1953–54 NCAA men's ice hockey season

The 1953–54 NCAA men's ice hockey season began in November 1953 and concluded with the 1954 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament's championship game on March 13, 1954 at the Broadmoor Ice Palace in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This was the 7th season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held and is the 60th year overall where an NCAA school fielded a team.

1953–54 NCAA men's ice hockey season
Duration	November 1953– March 13, 1954
NCAA tournament	1954
National championship	Broadmoor Ice Palace Colorado Springs, Colorado
NCAA champion	Rensselaer
List of NCAA Division I men's ice hockey seasons ← 1952–53 1954–55 →

Entering the season, in an effort to more accurately reflect the geographic location of the member school, the MCHL changed the conference name to 'Western Intercollegiate Hockey League'.

Regular season

Season tournaments

Tournament	Dates	Teams	Champion
Boston Arena Christmas Tournament	December 29–30	4	St. Lawrence
Rensselaer Holiday Tournament	December 30–January 2	4	St. Francis Xavier
Beanpot	January 11–12	4	Boston College

Standings

1953–54 NCAA Independent ice hockey standings v t e
	Intercollegiate								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	Pct.	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
Amherst	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		12	6	6	0	–	–
American International	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		15	5	10	0	–	–
Army	14	7	7	0	.500	51	73		17	10	7	0	66	79
Boston College	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		21	17	4	0	98	70
Boston University	20	4	15	1	.225	62	122		20	4	15	1	62	122
Bowdoin	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		9	6	2	1	–	–
Brown	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		20	12	8	0	91	70
Colby	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		4	0	4	0	–	–
Dartmouth	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		28	15	13	0	141	110
Hamilton	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		13	4	9	0	–	–
Harvard	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		22	10	10	2	81	100
Massachusetts	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		10	0	9	1	36	86
MIT	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		12	3	9	0	–	–
New Hampshire	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		8	2	5	1	35	45
Northeastern	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		18	5	12	1	59	99
Norwich	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		15	9	6	0	–	–
Princeton	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		18	4	12	2	47	65
Providence	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		14	4	10	0	71	100
St. Olaf	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		–	–	–	–	–	–
Tufts	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		14	7	6	1	–	–
Williams	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		10	1	9	0	–	–
Yale	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		19	11	5	3	88	59

1953–54 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference ice hockey standings v t e
	Conference								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
Minnesota–Duluth †	10	9	1	0	.900	–	–		17	10	7	0	–	–
Augsburg	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		–	–	–	–	–	–
Concordia	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		4	0	4	0	–	–
Gustavus Adolphus	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		8	3	5	0	–	–
Hamline	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		–	–	–	–	–	–
Macalester	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		–	–	–	–	–	–
Saint John's	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		11	4	7	0	–	–
St. Thomas	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		10	8	2	0	–	–
† indicates conference champion

1953–54 Tri-State League standings v t e
	Conference								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
Rensselaer†	6	5	1	0	10	28	14		23	18	5	0	141	59
St. Lawrence†	5	4	1	0	10	29	15		22	18	3	1	136	56
Clarkson	5	1	4	0	4	11	27		17	7	8	2	83	73
Middlebury	4	0	4	0	0	8	20		17	9	8	0	–	–
† indicates conference regular season champion

1953–54 Western Intercollegiate Hockey League v t e
	Conference								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
Minnesota†	20	16	3	1	20½	117	61		30	23	6	1	186	86
Michigan	16	12	3	1	18½	83	54		23	15	6	2	120	84
North Dakota	16	9	6	1	14½	70	47		27	14	12	1	123	102
Denver	14	7	7	0	11	74	71		25	16	9	0	165	106
Colorado College	14	6	8	0	11	48	58		24	14	9	1	118	88
Michigan State	18	4	13	1	6½	56	69		23	8	14	1	92	81
Michigan Tech	18	2	16	0	2	36	114		25	7	17	1	94	133
† 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.^[1]

^[2]

1954 NCAA Tournament

Main article: 1954 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament

	Semifinals March 11–12					National championship March 13
	E1	Boston College	1
	W2	Minnesota	14
						W2	Minnesota	4
						E2	Rensselaer	5*
	W1	Michigan	4
	E2	Rensselaer	6			Third-place game
						W1	Michigan	7
						E1	Boston College	2

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

^[3]

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
John Mayasich	Junior	Minnesota	28	29	49	78	20
Richard Dougherty	Junior	Minnesota	28	42	26	68	41
Abbie Moore	Senior	Rensselaer	23	36	32	68	14
Frank Chiarelli	Junior	Rensselaer	23	35	28	63	21
John Titus	Senior	Dartmouth	-	37	24	61	-
Doug Mullen	Senior	Michigan	23	22	39	61	24
Jack Smith	Sophomore	Denver	26	21	39	60	-
Ben Cherski	Junior	North Dakota	27	40	16	56	26
Brian McFarlane	Junior	St. Lawrence	22	31	24	55	12
Bill MacFarland	Sophomore	Michigan	23	30	23	53	41

^[4]

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
Bob Fox	Junior	Rensselaer	23	1382	18	5	0	59	5	.895	2.56
Bill Sloan	Sophomore	St. Lawrence	22	1265	18	3	1	56	3	.908	2.66
Jim Mattson	Junior	Minnesota	26	1565	-	-	-	72	4	.888	2.76
Spike Schultz	Sophomore	North Dakota	27	-	-	-	-	-	4	.898	3.54
Edward Schiller	Sophomore	Michigan State	16	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3.73
George Scherer	Sophomore	Yale	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3.73
Bill Begg	Junior	Denver	-	-	12	9	0	-	0	.835	4.54
Bob McManus	Freshman	Michigan Tech	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	.891	5.07
Harry Taylor	Senior	Michigan Tech	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	.839	5.14

^[4]

Awards

NCAA Award^[5] Recipient Spencer Penrose Award Vic Heyliger, Michigan Most Outstanding Player in NCAA Tournament Abbie Moore, Rensselaer AHCA All-American Team^[6] First Team Position Second Team Spike Schultz, North Dakota G Bill Sloan, St. Lawrence Bob Kiley, Boston College D Doug Binning, Middlebury Ken Yackel, Minnesota D Jim Haas, Michigan Ben Cherski, North Dakota F Frank Chiarelli, Rensselaer Richard Dougherty, Minnesota F Wally Kilrea Jr., Yale John Mayasich, Minnesota F Abbie Moore, Rensselaer

WIHL No Awards All-WIHL Teams^[7] First Team   Position   Second Team Jim Mattson, Minnesota G Spike Schultz, North Dakota Ken Yackel, Minnesota D Phil Hilton, Colorado College Jim Haas, Michigan D Bill Abbott, Denver John Mayasich, Minnesota F Doug Mullen, Michigan Richard Dougherty, Minnesota F George Chin, Michigan Ben Cherski, North Dakota F Bill MacFarland, Michigan F Jack Smith, Denver

References

1. "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 97-112" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
2. "2008-09 WCHA Yearbook 113-128" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
3. "NCAA Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
4. "1953-54 NCAA Division I Statistics". Elite Prospects. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
5. "NCAA Division I Awards". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
6. "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
7. "WCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.

External links

• College Hockey Historical Archives
• 1953–54 NCAA Standings