The 1953–54 NCAA men's ice hockey season began in November 1953 and concluded with the 1954 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament's championship game on March 13, 1954 at the Broadmoor Ice Palace in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This was the 7th season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held and is the 60th year overall where an NCAA school fielded a team.
Entering the season, in an effort to more accurately reflect the geographic location of the member school, the MCHL changed the conference name to 'Western Intercollegiate Hockey League'.
Regular season
Season tournaments Tournament Dates Teams Champion Boston Arena Christmas Tournament December 29–30 4 St. Lawrence Rensselaer Holiday Tournament December 30–January 2 4 St. Francis Xavier Beanpot January 11–12 4 Boston College
Standings
1954 NCAA Tournament
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Player stats
Scoring leaders The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the season.
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
Player Class Team GP G A Pts PIM Junior Minnesota 28 29 49 78 20 Junior Minnesota 28 42 26 68 41 Senior Rensselaer 23 36 32 68 14 Junior Rensselaer 23 35 28 63 21 Senior Dartmouth - 37 24 61 - Senior Michigan 23 22 39 61 24 Sophomore Denver 26 21 39 60 - Junior North Dakota 27 40 16 56 26 Junior St. Lawrence 22 31 24 55 12 Sophomore Michigan 23 30 23 53 41
Leading goaltenders The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average at the end of the regular season while playing at least 33% of their team's total minutes.
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Player Class Team GP Min W L OT GA SO SV% GAA Junior Rensselaer 23 1382 18 5 0 59 5 .895 2.56 Sophomore St. Lawrence 22 1265 18 3 1 56 3 .908 2.66 Junior Minnesota 26 1565 - - - 72 4 .888 2.76 Sophomore North Dakota 27 - - - - - 4 .898 3.54 Sophomore Michigan State 16 - - - - - - - 3.73 Sophomore Yale - - - - - - - - 3.73 Junior Denver - - 12 9 0 - 0 .835 4.54 Freshman Michigan Tech - - - - - - - .891 5.07 Senior Michigan Tech - - - - - - - .839 5.14
Awards
NCAA Award RecipientSpencer Penrose Award Vic Heyliger, MichiganMost Outstanding Player in NCAA Tournament Abbie Moore, RensselaerAHCA All-American Team First Team Position Second Team Spike Schultz, North Dakota G Bill Sloan, St. Lawrence Bob Kiley, Boston College D Doug Binning, Middlebury Ken Yackel, Minnesota D Jim Haas, Michigan Ben Cherski, North Dakota F Frank Chiarelli, Rensselaer Richard Dougherty, Minnesota F Wally Kilrea Jr., Yale John Mayasich, Minnesota F Abbie Moore, Rensselaer
WIHL No Awards
All-WIHL Teams First Team Position Second Team Jim Mattson, Minnesota G Spike Schultz, North Dakota Ken Yackel, Minnesota D Phil Hilton, Colorado College Jim Haas, Michigan D Bill Abbott, Denver John Mayasich, Minnesota F Doug Mullen, Michigan Richard Dougherty, Minnesota F George Chin, Michigan Ben Cherski, North Dakota F Bill MacFarland, Michigan F Jack Smith, Denver
References
External links College Hockey Historical Archives 1953–54 NCAA Standings