The 1948–49 Boston College Eagles men's ice hockey team represented the

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

in intercollegiate

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the g ...

during the

1948–49 NCAA men's ice hockey season The 1948–49 NCAA men's ice hockey season began in November 1948 and concluded with the 1949 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament's championship game on March 19, 1949 at the Broadmoor Ice Palace in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This was the 2nd seas ...

. The

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

was John "Snooks" Kelley and the team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

was Bernie Burke. The team won the

1949 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament The 1949 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 1948–49 NCAA men's ice hockey season, the 2nd such tournament in NCAA history. It was held between March 17 and 19, 1949, and concluded with Boston College defeating Dartmout ...

. The team's leading scorer was

Jack Mulhern John Francis "Jack" Mulhern (July 18, 1927 – September 19, 2007) was an American ice hockey player. He won a silver medal at the 1952 Winter Olympics The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 6. olymp ...

, who finished second in the NCAA in both goals (34) and points (65)

Season

Boston College, looking to return to the tournament and improve upon their overtime loss in the semifinal the year before, opened the 1948–49 season with a 13–5 win over

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the mo ...

. In January they welcomed fellow tournament hopeful

Colorado College Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory. The college enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduates at its campus. The college offer ...

for one game and took the close match 6–5, improving their record to 7–0. less than a month later they met the other eastern tournament team, Dartmouth, and lost their first game 2–4 in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

. They would make up for that win a month later by defeating the Indians at home. BC finished the regular season 17–1, never having to leave

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

and only playing three game outside of the state and one other outside the greater

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

area. In March the Eagles played two tournaments. The first was the NEIHL Tournament (a precursor to the

Beanpot A beanpot is a deep, wide-bellied, short-necked vessel used to cook bean-based dishes. Beanpots are typically made of ceramic, though some are made of other materials, such as cast iron. The relatively narrow mouth of the beanpot minimizes evapo ...

) where they won two narrow victories over

Northeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

and

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

to win the championship. With a 19–1 record Boston College received the top eastern seed and played Colorado College in the first round of the NCAA Tournament The Eagles won the game handily, scoring seven against the Tigers to earn their right to the play for the title. The championship game was a rubber match for BC and Dartmouth and for their third meeting the two teams did not disappoint. The game had three lead changes before

Jim Fitzgerald James Francis Fitzgerald (March 27, 1926 – June 4, 2012) was an American businessman and former professional sports owner, best known as a former owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and the Golden State Warriors, both NBA teams. Early life Fitzge ...

put the Eagles ahead for good in the third period and Boston College won the title 4–3. This was the last BC team to win an ice hockey championship for 52 years. This was the first team to win a national title where all players were born in the same state or province. The 1949 national title game was the first one held between two eastern teams, the next time two eastern teams would meet in the final game was in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

. Note: While BC was a member of the NEIHL, the conference was not officially recognized by the NCAA and the Eagles were technically an independent program.

Standings

Schedule

During the season Boston College compiled a 21–1 record. By winning the national title the team set a record for the fewest losses by a national champion that would stand until 1970. Their schedule was as follows. * Denotes overtime periods

Roster and scoring statistics

*Note: Boston College players wore sweaters without numbers. *Note: The Boston College record book lists the 1948-49 team as scoring 164 goals over the season but, in the player breakdown, has a total of 165 goals for the season.

Goaltending statistics

1949 national championship

(E1) Boston College vs. (E2) Dartmouth

Butch Songin Edward F. "Butch" Songin (May 11, 1924 – May 12, 1976) was a quarterback for the Boston College Eagles, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Rugby Union, and for the American Football League's Boston Patriots and the New York Titans. He als ...

and

were named to the All-Tournament First Team while

Bernie Burke Bernard M. Burke Jr. was an American ice hockey goaltender who won a silver medal at the 1950 World Championships and captained the Boston College to the national championship in 1949. Career Burke first began attending Boston College in 1942, ...

made the Second Team

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:1948-49 Boston College Eagles men's ice hockey season Boston College Eagles men's ice hockey seasons

Boston College Eagles men's ice hockey season Boston College Eagles men's ice hockey season 1940s in Boston