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1954–55 Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey season

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1954–55 Michigan Wolverines
men's ice hockey season
National champion
1955 NCAA tournament, champion
Conference2nd WIHL
Home iceMichigan Coliseum
Record
Overall18–5–1
Home10–1–1
Road6–4
Neutral2–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachVic Heyliger
Captain(s)Bill MacFarland
Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey seasons
« 1953–54 1955–56 »

The 1954–55 Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey team represented the University of Michigan in college ice hockey. In its 11th year under head coach Vic Heyliger, the team compiled an 18–5–1 record, outscored opponents 107 to 70, and won the 1955 NCAA men's ice hockey tournament. The 1955 championship was Michigan's fifth NCAA hockey championship in eight years.

During the regular season, the Wolverines finished in second place in the Western Intercollegiate Hockey League (WIHL) with a 13-5-0 record against conference opponents.

Team captain Bill MacFarland was the leading scorer with 56 points on 33 goals and 23 assists. For the second time in program history, six Michigan players were selected as first-team All-Americans. The All-American selections were defensemen Mike Buchanan and Bob Schiller, goalie Lorne Howes, and forwards MacFarland, Dick Dunnigan, and Tom Rendall. Howes, MacFarland, and Rendall were also named to the NCAA Frozen Four All Tournament First Team.

Season

Michigan was coming off of their seventh consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament but after losing what the team deemed to be inferior opponent the Wolverines saw their championship run end in the semifinal.[1] Head Coach Had the Maize and Blue raring to go against McGill for their home opener, winning 7–2 but the team appeared to slip a bit after that. They finished their non-conference schedule 3–0–1 but when they headed to Colorado to face the Tigers and the Pioneers they came home with only 1 win in four games. After taking both games against hated rival Michigan State in a home-and-home series they split two consecutive weeks against Minnesota and Michigan Tech.

With more than half of their season over the Wolverines were at risk of missing the tournament for the first time with only a middling 5–5 record in the WIHL. Beginning with their second series against the Spartans in mid-February Michigan began showing the mettle that earned them four national titles in six years. The defense buckled down while the Wolverine attack seemed to score at will, winning eight straight games while averaging almost six goals per game. The winning streak allowed Michigan to separate themselves away from the rest of their competition and join Colorado College comfortably at the top of the conference. With a second place finish in the WIHL Michigan received the #2 western seed and they headed back to Colorado Springs.

The Wolverines began the 1955 championship against Harvard who were led by the nation's leading scorer in Bill Cleary (who averaged more than 4 points per game by himself). The Crimson offense was stymied by the Wolverines who continued to rack up the goals and take the semifinal 7–3. Two days later the Wolverines were again facing Colorado College in what amounted to a road game though this time the winner would skate away with the national championship.

Tom Rendall opened the scoring less than three minutes into the game and after exchanging the lead the Wolverines ended the first up 2-1. The CC offense started to ratchet itself up in the second, outshooting Michigan 15–6 but the second frame ended with the same score as the first. The Tigers increased their pace even more in the third but it was Michigan's Jay Gould who found the net first, increasing the Wolverine lead to 3–1. Colorado College did close the gap back to a single goal but less than a minute later Michigan restored their two-goal advantage. Clare Smith got the Tigers back within one less than three minutes left but Lorne Howes refused to allow any more recording his 47th save of the night before captain Bill MacFarland salted the game away with an empty-net marker at 19:57.[2] Despite the herculean effort by the Wolverines it was Phil Hilton of the opposition who received the Tournament Most Outstanding Player though Howes, MacFarland and Rendall were all named to the All-Tournament First Team.

Standings

1954–55 Western Intercollegiate Hockey League
Conference Overall
GP W L T PCT PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Colorado College† 18 14 4 0 .778 19 73 48 28 22 6 0 144 77
Michigan 18 13 5 0 .722 16 78 55 24 18 5 1 107 70
Minnesota 24 10 12 2 .458 11 98 96 30 16 12 2 141 109
Michigan Tech 20 8 11 1 .425 10½ 72 68 26 12 13 1 116 86
Denver 18 8 9 1 .472 10½ 83 68 30 18 11 1 175 110
North Dakota 22 9 12 1 .432 9½ 63 100 28 14 13 1 115 115
Michigan State 20 5 14 1 .275 7½ 62 94 27 9 17 1 89 125
† indicates conference regular season champion
Note: All games played between league members counted in the standings. When teams played each other twice, two points were awarded for a win, one point for a tie.

When teams met each other four times, one point was awarded for a win, one-half point for a tie. Maximum of 24 points available.[3]

Schedule

Date Opponent# Rank# Site Result Record
Regular Season
December 4 vs. McGill* Weinberg Coliseum • Ann Arbor, Michigan W 7–2  1–0–0
December 5 vs. McGill* Weinberg Coliseum • Ann Arbor, Michigan W 4–2  2–0–0
December 10 vs. Montreal* Weinberg Coliseum • Ann Arbor, Michigan W 3–2  3–0–0
December 11 vs. Montreal* Weinberg Coliseum • Ann Arbor, Michigan T 3–3  3–0–1
December 17 at Colorado College Broadmoor World Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado L 0–4  3–1–1 (0–1–0)
December 18 at Colorado College Broadmoor World Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado L 4–5 OT 3–2–1 (0–2–0)
December 21 at Denver DU Arena • Denver, Colorado W 2–1  4–2–1 (1–2–0)
December 22 at Denver DU Arena • Denver, Colorado L 2–8  4–3–1 (1–3–0)
January 7 at Michigan State Demonstration Hall • East Lansing, Michigan W 7–0  5–3–1 (2–3–0)
January 8 vs. Michigan State Weinberg Coliseum • Ann Arbor, Michigan W 3–1  6–3–1 (3–3–0)
January 14 vs. Minnesota Weinberg Coliseum • Ann Arbor, Michigan L 4–10  6–4–1 (3–4–0)
January 15 vs. Minnesota Weinberg Coliseum • Ann Arbor, Michigan W 5–3  7–4–1 (4–4–0)
February 4 at Michigan Tech Dee Stadium • Houghton, Michigan W 4–2  8–4–1 (5–4–0)
February 5 at Michigan Tech Dee Stadium • Houghton, Michigan L 4–2  8–5–1 (5–5–0)
February 11 at Michigan State Demonstration Hall • East Lansing, Michigan W 7–4  9–5–1 (6–5–0)
February 12 vs. Michigan State Weinberg Coliseum • Ann Arbor, Michigan W 4–3  10–5–1 (7–5–0)
February 18 at Minnesota Williams Arena • Minneapolis W 5–2  11–5–1 (8–5–0)
February 19 at Minnesota Williams Arena • Minneapolis W 3–1  12–5–1 (9–5–0)
February 25 vs. North Dakota Weinberg Coliseum • Ann Arbor, Michigan W 7–0  13–5–1 (10–5–0)
February 26 vs. North Dakota Weinberg Coliseum • Ann Arbor, Michigan W 7–2  14–5–1 (11–5–0)
March 4 vs. Michigan Tech Weinberg Coliseum • Ann Arbor, Michigan W 5–1  15–5–1 (12–5–0)
March 5 vs. Michigan Tech Weinberg Coliseum • Ann Arbor, Michigan W 8–4  16–5–1 (13–5–0)
NCAA Tournament
March 10 vs. Harvard* Broadmoor World Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado (National Semifinal) W 7–3  17–5–1 (13–5–0)
March 12 vs. Colorado College* Broadmoor World Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado (National championship) W 5–3  18–5–1 (13–5–0)
*Non-conference game.
Source: [4]

Roster and scoring statistics

No. Name Year Position Hometown S/P/C Games Goals Assists Pts PIM
7 Bill MacFarland Junior LW Toronto Ontario 24 33 23 56 67
12 Tom Rendall Sophomore C Winnipeg, Manitoba Manitoba 18 20 19 39 22
6 Dick Dunnigan Sophomore RW Edmonton, Alberta Alberta 24 15 24 39 8
8 Jerry Karpinka Sophomore LW Edmonton, Alberta Alberta 24 9 16 25 34
9 Jay Gould Junior RW Kirkland Lake, Ontario Ontario 24 14 10 24 28
3 Bob Shiller Sophomore D Riverside, Ontario Ontario 24 4 8 12 54
11 Neil Buchanan Sophomore D Ottawa, ON Ontario 24 4 5 9 48
2 Mike Buchanan Sophomore D Ottawa, ON Ontario 10 3 4 7 17
10 Yves Hebert Senior F Montreal, PQ Quebec 20 3 4 7 4
5 Bob Pitts Sophomore D Castlegar, British Columbia British Columbia 24 2 5 7 24
4 Bernie Hanna Sophomore D Calgary, Alberta Alberta 24 0 2 2 48
15 Baden Cosby Junior F Gravenhurst, Ontario Ontario 14 0 1 1 0
16 Bill Lucier Senior G Windsor, Ontario Ontario 1 0 0 0 0
1 Lorne Howes Junior G Kirkland Lake, Ontario Ontario 24 0 0 0 2
14 Don McIntosh Freshman C Toronto Ontario – – – – –
Total

[5]

1955 national championship

Colorado College vs. Michigan

March 12[6] Colorado College 3 – 5 Michigan Broadmoor Ice Palace


Scoring summary
Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score
1st UM Tom Rendall unassisted 02:38 1–0 UM
2nd CC Phil Hilton unassisted 22:28 1–1
UM Neil Buchanan M. Buchanan 39:23 2–1 UM
3rd UM Jay Gould unassisted 46:18 3–1 UM
CC Don Wishart Hubchik 47:34 3–2 UM
UM Jerry Karpinka – GW Dunnigan 48:31 4–2 UM
CC Clare Smith Silverberg 57:23 4–3 UM
UM Bill MacFarland – EN unassisted 59:57 5–3 UM

See also

References

  1. ^ "RPI Glory Days pg. 3". Rensselaer Alumni Magazine. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  2. ^ "Team history and Awards" (PDF). Michigan Wolverines. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  3. ^ "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 97-112" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved 2014-06-01.
  4. ^ "Through the Years: Season-By-Season Results" (PDF). Michigan Wolverines. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  5. ^ "Univ. of Michigan 1954-55 roster and statistics". EliteProspects. Retrieved 2018-10-24.
  6. ^ "Team History" (PDF). Michigan Wolverines. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
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