Patrick Henry Finnegan (1927-1989) was an American ice hockey

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who won a bronze medal at the 1949 World Championships.

Career

After winning the first

State Championship New Zealand has had a domestic first-class cricket championship since the 1906–07 season. Since the 2009–10 season it has been known by its original name of the Plunket Shield. History The Plunket Shield competition was instigated in Octob ...

for Eveleth High School Finnegan joined the program at

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 ...

. After only a year with the Gophers, Finnegan transferred to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and performed remarkably for the Golden Bears, earning AHCA First Team All-American honors. Finnegan would move on swiftly once more, leaving the team after 1948 to prepare for the 1949 World Championships. He played for the US National Team with legends like

Charlie Holt Charlie Holt (July 17, 1922 – March 17, 2000) was an American ice hockey coach. He was the head coach of the University of New Hampshire from 1968 thru 1986. He is one of three 3-time recipients of the college ice hockey National Coach-of-the ...

, Jack Riley, Jack Kelley and

Bruce Mather Bruce Mather (born May 9, 1939) is a Canadian composer, pianist, and writer who is particularly known for his contributions to contemporary classical music. One of the most notable composers of microtonal music, he was awarded the Jules Léger ...

. The team swept through the preliminary round with ease, scoring 12 goals in all three games. In the first game of the final round they suffered a stunning defeat at the hands of

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, whom they had defeated three days before by a score of 12–5. The team could ill afford another loss but their next opponent was

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and the US's

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

hopes were ended with a 7–2 loss. The team recovered with three consecutive wins, including over gold-medalist

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, to earn a

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 ...

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Finnegan, Pat 1927 births 1989 deaths American men's ice hockey centers California Golden Bears men's ice hockey players Ice hockey players from Minnesota Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players Rochester Mustangs players Sportspeople from Eveleth, Minnesota Ice hockey people from St. Louis County, Minnesota AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans