1951–52 Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey season

1951–52 Michigan Wolverines
men's ice hockey seasonNational champion
1952 NCAA Tournament, champion ConferenceT–2nd MCHLHome iceWeinberg ColiseumRecordOverall22–4Home13–3Road7–1Neutral2–0Coaches and captainsHead coachVic HeyligerCaptain(s)Earl KeyesMichigan Wolverines men's ice hockey seasons
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The 1951–52 Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey team represented the University of Michigan in college ice hockey. In its eighth year under head coach Vic Heyliger, the team compiled a 22–4–0 record, outscored opponents 161 to 70, and won the 1952 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.^[1] The season was the second consecutive in which the Michigan hockey team won the NCAA championship.

Individual accomplishments

Senior defenseman Bob Heathcott from Turner Valley, Alberta was Michigan's leading scorer during the 1951–52 season with 44 points on 13 goals and 31 assists. Six members of the team were selected as first-team All-Americans: forwards George Chin, Earl Keyes, John McKennell, and Doug Philpott, and defensemen Jim Haas and Reg Shave.^[2]

At the end of the season, the players selected goalie Willard Ikola from Eveleth, Minnesota, as the team's most valuable player. Ikola allowed an average of 2.75 goals per game in 24 regular season games. He allowed only four goals in the NCAA Tournament.^[3]

Junior center John Matchefts, also from Eveleth, Minnesota, was chosen as the captain of the 1952–53 team. Matchefts had been leading the 1951-52 team in scoring until being declared academically ineligible with eight games remaining in the regular season.^[3]

Standings

v t e
	Conference								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
Colorado College†	12	10	2	0	20				25	19	5	1	168	94
Denver	12	9	3	0	18	66	40		25	18	6	1	146	94
Michigan	12	9	3	0	18	75	40		26	22	4	0	161	70
North Dakota	12	6	6	0	12	55	56		25	13	11	1	126	105
Minnesota	12	5	7	0	10				26	13	13	0	130	114
Michigan State	12	3	9	0	6				20	7	13	0	72	110
Michigan Tech	12	0	12	0	0				20	2	18	0	75	154
† indicates conference regular season champion Only the first two games played between member teams counted for conference standings.

Schedule

During the season Michigan compiled a 22–4 record, the fifthconsecutive year that the team won at least 80% of their games. This was the first season that Michigan played as a member of a conference. The teams in the MCHL played an unbalanced schedule against one another and to balance it evenly only the first two games against each member team were counted as part of the standings. Michigan finished tied for second with Denver but was selected over the Pioneers for the tournament due to a better overall record. Their schedule was as follows.^[4]

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Venue	Location	Record (MCHL)
Dec. 5, 1951	Michigan State †	11–1[5]	Win	Demonstration Hall	East Lansing, MI	1–0 (1–0)
Dec. 7, 1951	Montreal	9–2	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	2–0 (1–0)
Dec. 8, 1951	Montreal	4–5	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	2–1 (1–0)
Dec. 14, 1951	Toronto	4–1	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	3–1 (1–0)
Dec. 15, 1951	Toronto	6–4	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	4–1 (1–0)
Dec. 20, 1951	Denver †	7–5	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	5–1 (2–0)
Dec. 21, 1951	Denver †	4–5*	Loss	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	5–2 (2–1)
Jan. 4, 1952	North Dakota †	4–2	Win	Winter Sports Building	Grand Forks, ND	6–2 (3–1)
Jan. 5, 1952	North Dakota †	2–4	Loss	Winter Sports Building	Grand Forks, ND	6–3 (3–2)
Jan. 11, 1952	Minnesota †	5–4[6]	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	7–3 (4–2)
Jan. 12, 1952	Minnesota †	6–1	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	8–3 (5–2)
Jan. 16, 1952	Michigan State †	7–1	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	9–3 (6–2)
Jan. 18, 1952	Minnesota	7–2	Win	Williams Arena	Minneapolis, MN	10–3 (6–2)
Jan. 19, 1952	Minnesota	5–0	Win	Williams Arena	Minneapolis, MN	11–3 (6–2)
Feb. 8, 1952	Michigan Tech †	9–2	Win	Dee Stadium	Houghton, MI	12–3 (7–2)
Feb. 9, 1952	Michigan Tech †	10–4	Win	Dee Stadium	Houghton, MI	13–3 (8–2)
Feb. 15, 1952	Colorado College †	3–5	Loss	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	13–4 (8–3)
Feb. 16, 1952	Colorado College †	7–6*	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	14–4 (9–3)
Feb. 22, 1952	McGill	6–0	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	15–4 (9–3)
Feb. 23, 1952	McGill	3–1	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	16–4 (9–3)
Feb. 29, 1952	Michigan State	8–2	Win	Demonstration Hall	East Lansing, MI	17–4 (9–3)
Mar. 1, 1952	Michigan State	6–2	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	18–4 (9–3)
Mar. 9, 1952	Michigan Tech	11–4	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	19–4 (9–3)
Mar. 10, 1952	Michigan Tech	4–3	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	20–4 (9–3)
NCAA TOURNAMENT
March 13, 1952	St. Lawrence	9–3	Win	Broadmoor World Arena	Colorado Springs, CO	21–4 (9–3)
March 15, 1952	Colorado College	4–1	Win	Broadmoor World Arena	Colorado Springs, CO	22–4 (9–3)
		161–70				22–4 (9–3)

* Denotes overtime periods
† MCHL game

Roster and scoring statistics

No.	Name	Year	Position	Hometown	S/P/C	Games	Goals	Assists	Pts	PIM
5	Bob Heathcott	Senior	D	Calgary, AB		24	13	31	44	30
7	Earl Keyes	Junior	C	Tiverton, ON		26	18	21	39	6
10	John McKennell	Junior	RW	Toronto, ON		26	17	22	39	25
8	Pat Cooney	Sophomore	LW	Riverside, ON		26	19	19	38	40
6	George Chin	Sophomore	RW	Lucknow, ON		26	18	19	37	10
19	Doug Mullen	Sophomore	C	Grass Lake, MI		26	18	17	35	20
12	Doug Philpott	Sophomore	RW	Sarnia, ON		24	12	17	29	4
4	John Matchefts	Junior	C	Eveleth, MN		16	14	13	27	26
2	Jim Haas	Senior	D	Nipawin, SK		26	6	16	22	37
15	Ron Martinson	Junior	LW	Eveleth, MN		24	7	14	21	20
18	Alex MacLellan	Junior	D	Montreal, PQ		26	6	9	15	61
9	Paul Pelow	Senior	C	Toronto, ON		26	7	6	13	15
17	Reg Shave	Sophomore	D	Yorkton, SK		26	2	10	12	22
11	Graham Cragg	Senior	D	Edmonton, AB		26	4	4	8	24
3	Eddie May	Senior	D	Edmonton, AB		8	0	1	1	0
	Telly Mascarin	Freshman	LW	Windsor, ON		3	0	0	0	2
1	Bill Lucier	Freshman	G	Windsor, ON		4	–	–	–	–
1	Willard Ikola	Sophomore	G	Eveleth, MN		26	–	–	–	–
14	Gordon Naylor	Senior	RW	Montreal, PQ		–	–	–	–	–
	Bob Lotzer		F			–	–	–	–	–
Total							161

Charles M. Hyman, a senior from Elyria, Ohio, won the manager's "M" for his work as the team's manager.^[7]

^[8]

Goaltending Statistics

No.	Name	Games	Minutes	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals Against	Saves	Shut Outs	SV %	GAA
1	Willard Ikola	26	–	22	4	0	70	–	2	–	2.69
1	Bill Lucier	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Total		26	–	22	4	0	70	–	2	–	2.69

1952 national championship

In the 1952 tournament, Michigan and the Colorado College Tigers were invited from the west, and the St. Lawrence Saints and Yale Bulldogs were invited from the east. The Wolverines defeated the St. Lawrence Saints in the first round by a 9-3 score. Michigan scored five goals in the first period against the Saints. Defenseman Graham Cragg scored the first goal of the game, and he later scored the final goal in the championship game.^[3] John McKennell and Pat Cooney scored two goals each in the victory over St. Lawrence.^[9]

In the championship game, Michigan played the Colorado College Tigers. Michigan and Colorado College had developed an intense rivalry as each had been invited to play in the Frozen Four for five consecutive years. Michigan won the championship in 1948 and 1951, and Colorado College won the championship in 1950. The teams had met twice during the regular season, with each team winning one game. A Colorado radio personality had referred to the Wolverines as the "Michigan woodchoppers" while a Colorado newspaper reported that Michigan forward George Chin was "as wide as he is high."^[3] The championship game was played before a capacity crowd of 2,500 persons at Broadmoor Arena in the Tigers' hometown of Colorado Springs, Colorado. However, all three players on the Tigers' top scoring line, Omer Brandt (injury), Ron Hartwell (injury), and Tony Frasca (ineligible), were unable to play in the championship game.^[10][11]

Michigan won the championship game by a 4-1 score. The Wolverines scored three goals in the first period and led 3-0 at the first intermission. Michigan's first goal was scored by George Chin at 11:35 of the first period with an assist from center Doug Philpott. Five minutes later, at 16:29 of the first period, team captain Earl Keyes scored on a power play with assists from Jim Haas and Reg Shave. Michigan's third goal was scored at 19:07 of the first period during a Colorado College power play. Doug Philpott took a loose puck at center ice and "sent a screaming 35-foot shot into the upper right corner of the net for a 3-0 lead."^[10]

Colorado College narrowed Michigan's lead to 3-1 on a goal by Cam Berry at the 5:00 mark of the second period. Five minutes later, at the 10:12 mark of the second period, Graham Cragg scored Michigan's final goal with an assist from Alex MacLellan. Neither team scored in the final 30 minutes of the game.^[10][12]

George Chin was the high scorer of the tournament with four points on two goals and two assists.^[10]

(W1) Colorado College vs. (W2) Michigan

March 15[13]

Colorado College

1 – 4

Michigan

Broadmoor Ice Palace

Scoring summary
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	UM	George Chin	Philpott	11:35	1–0 UM
	UM	Earl Keyes – GW	Haas and Shave	16:29	2–0 UM
	UM	Doug Philpott – SH	unassisted	19:07	3–0 UM
2nd	CC	Cameron Berry	Kennific	25:00	3–1 UM
	UM	Graham Cragg	MacLellan	30:12	4–1 UM
3rd	None

Jim Haas, George Chin, John McKennell and Doug Philpott were named to the All-Tournament First Team while Reg Shave and Earl Keyes made the All-Tournament Second Team^[14]

See also

• 1952 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
• List of NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament champions

References