The 1954 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament was the culmination of the

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 seas ...

, the 7th such tournament in

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

history. It was held between March 11 and 13, 1954, and concluded with Rensselaer defeating

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 ...

5-4 in overtime. All games were played at the Broadmoor Ice Palace in

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 ...

. This was the first championship game to go into overtime. Rensselaer's title was the only championship won by a team from the

Tri-State League The Tri-State League was the name of six different circuits in American minor league baseball. History The first league of that name played for four years (1887–1890) and consisted of teams in Ohio, Michigan and West Virginia. The second leagu ...

. Despite its low membership the Tri-State League would send at least one representative to the tournament every year from

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

through

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

before being dissolved in 1972. Minnesota's victory in the semifinal over

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 ...

holds two separate records: the most goals scored by one team in an NCAA tournament game (14, tied with Michigan in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

) and the largest single-game margin of victory in an NCAA tournament (+13). Boston College, by being outscored 3-21 in their two games, also holds the worst single-tournament goal differential (-18). (as of 2016)

Qualifying teams

Four teams qualified for the tournament, two each from the eastern and western regions. The two best

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 ...

teams and a

representative received bids into the tournament as did one independent school.

Format

The eastern team judged as better was seeded as the top eastern team while the WIHL champion was given the top western seed. The second eastern seed was slotted to play the top western seed and vice versa. All games were played at the Broadmoor Ice Palace. All matches were Single-game eliminations with the semifinal winners advancing to the national championship game and the losers playing in a consolation game.

Bracket

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Results

Semifinals

Minnesota vs. Boston College

Michigan vs. Rensselaer

Consolation Game

Michigan vs. Boston College

National Championship

(W2) Minnesota vs. (E2) Rensselaer

All-Tournament team

First team

*G: Bob Fox (Rensselaer) *D:

Jim Pope Jim Pope (2 October 1933 – 18 August 2001) was an English people, English radio and television continuity announcer and voice over artist. He began his career in radio and moved to TV to deliver continuity links for ITV Wales & West, HTV in the ...

(Rensselaer) *D:

Ken Yackel Kenneth James Yackel (March 5, 1930 – July 12, 1991) was an American ice hockey player. Yackel played for the American national team at the 1952 Winter Olympics. He briefly played professionally in the National Hockey League, appearing in six ...

(Minnesota) *F:

Frank Chiarelli Frank Chiarelli is a retired Canadian ice hockey player. He captained Rensselaer to its first National Title in 1954 and was the all-time NCAA leader in career goals at the time of his graduation. Career Like many Canadian players of the era ...

(Rensselaer) *F:

John Mayasich John Edward Mayasich (born May 22, 1933) is an American former ice hockey player of American Croats, Croatian descent. He was a member of the U.S. ice hockey team that won a silver medal at the 1956 Winter Olympics and a gold medal at the 1960 W ...

(Minnesota) *F: Gordie Peterkin (Rensselaer) * Most Outstanding Player(s)

Second team

*G:

Jim Mattson James Mattson is an American ice hockey goaltender who backstopped Minnesota to its first two NCAA Tournament appearances. Career Mattson grew up playing junior hockey in the Minnesota area, but for his senior year of high school he headed to N ...

(Minnesota) *D:

Jim Haas James Edwin Haas was an American singer who performed vocals for many artists including Andy Williams, Neil Diamond, Jackson Browne, David Cassidy, Leif Garrett, Pink Floyd, and Barry Manilow. Leif Garrett, after Haas' death, explained that in ...

(Michigan) *D: Bob Siblo (Boston College) *F:

Abbie Moore Albert W. "Abbie" Moore is a Canadian retired ice hockey center who was the MOP for the 1954 NCAA Tournament. Career Abbie Moore was in the second recruit class for Ned Harkness after Rensselaer brought back its ice hockey program in 1949. Afte ...

* (Rensselaer) *F: Bill MacFarland (Michigan) *F: Dick Dougherty (Minnesota)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1954 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament

Tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament 1950s in Colorado Springs, Colorado Ice hockey in Colorado Sports competitions in Colorado Springs, Colorado