John E. "Connie" Pleban was an ice hockey player and

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 ...

who led

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

to three medal finishes at international competitions.

Career

Pleban was a graduate of

Eveleth High School Eveleth is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,718 at the 2010 census. U.S. Highway 53 and State Highway 37 (MN 37) are two of the main routes in Eveleth. Eveleth was the site of the conflict that resu ...

in 1932 and continued his education at Eveleth Junior College. While there, Pleban was a member of the 1934 team that won an intercollegiate championship. After graduating, he became the player/coach for several teams and continued working in that capacity until 1942. After the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

entered

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Pleban entered the military and served until the end of the war. In 1950, Pleban joined the US National Team as a player, coach and manager for the 1950 World Championships, and led the team to a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

. He retired as a player following the tournament but repeated the coaching feat two years later at the

1952 Winter Olympics The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 6. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 6. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Oslo 1952, was a winter multi-sport event held from 14 to 25 February 195 ...

. In 1955, Pleban was named head coach at Minnesota–Duluth and helped the program begin to transition to the top level of college hockey. He led the Bulldogs to the MIAC championship in each of his 4 years with the program, never losing a single conference game. Pleban returned to Team USA in 1961 but couldn't get the defending Olympic gold medalists to find much success. Finishing with a 1–5–1 record, it was one of the program's poorest records, but Pleban was allowed to remain as coach and produced a far better result the following year. The US went 5–2 and ended up with the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

. Afterwards, Pleban continued to work in the

Duluth , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

area, organizing amateur hockey throughout the 1960s and 70's. He was inducted into the

United States Hockey Hall of Fame The United States Hockey Hall of Fame was established in 1973 with the goal of preserving the history of ice hockey in the United States while recognizing the extraordinary contributions of select players, coaches, administrators, officials and ...

in 1990 and was the recipient of the

Hobey Baker Legends of College Hockey Award The Hobey Baker Legends of College Hockey Award is an annual award presented by the Hobey Baker Memorial Award Committee to honor "one of the all-time great contributors to the game of college hockey." In 1981, the Hobey Baker Memorial Award Comm ...

in 1992.

Head coaching record

International

''Note: GC = Games coached, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against''

College

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pleban, Connie 1914 births 2001 deaths American ice hockey coaches Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey coaches Ice hockey people from Minnesota People from Eveleth, Minnesota Ice hockey coaches from Minnesota American military personnel of World War II Military personnel from Minnesota