The 1956–57

Colorado College Tigers men's ice hockey The Colorado College Tigers men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Colorado College. The Tigers are a member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. ...

team represented Colorado College in

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 ...

. In its 2nd year under head coach

Tom Bedecki Thomas George Bedecki (May 4, 1929 – December 15, 1993) was a Canadian ice hockey player, and college ice hockey head coach at University of Ottawa, Colorado College, and Ohio State University. Education Bedecki attended St. Francis Xavie ...

, the team compiled a 25–5–0 record, outscored opponents 205 to 106, and won the 1957 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. The Tigers defeated

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

13–6 in the championship game at the

Broadmoor World Arena The Broadmoor World Arena was a skating rink and hockey arena located at The Broadmoor Resort & Spa in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Originally an outdoor equestrian center and riding academy, the building was enclosed and converted into an ice a ...

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

. CC tied the record for the most goals scored in a championship game (

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

) and combined with the Wolverines for the most total goals in a title game (19). As of 2018 this is the last time Colorado College has won the national title in ice hockey.

Season

After appearing in the first five national tournaments Colorado College had made the championship once in the next four years. CC's fortunes turned the year before when

Bill Hay William Charles Hay (born December 9, 1935) is a Canadian former ice hockey centre who played eight seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Chicago Black Hawks. After his playing career, he served as the CEO of the Calgary Flames. ...

, a standout junior player from

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

hitchhiked down to Colorado Springs and was able to talk both himself and his fried

Bob McCusker Robert McCusker (born January 21, 1935) is a Canadian retired professional hockey player who played 381 games in the Western Hockey League, spending time with the Spokane Comets and Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a profession ...

into athletic scholarships. Both players made their varsity debut in 1956–57, as did much of the team, and the Tigers quickly jumped to the top of the standings. After opening the regular season against two junior teams from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, CC welcomed four different collegiate opponents into their building and won every single game. With the Tigers sporting a 12-0 record they hit the road for the first time but didn't have to leave the state when they travelled to

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

to face the Pioneers. Colorado College's perfect record was spoiled with a 3–6 defeat but the returned the favor the next night at home, beating their in-state rival 8–7 in overtime. The Tigers hosted another pair of Canadian junior teams before heading north to face an improving

Fighting Sioux The North Dakota Fighting Hawks (formerly known as the Fighting Sioux) are the athletic teams that represent the University of North Dakota (UND), located in the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota. Originally in the Division II North Central Con ...

team and lost both matches. Two days later CC finally won its first road game of the season, beating

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

twice before returning to Colorado to take the second home-and-home series against Denver. After redeeming themselves against North Dakota in two home wins the Tigers split a road series with

Michigan Tech Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. ...

to close out their season. Despite CC's struggles on the road the team was able to win the

WIHL The Western International Hockey League (WIHL) was a senior level ice hockey league that featured teams from the Western United States and Western Canada. It operated from 1946–62 and 1963–88. It grew out of the West Kootenay League, whi ...

title handily and, with a superb 19–1 home record, post the best season in team history (As of 2018). Colorado College was led back to the NCAA tournament by Hay and McCusker who finished first (tied) and third in scoring in the nation. Both players earned their way onto one of the two All-American Teams as did team captain

Don Wishart Don Wishart was a Canadian ice hockey defenseman and forward who captained Colorado College to the National Championship in 1957. Career Wishart's junior career was rife with success as he helped the Flin Flon Bombers win three consecutive lea ...

and all three players were first-team All-WIHL. Befitting the western champion, Colorado College was selected as the #1 seed in the west and opened the tournament against Clarkson who had compiled an undefeated season the year before and followed that up with a stellar 18–2 mark. Despite the two teams' success the Golden Knights were completely outmatched by older and larger CC team. While the final score was relatively close, 5–3 with a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

from

, the Tigers nearly tripled the number of shots from Clarkson (60–21) and the Green and Gold couldn't score enough to reward the valiant effort from the goaltender

Eddie MacDonald Edward MacDonald (born July 7, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He most recently competed part-time in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in 2018 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, 2018, a series which he competed in for over a deca ...

. In the title tilt CC found itself pitted against two-time defending champion

who had won five of the six national titles since CC earned its first championship in

. The Wolverines had utterly dominated the series between the two teams over the previous decade and won all three games the pair played in the NCAA Tournament despite every game being played at the

. None of those losses, however, had come with Hay and McCusker on the team and the two sophomores combined to score the first three goals of the contest. Showing the championship mettle, Michigan responded with three of their own before the first period was over and erased the CC advantage. CC goalie Bob Southwood settled down in the second period and when the Tigers scored three more times the Wolverines could only muster one in response. Even with a two-goal lead the Tigers didn't pull back in the third and after McCusker opened the scoring with his third of the game the rest of the team followed suit and score five more times before Michigan got its fifth but by then it was far too late and the Tigers eventually cruised to a 13–6 victory, winning their second National Title.

tied the NCAA records for goals (4) and points (6) in a championship game and was the logical choice for

Most Outstanding Player The term Most Outstanding Player may refer to: * The recipient of the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award * The NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player award * The College World Series Most Outstanding Player in college baseball * The N ...

. McCusker was accompanied by

and

on the All-Tournament First Team while Dick McGhee and

John Andrews John Andrews may refer to: Sports * John Andrews (baseball) (born 1949), American baseball pitcher * John Andrews (cyclist) (1934–2000), British cyclist * John Andrews (footballer, born 1950), English footballer * John Andrews (footballer, bo ...

made the Second Team.

Standings

Schedule

Conference games against Michigan State, Michigan Tech and Minnesota were only worth 1 point in the standings. , - !colspan=12 style=";" , Exhibition , - !colspan=12 style=";" , Regular Season , - !colspan=12 style=";" ,

Roster and scoring statistics

*Colorado College players are reported to have collectively scored 212 goals over the course of the season but the team only scored 205 times during the season.

Goaltending statistics

1957 championship game

(W1) Colorado College vs. (W2) Michigan

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1956-57 Colorado College Tigers men's ice hockey season Colorado College Tigers men's ice hockey seasons Colorado College Colorado College Colorado College Colorado College Colorado College Colorado College