John A. "Black Jack" McDonald is an American 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 played in the 1948 NCAA men's ice hockey tournament.

Career

McDonald served as in the

United States Naval Air Corps A naval aviator is a commissioned officer or warrant officer qualified as a crewed aircraft pilot in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps. United States Coast Guard crewed aircraft pilots are officially designated as "Coast Guar ...

for four years during

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 ...

. After the war, he resumed his studies and began attending the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, where he joined the ice hockey team for the second half of the 1945–46 season. He established himself as the starting goaltender the following year and was instrumental in the success of the Michigan program immediately after the war. In 1947, the NCAA formed a national tournament for the upcoming ice hockey season. Michigan was expected to vie for one of the two western spots but, with McDonald between the pipes, Michigan produced an 18–2–1 record and received the top western seed. In their opening round match Michigan and

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 ...

battled to a 4–4 tie in regulation which forced a 20-minute overtime. The rules at the time stated that the entire overtime session had to be played. This allowed Michigan to score twice in the extra session and win the game. This was the only non- sudden-death overtime in NCAA tournament history. The following game Michigan faced eastern powerhouse Dartmouth and found themselves down by two goals mid-way through the game. McDonald bore down and stopped all succeeding shots, allowing his team to climb back and go on a six-goal run to win the first NCAA ice hockey tournament. McDonald won all of Michigan's 20 games that season, becoming the first goaltender to achieve that mark in one season. He equaled that total the following year, though Michigan fell in the National Semifinal. Because he had played in the second half of the 1945–46 season, he was only able to play during the first semester of the 1949–50 season. McDonald won 10 of 12 games and provided Michigan a foundation upon which they built the first college hockey dynasty. McDonald graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering and at the time he was the winningest goaltender in the history of college hockey. His 50 wins would stand as a career mark for only six seasons, however, no one could take from him the honor of winning the first championship. He was inducted in the Dekers Hall of Fame in 1986.

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald Jack Year of birth unknown American men's ice hockey goaltenders Ice hockey players from Minnesota People from International Falls, Minnesota Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey players Military personnel from Minnesota United States Navy pilots of World War II NCAA men's ice hockey national champions AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans