1963–64 Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey season

1963–64 Michigan Wolverines
men's ice hockey season
1963–64 Michigan Wolverines; men's ice hockey season
National Champion; 1964 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Champion
Home ice	Weinberg Coliseum
Record
Overall	24–4–1
Coaches and captains
Head coach	Al Renfrew
Captain(s)	Gordon Wilkie
	Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey seasons; « 1962–63 1964–65 »

The 1963–64 Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey team represented the University of Michigan in college ice hockey. In its seventh year under head coach Al Renfrew, the team compiled a 24–4–1 record (12–2 against Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) opponents) and outscored all opponents 217 to 80.^[1] The Wolverines advanced to the 1964 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. They defeated the Providence Friars in the first round of the Frozen Four and then defeated the Denver Pioneers by a 6–3 score in the national championship game in Denver, Colorado.

Goalie Bob Gray was chosen as the Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Tournament. He had four shutouts and a .9136 save percentage for the season. The team's leading scorer was junior forward Gary Butler with 38 goals, 30 assists, and 68 total points. Team captain Gordon Wilkie followed with 16 goals, 51 assists, and 67 total points.

Schedule

During the season, Michigan compiled a 24–4–1. Its schedule was as follows.^[2]

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Location
Nov. 29, 1963	Queen's	9–5	Win	Coliseum, Ann Arbor, MI
Nov. 30, 1963	Queen's	9–5	Win	Coliseum, Ann Arbor, MI
Dec. 13, 1963	Toronto	3–5	Loss	Coliseum, Ann Arbor, MI
Dec. 14, 1963	Toronto	10–0	Win	Coliseum, Ann Arbor, MI
Jan. 7, 1964	Minn-Duluth	8–4	Win	Duluth, MN
Jan. 8, 1964	Minn-Duluth	7–2	Win	Duluth, MN
Jan. 10, 1964	Minnesota	5–1	Win	Minneapolis, MN
Jan. 11, 1964	Minnesota	5–6	Loss	Minneapolis, MN
Jan. 17, 1964	Loyola (Montreal)	12–1	Win	Coliseum, Ann Arbor, MI
Jan. 18, 1964	Loyola (Montreal)	14–2	Win	Coliseum, Ann Arbor, MI
Jan. 24, 1964	Michigan Tech	6–2	Win	Coliseum, Ann Arbor, MI
Jan. 25, 1964	Michigan Tech	5–3	Win	Coliseum, Ann Arbor, MI
Jan. 31, 1964	Colorado College	7–0	Win	Coliseum, Ann Arbor, MI
Feb. 1, 1964	Colorado College	12–4	Win	Coliseum, Ann Arbor, MI
Feb. 7, 1964	Ohio	14–0	Win	Athens, OH
Feb. 8, 1964	Ohio State	21–0	Win	Columbus, OH
Feb. 14, 1964	Michigan State	2–0	Win	East Lansing, MI
Feb. 15, 1964	Michigan State	7–2	Win	Coliseum, Ann Arbor, MI
Feb. 21, 1964	Minnesota	6–3	Win	Coliseum, Ann Arbor, MI
Feb. 22, 1964	Minnesota	8–2	Win	Coliseum, Ann Arbor, MI
Feb. 28, 1964	Michigan Tech	1–3	Loss	Houghton, MI
Feb. 29, 1964	Michigan Tech	4–3	Win	Houghton, MI
March 6, 1964	Michigan State	9–4	Win	East Lansing, MI
March 7, 1964	Michigan State	13–4	Win	Coliseum, Ann Arbor, MI
WCHA TOURNAMENT
March 12, 1964	Michigan Tech	4–3	Win	Coliseum, Ann Arbor, MI
March 13, 1964	Michigan Tech	5–5	Tie	Coliseum, Ann Arbor, MI
March 14, 1964	Denver	2–6	Loss	Coliseum, Ann Arbor, MI
NCAA TOURNAMENT
March 20, 1964	Providence	3–2	Win	Denver, CO
March 21, 1964	Denver	6–3	Win	Denver, CO
		217–80	24–4–1

1964 NCAA Tournament

The 1964 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was held at University of Denver Arena in Denver, Colorado, on March 20 and 21, 1964. The teams invited to participate in the Frozen Four were the Providence Friars and the RPI Engineers from the East and Michigan and the Denver Pioneers from the West.^[3]

On March 20, 1964, Michigan defeated Providence by a 3–2 score in a semifinal game. Michigan trailed, 2–1, but tied the game on a goal by Ron Coristine at 12:33 of the third period. Gary Butler scored the winning goal on a pass from Gordon Wilkie at 15:23 of the third period.^[4]

On March 21, 1964, the Wolverines faced the Denver Pioneers in the championship game. Michigan had lost to Denver by a 6–2 score in the finals of the WCHA Tournament one week earlier in Ann Arbor. In the NCAA championship game, Michigan took a 1–0 lead after 18 minutes of play on a goal by Wilf Martin. The Wolverines increased the lead to 2–0 with a goal by center Mel Wakabayashi at 2:19 of the second period. One minute later, they extended the lead to 3–0 on a goal by Jack Cole. Denver closed the score to 4–3 in the third period. Michigan scored twice in the final four minutes. Center Mel Wakabayashi and Jack Cole each scored two goals for Michigan.^[5]^[6]

Roster and scoring statistics

No	Name	Year	Position	Hometown	Goals	Assists	Pts
1	Bill Bieber		G
1	Bob Gray		G
2	Tom Polonic	Soph.	D		8	38	46
3	Ted Henderson		D
4	Rick Day		D
5	Pierre Dechaine		F
6	Jack Cole		F
7	Wilf Martin	Soph.	F		34	24	58
8	Alex Hood		F
9	Mel Wakabayashi		F
10	Bob Ferguson		F
11	Roger Galipeau		D
12	Ron Coristine		F
13	Barry MacDonald	Soph.	F				34
14	George Forrest		F
16	Marty Read		F
17	Dave Newton		D
18	Gary Butler	Jr.	F		38	30	68
19	Gordon Wilkie	Sr.	F		16	51	67
					217

References

^ "Michigan Hockey Record Book" (PDF). University of Michigan. p. 2.
^ "Michigan Hockey Record Book" (PDF). University of Michigan. p. 7.
^ "NCAA Hockey". The Telegraph. March 16, 1964.
^ "Michigan Sextet Tops Providence: Wolverines Triumph by 3-2 in N.C.A.A. Semi-Final". The New York Times. March 21, 1964.
^ "Michigan Sinks Denver, 6–3, In Final of N.C.A.A. Hockey". The New York Times (AP story). March 22, 1964.
^ "N.C.A.A. Title Won By Michigan Six: Denver Bows in Final, 6-3 -- R.P.I. Tops Providence". The New York Times. March 22, 1964.

[1] "Michigan Hockey Record Book" (PDF). University of Michigan. p. 2.

[2] "Michigan Hockey Record Book" (PDF). University of Michigan. p. 7.

[3] "NCAA Hockey". The Telegraph. March 16, 1964.

[4] "Michigan Sextet Tops Providence: Wolverines Triumph by 3-2 in N.C.A.A. Semi-Final". The New York Times. March 21, 1964.

[5] "Michigan Sinks Denver, 6–3, In Final of N.C.A.A. Hockey". The New York Times (AP story). March 22, 1964.

[6] "N.C.A.A. Title Won By Michigan Six: Denver Bows in Final, 6-3 -- R.P.I. Tops Providence". The New York Times. March 22, 1964.

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v t e Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey
Venues	Weinberg Coliseum (1914–1973) Yost Ice Arena (1973–present)
Coaches	Joseph Barss (1922–27) Eddie Lowrey (1927–44) Vic Heyliger (1944–57) Al Renfrew (1957–73) Dan Farrell (1973–80) Wilf Martin (1980) John Giordano (1980–84) Red Berenson (1984–2017) Mel Pearson (2017–2022) Brandon Naurato (2022–present)
Seasons	1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
Conference affiliations	MCHA/WIHL/WCHA (1951–1958, 1959–1981) CCHA (1981–2013) Big Ten (1958–1981, 2013–present)
Rivalries	Michigan State Minnesota Notre Dame
Culture & lore	Great Lakes Invitational The Big Chill at the Big House Cold War Faceoff on the Lake
All-time leaders	Statistical leaders Brendan Morrison (284 Points) Denny Felsner (139 Goals) Marty Turco (127 Wins)
National championships	1948 1951 1952 1953 1955 1956 1964 1996 1998
Frozen Four appearances	1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1962 1964 1977 1992 1993 1995 1996 1997 1998 2001 2002 2003 2008 2011 2018 2022 2023 2024
NCAA Tournament appearances	1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1962 1964 1977 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2016 2018 2021 2022 2023 2024
Conference Tournament titles	CCHA: 1994 1996 1997 1999 2002 2003 2005 2008 2010 Big Ten: 2016 2022 2023
Hobey Baker winners	Brendan Morrison (1997) Kevin Porter (2008) Adam Fantilli (2023)
University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI

Schedule

1964 NCAA Tournament

Roster and scoring statistics

See also

References