1947–48 MIT Engineers men's ice hockey season

The 1947–48 MIT Engineers men's ice hockey season was the 45th season of play for the program but first under the oversight of the NCAA. The Engineers represent the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and were coached by Al Carvelli.

1947–48 MIT Engineers men's ice hockey season
Conference	5th NEIHL
Home ice	Boston Arena
Record
Overall	8–11–0
Conference	5–9–0
Home	3–4–0
Road	3–0–0
Neutral	2–7–0
Coaches and captains
Head coach	Al Carvelli
Captain(s)	Jack Clifford
MIT Engineers men's ice hockey seasons « 1946–47 1948–49 »

Season

MIT entered the season by putting together the most expansive slate of games in program history. The Engineers were scheduled to play 19 matches, 14 of which coming against NEIHL opponents.^[1] With most of the games being played at the Boston Arena, MIT could at least be assured that weather would not impact their season too severely.

The Beavers played their first match in early December but had to do so without two of their star players as both Ed Thompson and Don Lea were both injured.^[2] Without the standout forwards, MIT had to rely on its defense and team captain Jack Clifford led the way to a pair of victories after opening the year with a loss.

The following week, MIT was putting forth a tremendous performance against Northeastern despite missing three forwards. Don Lea was back in action and had paced the Engineers to a 4–2 lead. Unfortunately, he reinjured his twisted ankle in the second period while Tom Tsotsi was ejected after a fight. Short five regulars in the final period, MIT could not keep up the scoring pace and fell to the Huskies. The lack of offense was keenly felt in the next game when the Techmen were bowled over by Boston University 0–7.^[3] Lea fought through his injury and returned for the match against Boston College. He proved to be pivotal in the team attempted comeback after falling down 1–4 in the first. He scored twice to pull the Engineers into a tie with the vaunted Eagles but BC played a stingy brand of defense thereafter and managed to grind out two goals to capture the match.^[4]

After returning from the winter break, the Engineers had recovered from their various ailments and ice a full team for the first time that season. The result was a commanding victory over Suffolk with Clifford pacing all players with 7 points (4 g, 3 a).^[5] The offense got a bit too loose in the next game and, despite scoring 5 goals, missed the net with 50 attempts. The unconverted opportunities led to MIT's 4th-consecutive conference loss and put the Engineers in a nearly impossible position for making the NEIHL playoffs.^[6] To add injury to insult, Tsotsi was checked hard into the boards and was knocked unconscious for 20 minutes. He was sent to the Homberg Infirmary where he recovered.

The following week, MIT rallied to score two conference victories in convincing fashion.^[7] They followed that up with a win over Fort Devens State to lift them up to an even record. However, those would be the final games for captain Clifford as he graduated after the fall semester.

After returning from the break, the team felt Clifford's absence on both sides of the ice as neither the offense nor the defense were performing at the same level.^[8] The team knew it still needed to finish strong if it wanted to have a shot at the postseason berth, but losing the very next game to Bowdoin dealt a mortal blow to those chances. MIT's forwards were able to band together to overcome Clifford's loss; however, the defense was never able to fully recover and caused the Engineers to lose their last three conference matches.^[9] The defeats dropped MIT to 5th place, just 1 behind Bowdoin for the final playoff berth.

Roster

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team
		Jack Adams		G
		George Aery		F
		Bradley		F
		John M. Clifford	Senior	D
		John Densmore		D
		Donald C. Lea	Sophomore	F			1927-08-20	Concord, New Hampshire
		Theodore R. Madden	Junior	D			1925-03-04	Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
		Clint McKim		F
		Don Molino		D
		William T. Morris	Sophomore	F			1928-11-12	Concord, Massachusetts
		Charles D. Nolan	Sophomore	F			1926-10-29	Saint Paul, Minnesota
		Charlie Seifert		F
		Mike Tenney		F
		Ed Thompson		F
		Norm Tisdale		F
		Tom Tsotsi		F
		Gerard J. Walworth	Junior	F			1926-06-30	Arlington, Massachusetts
		Bud Willard		F

^[10]

Standings

1947–48 NCAA Independent ice hockey standings v t e
	Intercollegiate								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	Pct.	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
Army	16	11	4	1	.719	78	39		16	11	4	1	78	39
Bemidji State	5	0	5	0	.000	13	36		10	2	8	0	37	63
Boston College	19	14	5	0	.737	126	60		19	14	5	0	126	60
Boston University	24	20	4	0	.833	179	86		24	20	4	0	179	86
Bowdoin	9	4	5	0	.444	45	68		11	6	5	0	56	73
Brown	14	5	9	0	.357	61	91		14	5	9	0	61	91
California	10	2	8	0	.200	45	62		17	5	12	0	87	89
Clarkson	12	5	6	1	.458	67	39		17	10	6	1	96	54
Colby	8	2	6	0	.250	28	41		8	2	6	0	28	41
Colgate	10	7	3	0	.700	54	34		13	10	3	0	83	45
Colorado College	14	9	5	0	.643	84	73		27	19	8	0	207	120
Cornell	4	0	4	0	.000	3	43		4	0	4	0	3	43
Dartmouth	23	21	2	0	.913	156	76		24	21	3	0	156	81
Fort Devens State	13	3	10	0	.231	33	74		–	–	–	–	–	–
Georgetown	3	2	1	0	.667	12	11		7	5	2	0	37	21
Hamilton	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		14	7	7	0	–	–
Harvard	22	9	13	0	.409	131	131		23	9	14	0	135	140
Lehigh	8	0	8	0	.000	8	95		10	0	10	0	12	108
Massachusetts	2	0	2	0	.000	1	23		3	0	3	0	3	30
Michigan	18	16	2	0	.889	105	53		23	20	2	1	141	63
Michigan Tech	19	7	12	0	.368	87	96		20	8	12	0	91	97
Middlebury	14	8	5	1	.607	111	68		16	10	5	1	127	74
Minnesota	16	9	7	0	.563	78	73		21	9	12	0	100	105
Minnesota–Duluth	6	3	3	0	.500	21	24		9	6	3	0	36	28
MIT	19	8	11	0	.421	93	114		19	8	11	0	93	114
New Hampshire	13	4	9	0	.308	58	67		13	4	9	0	58	67
North Dakota	10	6	4	0	.600	51	46		16	11	5	0	103	68
North Dakota Agricultural	5	3	2	0	.600	27	28		6	4	2	0	37	29
Northeastern	19	10	9	0	.526	135	119		19	10	9	0	135	119
Norwich	9	3	6	0	.333	38	58		13	6	7	0	56	70
Princeton	18	8	10	0	.444	65	72		21	10	11	0	79	79
St. Cloud State	12	10	2	0	.833	55	35		16	12	4	0	73	55
St. Lawrence	9	6	3	0	.667	65	27		13	8	4	1	95	50
Suffolk	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		–	–	–	–	–	–
Tufts	4	3	1	0	.750	17	15		4	3	1	0	17	15
Union	9	1	8	0	.111	7	86		9	1	8	0	7	86
Williams	11	3	6	2	.364	37	47		13	4	7	2	–	–
Yale	16	5	10	1	.344	60	69		20	8	11	1	89	85

1947–48 New England Intercollegiate Hockey League standings v t e
	Conference								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
Boston University †	13	12	1	0	.923	86	40		24	20	4	0	179	86
Boston College *	10	9	1	0	.900	77	29		19	14	5	0	126	60
Northeastern	14	8	6	0	.571	108	79		19	10	9	0	135	119
Bowdoin	6	3	3	0	.500	32	38		11	6	5	0	56	73
MIT	14	5	9	0	.357	62	87		19	8	11	0	93	114
Middlebury	6	2	4	0	.333	27	48		16	10	5	1	127	74
New Hampshire	10	3	7	0	.300	42	56		13	4	9	0	58	67
Norwich	7	2	5	0	.286	25	50		13	6	7	0	56	70
Fort Devens State	11	3	8	0	.273	30	55		–	–	–	–	–	–
Colby	5	1	4	0	.200	17	27		8	2	6	0	28	41
† indicates conference champion * indicates conference tournament champion

Schedule and results

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Record
Regular Season
December 6	vs. Boston University	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	L 5–10	0–1–0 (0–1–0)
December 8	vs. Tufts*	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	W 7–3	1–1–0
December 9	Fort Devens State	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	W 4–3	2–1–0 (1–1–0)
December 15	vs. Northeastern	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	L 4–6	2–2–0 (1–2–0)
December 16	vs. Boston University	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	L 0–7	2–3–0 (1–3–0)
December 22	vs. Boston College	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	L 5–10	2–4–0 (1–4–0)
January 11	vs. Suffolk*	Boston Skating Club • Boston, Massachusetts	W 11–4	3–4–0
January 13	Middlebury	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	L 6–7 ^OT	3–5–0 (1–5–0)
January 16	at Bowdoin	Delta Rink • Brunswick, Maine	W 8–4	4–5–0 (2–5–0)
January 17	at New Hampshire	UNH Ice Rink • Durham, New Hampshire	W 8–2	5–5–0 (3–5–0)
January 27	vs. Tufts*	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	L 4–5	5–6–0
February 2	Fort Devens State	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	W 5–3	6–6–0 (4–5–0)
February 9	Colby	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	L 2–5	6–7–0 (4–6–0)
February 10	New Hampshire	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	W 4–3	7–7–0 (5–6–0)
February 11	Brown*	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	L 2–9	7–8–0
February 16	Bowdoin	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	L 5–8	7–9–0 (5–7–0)
February 25	at Brown*	Rhode Island Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island	W 7–6	8–9–0
February 27	vs. Boston College	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	L 2–9	8–10–0 (5–8–0)
March 2	vs. Northeastern	Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	L 4–10	8–11–0 (5–9–0)
*Non-conference game.

^[11]

References

1. "Beaver Pucksters Open Season Against B.U. This Saturday at the Arena" (PDF). The Tech. December 2, 1947. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
2. "Pucksters Win Two 7-3, 4-3" (PDF). The Tech. December 2, 1947. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
3. "Losses Plague Hockey Team as Northeastern, B.U. Win" (PDF). The Tech. December 19, 1947. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
4. "Icemen Suffer as B.C. Cometh" (PDF). The Tech. January 9, 1948. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
5. "Clifford , Lea, Thompson Lead Sextet to Win Over Suffolk" (PDF). The Tech. January 13, 1948. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
6. "Beaver Sextet Suffers Overtime Loss; Tsotsi Receives Severe Injury" (PDF). The Tech. January 13, 1948. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
7. "Jack Adams Leads Beaver Sextet to Whip Bowdoin, New Hampshire, 8-4, 8-2" (PDF). The Tech. January 20, 1948. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
8. "Sextet Splits 4 Games As Playoff Hopes Fade" (PDF). The Tech. February 13, 1948. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
9. "Beaver Sextet Closes Season with N.U. Loss" (PDF). The Tech. March 5, 1948. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
10. "Beaver Pucksters Open Season Against B.U. This Saturday at the Arena" (PDF). The Tech. December 2, 1947. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
11. "The Tech Archive". Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved February 24, 2023.