1947–48 NCAA men's ice hockey season
The 1947–48 NCAA men's ice hockey season began in November 1947 and concluded with the 1948 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament's championship game on March 20, 1948 at the Broadmoor Ice Palace in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This was the 1st season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held and is the 53rd year overall where an NCAA school fielded a team. In 1947 there were quasi-official guidelines separating major and minor football programs across the NCAA, but no such determinations had been made for ice hockey teams. Even among the universities that played ice hockey, no such distinctions were even attempted until the mid-1960s.[1] As such, all American universities operating a men's varsity ice hockey program are included here.
| 1947–48 NCAA men's ice hockey season | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duration | November 1947– March 20, 1948 | ||||
| NCAA tournament | 1948 | ||||
| National championship | Broadmoor Ice Palace Colorado Springs, Colorado | ||||
| NCAA champion | Michigan | ||||
| |||||
As this was the first time a national championship was held, it is considered (unofficially) the first season of NCAA Division I ice hockey as it is the first time that any college teams would have to conform to NCAA regulations regarding recruitment, scholarship, eligibility, etc. The tournament was, itself, born out of a desire to definitively decide the best collegiate team in the country. With only a handful of universities even playing ice hockey (indoor ice rinks were fairly expensive to operate) and even less playing a decent number of games each year only four teams were selected to play in the tournament.
Regular season
Season tournaments
| Tournament | Dates | Teams | Champion |
|---|---|---|---|
| NEIHL Tournament | March 8–9 | 4 | Boston College |
Standings
| Conference | Overall | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | W | L | T | Pct. | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | ||
| Army | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 16 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 78 | 39 | |
| Boston College | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 19 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 126 | 60 | |
| Boston University | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 24 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 179 | 86 | |
| Bowdoin | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | – | – | |
| Brown | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 61 | 91 | |
| Clarkson | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 17 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 96 | 54 | |
| Colby | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Colgate | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 71 | 49 | |
| Colorado College | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 27 | 19 | 8 | 0 | 207 | 120 | |
| Cornell | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 43 | |
| Dartmouth | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 24 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 156 | 81 | |
| Hamilton | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | – | – | |
| Harvard | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 23 | 9 | 14 | 0 | 135 | 140 | |
| Massachusetts | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 23 | |
| Michigan | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 23 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 141 | 63 | |
| Michigan Tech | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 20 | 8 | 12 | 0 | 91 | 97 | |
| Middlebury | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 16 | 10 | 5 | 1 | – | – | |
| Minnesota | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 21 | 9 | 12 | 0 | 100 | 105 | |
| MIT | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | – | – | |
| New Hampshire | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 13 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 58 | 67 | |
| North Dakota | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 103 | 68 | |
| Northeastern | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 19 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 135 | 119 | |
| Norwich | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | – | – | |
| Princeton | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 21 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 79 | 79 | |
| St. Lawrence | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 65 | 27 | |
| Union | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 9 | 1 | 8 | 0 | – | – | |
| Williams | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | – | – | |
| Yale | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 20 | 8 | 11 | 1 | 89 | 85 | |
1948 NCAA Tournament
| Semifinals March 18–19 | National Championship March 20 | ||||||||
| E1 | Dartmouth | 8 | |||||||
| W2 | Colorado College | 4 | |||||||
| E1 | Dartmouth | 4 | |||||||
| W1 | Michigan | 8 | |||||||
| W1 | Michigan | 6* | |||||||
| E2 | Boston College | 4 | |||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Player stats
Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the season.
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Class | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gordon McMillan | Junior | Michigan | 21 | 32 | 30 | 62 | – |
| Dick Rowell | Junior | Colorado College | – | 18 | 37 | 55 | – |
| Bill Riley | Junior | Dartmouth | – | 30 | 23 | 53 | – |
| Thomas Gerard | Sophomore | St. Lawrence | 15 | 23 | 19 | 42 | – |
| Bob Mason | Sophomore | Boston College | – | 21 | 19 | 40 | – |
| Arthur Moher | Junior | Yale | – | 21 | 19 | 40 | – |
| Roland DePaul | Junior | Minnesota | – | 22 | 9 | 31 | – |
| William Forbes | Sophomore | New Hampshire | – | 20 | 8 | 28 | – |
| Bill Sullivan | Sophomore | North Dakota | 16 | 18 | 6 | 24 | 4 |
| Gordy Christian | Sophomore | North Dakota | 15 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 12 |
Leading goaltenders
The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average at the end of the regular season while playing at least 33% of their team's total minutes.
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
| Player | Class | Team | GP | Min | W | L | OT | GA | SO | SV% | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert O'Connor | Freshman | Princeton | 18 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.72 |
| Gene Delvecchio | Freshman | St. Lawrence | 14 | 803 | - | - | - | 52 | 2 | - | 3.88 |
| Bob Murray | Sophomore | North Dakota | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | .894 | 4.07 |
| James Burns | Sophomore | Yale | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.07 |
| Arthur Forman | Sophomore | North Dakota | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | .840 | 5.50 |
Awards
NCAA
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References
- "History of ECAC Hockey". College Hockey Historical Archives. Archived from the original on January 30, 2013. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
- "NCAA Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
- "1947-48 NCAA Division I Statistics". Elite Prospects. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
- "NCAA Division I Awards". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
- "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.