Joe Selinger 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 was an All-American for

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

and led the team it its first NCAA tournament appearance in

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

Career

Selinger was the starting goalie for the

Regina Pats Regina (Latin for "queen") may refer to: Places Canada * Regina, Saskatchewan, the capital city of the province ** Regina (electoral district) ** Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina France * Régina, French Guiana, a commune United States * R ...

when the team won the

Abbott Cup The Abbott Memorial Cup, commonly referred to as the Abbott Cup, was awarded annually from 1919 through 1999 to the Junior "A" ice hockey Champion for Western Canada. The Cup was named after Captain E.L. (Hick) Abbott who was a noted hockey pl ...

in 1955. The following fall he began attending

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

and would help turn around a moribund program. To that point, MSU had finished in either last or second-last in 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 ...

and had never finished with a record of even .400. While he was on the freshman team, the Spartans continued that trend and won one of eighteen conference games. When Selinger made the varsity team the following season the team still finished in last place, but quintupled their WIHL victory totals while lowering the team's goals against by 25. Both the team and Selinger improved during his second year and the team finished 5th in their conference while producing the first winning season in program history (12–11). Selinger was named team MVP and possessed some of the best numbers in college hockey. In his final season with Michigan State the program turned a corner; due to a dispute between

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 ...

and

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 ...

the WIHL was dissolved and the three extant programs that were members of the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

formed the ice hockey division of the conference. Selinger was the star of the team once more, leading the Spartans to their first conference championship of any kind and a 16–5–1 record in the regular season. He was again named team MVP and earned national recognition by being named as an AHCA All-American, the first in program history. The stellar season resulted in MSU receiving their first national tournament appearance as well as the top western seed. The team faced

in the semifinal and, while no goaltending stats from the game survive, Selinger was instrumental in holding the Eagles back and earning the Spartans a 4–3 victory. In the championship game

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

stood in their way but the Spartans took an early lead. The Sioux broke out in the second, scoring 3 times on 17 shots and completely dominated the middle period. Michigan State responded well in the third, however, and netted two goals to tie the game and send the match into overtime. The MSU defense did well at the start, holding North Dakota without a shot for the first four minutes, but when the Fighting Sioux finally managed to fire a puck on goal it sailed in past a sprawled-out Selinger. While the ending was bittersweet, Selinger's final season was a rousing success for the Spartans. He set numerous program records, including shutouts, goals against average (career and single-season) and, while all have since been surpassed, he became the first in a long line of Spartan goaltenders who were All-Americans. Selinger played professionally after graduating, appearing in 66 games for the

Denver Mavericks The Denver Mavericks were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the International Hockey League (1945–2001), International Hockey League during the first half of the 1959–1960 season. They played at the Denver Coliseum in Denver, Colo ...

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

in 1959–60 but no record of him playing organized hockey after 1960 exists.

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Selinger, Joe Year of birth unknown Living people Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey players Minneapolis Millers (IHL) players Ice hockey people from Regina, Saskatchewan AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Year of birth missing (living people)