Gerald B. "Jerry" Sullivan is a Canadian retired ice hockey

Center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

and coach who was an All-American and helped

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. ...

win its first

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, 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 be ...

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

Career

Sullivan played four years of junior hockey for the

Hamilton Tiger Cubs The Hamilton Tiger Cubs were a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1953 to 1960. The team was based in Hamilton, Ontario. History The Hamilton juniors which they were called initially in the early part of 195 ...

, finishing in the top three for team scoring in each season. After helping the club reach its best finish in 1958, Sullivan was recruited by John MacInnes and arrived in

Houghton Houghton may refer to: Places Australia * Houghton, South Australia, a town near Adelaide * Houghton Highway, the longest bridge in Australia, between Redcliffe and Brisbane in Queensland * Houghton Island (Queensland) Canada * Houghton Townshi ...

in the fall. After a year with the freshman team, Sullivan provided depth scoring for Michigan Tech as the team progressed all the way to the 1960 national championship but were stymied by

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 ...

. While the team as a whole had a down year in 1961, Sullivan increased his scoring production, leading the team and setting up the Huskies for a huge year. The 1961–62 season began poorly for MTU with the Huskies dropping their first two games. After that, however, the team bore down and nearly ran the table, winning 29 of their succeeding 30 games.

Team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

Sullivan led the squad in both goals (30) and points (59), and was named to both the All-

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 ...

First Team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

and West All-American team. After helping Michigan Tech win the first singular WCHA tournament championship, Sullivan led the huskies to dominating wins over

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 ...

and Clarkson to capture the program's first national championship. Sullivan scored four points in the title game and was named to the All-Tournament Second Team. After graduating, Sullivan continued his playing career, playing a year with the

Green Bay Bobcats The Green Bay Gamblers are a Tier I junior ice hockey team in the Eastern Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). They play in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, at the Resch Center. History Professional hockey in Green Bay The first profess ...

before travelling to

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and playing with

HIFK HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK ) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...

for two years. He returned to the Bobcats in 1965 and returned to the

Iron Range The term Iron Range refers collectively or individually to a number of elongated iron-ore mining districts around Lake Superior in the United States and Canada. Much of the ore-bearing region lies alongside the range of granite hills formed by ...

two years later as a player for the

Marquette Iron Rangers The Marquette Iron Rangers were a semi-pro team that played in the United States Hockey League from 1964-1976 and were five-time champions (three league and two playoffs). The team played the majority of their home games at the Palestra. The Marq ...

. Sullivan stayed with Marquette for six seasons before retiring in 1973. In 1975 he made his head coaching debut with

Marquette Senior High School Marquette Senior High School (MSHS) is a public, coeducational high school located in Marquette, Michigan, serving grades 9–12. The school enrolled 968 students in 2021-22, making it the largest high school in the Upper Peninsula. History ...

and led the team for the next 19 years. In his time with the Redmen, Sullivan won two state championships (1977 and 1988) and finished as runner-up twice. He finished his career with a record of 312–158–13 () and was inducted into the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...

Sports Hall of Fame in 1998. He had previously been enshrined in the Michigan Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1986. Sullivan Jerry 1963a

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Jerry 1937 births Living people Canadian ice hockey centres Ice hockey people from Quebec Sportspeople from Rouyn-Noranda Hamilton Tiger Cubs players Michigan Tech Huskies men's ice hockey players Green Bay Bobcats players HIFK (ice hockey) players Marquette Iron Rangers players NCAA men's ice hockey national champions AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans