The 1947–48 NCAA men's ice hockey season began in November 1947 and concluded with the 1948 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament's championship game on March 20, 1948 at the Broadmoor Ice Palace in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This was the 1st season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held and is the 54th year overall where an NCAA school fielded a team. In 1947 there were quasi-official guidelines separating major and minor football programs across the NCAA, but no such determinations had been made for ice hockey teams. Even among the universities that played ice hockey, no such distinctions were even attempted until the mid-1960s. As such, all American universities operating a men's varsity ice hockey program are included here.
As this was the first time a national championship was held, it is considered (unofficially) the first season of NCAA Division I ice hockey since it is the first time that any college teams would have to conform to NCAA regulations regarding recruitment, scholarship, eligibility, etc. The tournament was, itself, born out of a desire to definitively decide the best collegiate team in the country. With only a handful of universities even playing ice hockey (indoor ice rinks were fairly expensive to operate) and even less playing a decent number of games each year only four teams were selected to play in the tournament.
Regular season
Season tournaments Tournament Dates Teams Champion NEIHL Tournament March 8–9 4 Boston College
Standings
1948 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 Michigan 23 32 30 62 20 Junior Colorado College – 18 37 55 – Graduate Dartmouth – 30 23 53 – Junior Michigan 23 27 26 53 8 Sophomore Boston University – 33 16 49 – Junior Michigan 23 26 21 47 14 Sophomore St. Lawrence 15 23 19 42 – Sophomore Boston College – 21 19 40 – Junior Yale – 21 19 40 – Junior Boston University – 21 16 37 –
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 Sophomore Princeton 18 - - - - - - - 1.72 Junior Michigan 23 1410 20 2 1 63 2 - 2.68 Sophomore Boston University 24 1450 20 4 0 86 2 - 3.56 Freshman St. Lawrence 14 803 - - - 52 2 - 3.88 Sophomore North Dakota - - - - - - 1 .894 4.07 Junior California 16 965 5 11 0 76 0 - 4.73 Sophomore Yale - - - - - - - - 5.07
Awards
NCAA
Award RecipientMost Outstanding Player in NCAA Tournament Joe Riley, DartmouthAHCA All-American Teams First Team Position Second Team Ian Watson, California G Bernie Burke, Boston College Ross Smith, Michigan D Connie Hill, Michigan Butch Songin, Boston College D George Pulliam, Dartmouth Pat Finnegan, California F Jim Bell, Northeastern Bill Riley, Dartmouth F Roland DePaul, Minnesota Joe Slattery, Colorado College F Wally Gacek, Michigan
References
External links College Hockey Historical Archives 1947–48 NCAA Standings