1953 NCAA men's ice hockey tournament

The 1953 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 1952–53 NCAA men's ice hockey season, the sixth such tournament in NCAA history. It was held from March 12 to 14, 1953, and concluded with Michigan defeating Minnesota 7-3. All games were played at the Broadmoor Ice Palace in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Michigan's win capped off its third consecutive National Championship. As of 2018 no team has been able to match that achievement. Additionally, their 14 goals in the semifinal game against Boston University were the most ever for an NCAA tournament game, matched only by Minnesota in 1954. The Wolverines' goal differential (+16) is also a record for an NCAA tournament, equaling the record set by Colorado College in 1950 and matched by Wisconsin in 1983.

For the first time since the tournament began the 'Most Outstanding Player' was awarded to someone from the championship team.

Qualifying teams

Four teams qualified for the tournament, two each from the eastern and western regions. The two best MCHL teams and a Tri-State League representative received bids into the tournament as did one independent school.

East							West
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Appearance	Last bid	Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Appearance	Last bid
1	Rensselaer	Tri-State League	14–3–1	At-Large	1st	Never	1	Michigan	MCHL	15–7–0	At-Large	6th	1952
2	Boston University	Independent	14–5–1	At-Large	3rd	1951	2	Minnesota	MCHL	22–5–0	At-Large	1st	Never

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Format

The eastern team judged as better was seeded as the top eastern team while the MCHL champion was given the top western seed. The second eastern seed was slotted to play the top western seed and vice versa. All games were played at the Broadmoor Ice Palace. All matches were Single-game eliminations with the semifinal winners advancing to the national championship game and the losers playing in a consolation game.

Bracket

	Semifinals March 12–13					National championship March 14
	E1	Rensselaer	2
	W2	Minnesota	3
						W2	Minnesota	3
						W1	Michigan	7
	W1	Michigan	14
	E2	Boston University	2			Third-place game
						E1	Rensselaer	6
						E2	Boston University	3

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Results

Semifinals

Minnesota vs. Rensselaer

March 12	Minnesota		3 – 2		Rensselaer	Broadmoor Ice Palace	Recap
(Yackel, Tschida) Bob Johnson - PP - 08:48		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			02:12 - Frank Chiarelli (unassisted)
(Johnson, Yackel) Dick Meredith - PP - 04:35 (Mayasich, Campbell) Dick Dougherty - GW - 16:02		Third period			17:34 - Frank Chiarelli (unassisted)
Jim Mattson		Goalie stats			Bob Fox

Michigan vs. Boston University

March 13	Michigan		14 – 2		Boston University	Broadmoor Ice Palace	Recap
(Philpott) George Chin - 03:12 (Shave) Ron Martinson - 04:19 (unassisted) John Matchefts - GW - 04:42 (Martinson) Telly Mascarin - 07:51 (Chin, Cooney) Doug Mullen - 13:43		First period			No scoring
(unassisted) Burt Dunn - 04:03 (MacLellan) Burt Dunn - 04:16 (MacLellan, Philpott) George Chin - 11:00		Second period			No scoring
(Matchefts) Doug Philpott - 02:32 (Cooney, Chin) Doug Mullen - 15:13 (Chin, Mullen) Pat Cooney - 15:44 (unassisted) Ron Martinson - 17:03 (Mullen) Alex MacLellan - 19:36 (unassisted) Ron Martinson - 19:57		Third period			09:01 - Richard Rodenhiser (Denning) 14:57 - Mario Zanetti (Whalen)
Willard Ikola (21 saves / 22 saves) / Bill Lucier (3 saves / 4 shots)		Goalie stats

Consolation Game

Boston University vs. Rensselaer

March 14	Boston University		3 – 6		Rensselaer	Broadmoor Ice Palace
No Scoring		First period			09:57 - Gordie Peterkin (Paradise) 15:43 - Abbie Moore (unassisted)
(Zanetti, Tutuny) Paul Whalen - 04:45		Second period			10:04 - Ambrose Mosco (Moore) 16:34 - Abbie Moore (unassisted)
(Zanetti) Paul Whalen - 03:21 (Zanetti) Paul Cleary - 17:13		Third period			10:49 - Abbie Moore (unassisted) 14:29 - Abbie Moore (unassisted)

National Championship

Minnesota vs. Michigan

March 14

Minnesota

3 – 7

Michigan

Broadmoor Ice Palace

Scoring summary
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	UM	Jim Haas	MacLellan	05:48	1–0 UM
	MIN	Dick Meredith	Yackel	8:39	1–1
	MIN	Dick Dougherty	Campbell	11:34	2–1 MIN
2nd	UM	Doug Philpott	Shave	26:15	2–2
	UM	Doug Mullen	Chin and Cooney	31:08	3–2 UM
3rd	UM	John Matchefts – GW PP	unassisted	43:38	4–2 UM
	UM	Jim Haas	unassisted	47:17	5–2 UM
	UM	Doug Philpott – PP	Haas	49:14	6–2 UM
	MIN	Ken Yackel	Johnson and Dougherty	50:42	6–3 UM
	UM	John Matchefts – EN	Philpott	59:49	7–3 UM

All-Tournament team

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References