes "[o]ne of the best players in Michigan hockey history" and praised him for his versatility. Keyes played at the center position for two-and-a-half years, moved to right wing in 1952, appeared in several games as a defensemen, and even played at the goalie position for two games. In two games at goalie, he had 49 saves in back-to-back victories over Michigan Tech during the1950-51 season.[7]
Earl Keyes, Alex MacLellan, John Matchefts and John McKennell are the only men's ice hockey players in NCAA history to win three national titles. Additionally, they are among the only players to play in a national championship game each season in which they had eligibility (3 seasons for players prior to 1969, 4 seasons for players after 1969).
In the1953 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Michigan andMinnesota were invited to represent the west, andBoston University andRensselaer Polytechnic were invited to represent the east. In the first round, the Wolverines defeated theBoston University Terriers by a 14–2 score.[8]
In the championship game, Michigan faced Minnesota before a capacity crowd of 2,700 atBroadmoor Arena inColorado Springs, Colorado.[9] Michigan and Minnesota had played four games in the regular season, with Minnesota winning three of the four contests. In mid-February, the Golden Gophers had swept a two-game series in Minneapolis by scores of 5-2 and 4–0.[8]
Minnesota led 2–1 at the end of the first period of the championship game. Jim Haas gave Michigan a 1–0 lead with a goal at the 5:48 mark of the opening period (assist by Alex MacLellan), but Minnesota took the lead on goals by Dick Meredith and Dick Dougherty. In the second period, Michigan scored two goals to take a 3–2 lead. Doug Philpott scored at the 6:15 mark (with an assist by Reg Shave) to tie the score at 2-2, and Doug Mullen put Michigan in the lead with a goal at the 11:08 mark (with assists by George Chin and Pat Cooney). Michigan added three goals in the first ten minutes of the third period to extend the lead to 6–2.John Matchefts scored an unassisted power play goal at 3:38 of the third period; Jim Haas added an unassisted goal at the 7:17 mark; and Doug Philpott scored on a power play at 9:14 with an assist from Haas. Minnesota scored on a goal by Yackel at 10:42, and Matchefts closed out the scoring with an empty net goal with 11 second left in the game (assist by Philpott). With four goals in the third period, Michigan won its third consecutive NCAA championship, defeating the Golden Gophers by a 7–3 score.[10]
Alex McLellan and John Matchefts were chosen for the first-team All-Tournament Team. Matchefts was named the Most Outstanding Player in the tournament.[11]
| Conference | Overall | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | ||
| Minnesota† | 20 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 92 | 46 | 29 | 23 | 6 | 0 | 149 | 74 | |
| Michigan† | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 91 | 49 | 24 | 17 | 7 | 0 | 139 | 71 | |
| North Dakota | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 82 | 59 | 20 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 109 | 68 | |
| Denver | 16 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 15 | 70 | 54 | 24 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 142 | 79 | |
| Colorado College | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 52 | 86 | 20 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 98 | 106 | |
| Michigan Tech | 16 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 53 | 94 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 0 | 75 | 100 | |
| Michigan State | 18 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 45 | 94 | 22 | 5 | 16 | 1 | 74 | 104 | |
| †indicates conference regular season champion | ||||||||||||||
| No. | Name | Year | Position | Hometown | S/P/C | Games | Goals | Assists | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | John Matchefts | Senior | C | Eveleth,MN |  | 24 | 18 | 30 | 48 | 24 |
| 6 | George Chin | Junior | RW | Lucknow,ON |  | 24 | 20 | 27 | 47 | 0 |
| 19 | Doug Mullen | Junior | C | Grass Lake,MI |  | 24 | 20 | 19 | 39 | 10 |
| 8 | Pat Cooney | Junior | LW | Riverside,ON | | 24 | 15 | 19 | 34 | 40 |
| 12 | Doug Philpott | Junior | RW | Sarnia,ON | | 24 | 16 | 13 | 29 | 24 |
| 2 | Jim Haas | Junior | D | Nipawin,SK |  | 24 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 16 |
| 7 | Earl Keyes | Senior | C | Tiverton,ON | | 12 | 12 | 8 | 20 | 8 |
| 18 | Alex MacLellan | Senior | D | Montreal,PQ |  | 24 | 1 | 15 | 16 | 67 |
| 10 | John McKennell | Senior | RW | Toronto,ON | | 6 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 6 |
| 17 | Reg Shave | Junior | D | Yorkton,SK | | 24 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 32 |
| 5 | Burt Dunn | Sophomore | D | Montreal,PQ | | 24 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 42 |
| 15 | Ron Martinson | Senior | LW | Eveleth,MN | | 17 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 16 |
| 14 | Telly Mascarin | Sophomore | C | Windsor,ON | | 24 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 7 |
| 16 | Louis Paolatto | Junior | D | Windsor,ON | | 24 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 46 |
| 1 | Bill Lucier | Sophomore | G | Windsor,ON | | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Willard Ikola | Junior | G | Eveleth,MN | | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total |
Albert P. Pickus, a senior fromSioux City, Iowa, was awarded the Manager's "M" for his service as the team's manager.[18]
| March 14 | Minnesota | 3 – 7 | Michigan | Broadmoor Ice Palace | ||||
| Scoring summary | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period | Team | Goal | Assist(s) | Time | Score |
| 1st | UM | Jim Haas | MacLellan | 05:48 | 1–0 UM |
| MIN | Dick Meredith | Yackel | 8:39 | 1–1 | |
| MIN | Dick Dougherty | Campbell | 11:34 | 2–1 MIN | |
| 2nd | UM | Doug Philpott | Shave | 26:15 | 2–2 |
| UM | Doug Mullen | Chin and Cooney | 31:08 | 3–2 UM | |
| 3rd | UM | John Matchefts –GW PP | unassisted | 43:38 | 4–2 UM |
| UM | Jim Haas | unassisted | 47:17 | 5–2 UM | |
| UM | Doug Philpott –PP | Haas | 49:14 | 6–2 UM | |
| MIN | Ken Yackel | Johnson andDougherty | 50:42 | 6–3 UM | |
| UM | John Matchefts –EN | Philpott | 59:49 | 7–3 UM | |
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