George Kirkwood is a Canadian retired ice hockey

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

who backstopped

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 consecutive

National Championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

in the early 1960s.

Career

Kirkwood played junior hockey in his hometown of

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

for several years. His teams played well but he couldn't get any interest from professional teams. After exhausting his eligibility in 1957 Kirkwood was out of organized hockey for a year before Murray Armstrong brought him to

after the Pioneers captured their first championship. Kirkwood played on the freshman team before joining the varsity squad in 1959 and became an instant success for the Pios. As a sophomore, Kirkwood helped lead Denver to a top finish in the inaugural

WCHA The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's ice hockey-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated a ...

season and was named co- Sophomore of the Year He was named to the All-WCHA First Team but was left off of the All-American roster as some believed his success was more a function of the team's dominance rather than his own play. In the first WCHA Tournament, Kirkwood surrendered 3 goals in 2 games to help Denver win the western bracket and be declared co-champions. The second win gave Kirkwood his 25th win of the season, breaking the NCAA record not only for first year players, but for any goaltender in one campaign. Denver was the favorite in the NCAA Tournament and did not disappoint, winning both games to capture their second championship. Kirkwood was named to the All-Tournament Second Team for his steady performance in goal. The next season Denver was a powerhouse who dominated almost every team they faced. The team won 30 of their 32 games with Kirkwood between the pipes for every minute. Kirkwood became the first goaltender to win 30 games in a season and set program records with a

goals against average Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending ...

of 1.84 and a

save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various goal-scoring sports that track saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse, it is a statistic that represents the percentage of shots on goal ...

of .910. He was first team All-WCHA and was one of 5 Pioneers to appear on the AHCA All-American team. The team ran through the postseason, eviscerating the competition. In the two-game conference series, Denver won by the largest margin in history (17–3) and nearly accomplished the same in the national tournament. They dropped

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 ...

6–1 in the semifinal before torching

St. Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roma ...

12–2 in the title game. The win over the Saints was the largest for any championship match while their overall +15 margin was second only to

Colorado College Colorado College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory. The college enrolls approxi ...

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

. Despite having a year of eligibility left, Kirkwood ended his career after the 1961 season, perhaps knowing that he wasn't likely to play with a team as dominant as the '61 Pioneers ever again. He was inducted into the Denver Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007 and is still remembered as one of the best goaltenders ever to play for Maroon and Gold.

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkwood, George 1937 births Living people Ice hockey people from Edmonton Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Edmonton Flyers (WHL) players Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL) players Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey players NCAA men's ice hockey national champions AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans