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1965–66 Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey season

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1965–66 Michigan State Spartans
men's ice hockey season
National champion
WCHA Tournament, co-champion
1966 NCAA Tournament, champion
Conference6th WCHA / 2nd Big Ten
Home iceDemonstration Hall
Record
Overall16–13–0
Conference9–11, 4–4
Home8–5
Road5–8
Neutral3–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachAmo Bessone
Captain(s)Mike Coppo[1]
Alternate captain(s)Don Heaphy
Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey seasons
« 1964–65 1966–67 »

The 1965–66 Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey team represented Michigan State University in college ice hockey. In its 15th year under head coach Amo Bessone the team compiled a 16–13–0 record and reached the NCAA tournament for the second time in its history. The Spartans defeated Clarkson 6–1 in the championship game at the Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As of 2018, the 1965–66 Michigan State team has the worst record of any national champion for Division I (or equivalent) ice hockey.

Season

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Coming off of their first winning season in 3 years, Michigan State began the 1965–66 season on a sour note, losing both games at Colorado College and then continued their losing streak with the first two games of a three-game series against ECAC Hockey opponents. The Spartans finally earned a win against St. Lawrence to finish their road trip 1–4. State opened their home schedule against North Dakota with a split which continued with the succeeding two series against Denver and CC. MSU met their first Big Ten opponent when Minnesota arrived in mid-January but after the Golden Gophers handed Amo Bessone's team two losses the Spartans were wallowing near the bottom of their conference with a 3–7 record.

The only bright spot for MSU was that the WCHA had accepted Minnesota–Duluth into the conference and, as a result, changed the playoff format so all 8 teams would be included regardless of their records. MSU got back in the win column the following weekend against the Bulldogs, taking both games before travelling to Minneapolis to earn a split with the Gophers. MSU continued to slowly climb out of the cellar with two wins in their first home-and-home series with arch-rival Michigan and then extended their winning streak with two more wins against Wisconsin, bringing their all-time record against the Badgers to 6–0.[1]

With a home playoff game in sight Michigan State was stopped dead in their tracks by defending national champion Michigan Tech who took two contests from the Spartans. MSU ended their regular season against Michigan with another home-and-home series but could only manage a split, finishing the season in 6th-place in the WCHA standings. Part of the rearrangement of the playoff system for the WCHA came with dividing the eight teams into two regions (east and west) with MSU being joined by Minnesota–Duluth, Michigan and Michigan Tech. Because Michigan had finished ahead of the Spartans (due to winning the final regular season game 1–0 in overtime), Michigan State had to open the conference tournament on the road. Despite the hostile crowd MSU was able to win the game against the 5th-place Wolverines and, because of an odd arrangement for the second round, headed back home for a match against top-seeded Michigan Tech. With the Spartan faithful cheering them on, Michigan State upset the Huskies 4–3, winning their first WCHA Tournament (shared with Denver) and advanced to their second NCAA Tournament.

Despite having a worse record than Denver, Michigan State was slated to play lower-seeded Boston University in the opening round, a team who was only in the tournament because ECAC runner-up Cornell declined the invitation.[2] Michigan State's showed up in full force against the Terriers, holding BU to a single goal and winning a nail-biter 2–1 to advance to the title game. They met Clarkson for the championship, but unusually for an east-vs.-west matchup the two teams were familiar with one another with Clarkson having won a game early in the season. However, past was not prologue in this case and team captain Mike Coppo opened the scoring in the fifteenth minute of the opening frame. Clarkson tied the score just over three minutes later but that was the only goal they could get past Gaye Cooley and MSU began a string of five uninterrupted goals late in the second to win their first National championship.

Brian McAndrew, Mike Coppo, Don Heaphy and Gaye Cooley were all named to the All-Tournament first team while Bob Brawley and Tom Mikkola made the second team. Cooley was named Tournament Most Outstanding Player and, because of his job shepherding the Spartans through early-season injury and ice trouble, Amo Bessone shared the Spencer Penrose Award for national coach of the year with Clakrson's Len Ceglarski, the only time in history the award was split (as of 2018). The team's leading scorer, Doug Volmar was the only Spartan to be named to the AHCA All-American West Team or the All-WCHA First Team while none made it onto the WCHA Second Team.[3]

Standings

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1965–66 Big Ten standings
Conference Overall
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Minnesota† 8 5 3 0 10 34 29 27 16 11 0 117 94
Michigan State 8 4 4 0 8 34 32 29 16 13 0 123 111
Michigan 8 3 5 0 6 25 32 28 14 14 0 125 109
† indicates conference regular season champion
1965–66 Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings
Conference Overall
GP W L T PCT GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Michigan Tech† 20 15 4 1 .775 77 48 30 23 6 1 141 82
North Dakota 22 13 9 0 .591 97 85 30 17 12 1 135 115
Minnesota 22 13 9 0 .591 92 76 27 16 11 0 117 94
Denver* 20 10 7 3 .575 81 61 32 18 11 3 137 100
Michigan 18 9 9 0 .500 74 72 28 14 14 0 125 109
Michigan State* 20 9 11 0 .450 88 85 29 16 13 0 123 111
Colorado College 18 4 12 2 .278 51 93 29 9 18 2 98 147
Minnesota-Duluth 20 3 15 2 .200 60 100 28 7 19 2 96 137
Championship: Michigan State, Denver
† indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion

Schedule

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Date Opponent# Rank# Site Result Record
Regular Season
November 19 at Colorado College Broadmoor World Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado L 0–4  0–1 (0–1)
November 20 at Colorado College Broadmoor World Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado L 3–4 OT 0–2 (0–2)
November 25 at St. Lawrence* Appleton Arena • Canton, New York L 3–5  0–3 (0–2)
November 26 at Clarkson* Walker Arena • Potsdam, New York L 3–6  0–4 (0–2)
November 27 at St. Lawrence* Appleton Arena • Canton, New York W 6–4  1–4 (0–2)
December 3 vs. North Dakota Demonstration Hall • East Lansing, Michigan W 11–5  2–4 (1–2)
December 4 vs. North Dakota Demonstration Hall • East Lansing, Michigan L 3–5  2–5 (1–3)
December 10 vs. Denver Demonstration Hall • East Lansing, Michigan L 6–8  2–6 (1–4)
December 11 vs. Denver Demonstration Hall • East Lansing, Michigan W 4–1  3–6 (2–4)
January 7 vs. Colorado College Demonstration Hall • East Lansing, Michigan L 4–5 OT 3–7 (2–5)
January 8 vs. Colorado College Demonstration Hall • East Lansing, Michigan W 6–2  4–7 (3–5)
January 14 vs. Minnesota Demonstration Hall • East Lansing, Michigan L 5–7  4–8 (3–6, 0–1)
January 15 vs. Minnesota Demonstration Hall • East Lansing, Michigan L 1–5  4–9 (3–7, 0–2)
January 21 vs. Minnesota–Duluth Demonstration Hall • East Lansing, Michigan W 6–5 OT 5–9 (4–7, 0–2)
January 22 vs. Minnesota–Duluth Demonstration Hall • East Lansing, Michigan W 5–2  6–9 (5–7, 0–2)
January 28 vs. Minnesota Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota L 5–6 OT 6–10 (5–8, 0–3)
January 29 vs. Minnesota Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota W 4–3  7–10 (6–8, 1–3)
February 4 vs. Michigan Demonstration Hall • East Lansing, Michigan W 8–7  8–10 (7–8, 2–3)
February 5 at Michigan Weinberg Coliseum • Ann Arbor, Michigan W 4–2  9–10 (8–8, 3–3)
February 11 vs. Wisconsin* Milwaukee Arena • Milwaukee, Wisconsin W 3–1  10–10 (8–8, 3–3)
February 12 at Wisconsin* Hartmeyer Ice Arena • Madison, Wisconsin W 5–3  11–10 (8–8, 3–3)
February 18 at Michigan Tech Dee Stadium • Houghton, Michigan L 4–8  11–11 (8–9, 3–3)
February 19 at Michigan Tech Dee Stadium • Houghton, Michigan L 2–4  11–12 (8–10, 3–3)
February 25 vs. Michigan Demonstration Hall • East Lansing, Michigan W 7–1  12–12 (9–10, 4–3)
February 26 at Michigan Weinberg Coliseum • Ann Arbor, Michigan L 0–1 OT 12–13 (9–11, 4–4)
WCHA Tournament
March 3 at Michigan* Weinberg Coliseum • Ann Arbor, Michigan (WCHA First Round) W 3–2  13–13 (9–11, 4–4)
March 5 vs. Michigan Tech* Demonstration Hall • East Lansing, Michigan (WCHA Second Round) W 6–4  14–13 (9–11, 4–4)
NCAA Tournament
March 18 vs. Boston University* Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota (National Semifinal) W 2–1  15–13 (9–11, 4–4)
March 19 vs. Clarkson* Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota (National championship) W 6–1  16–13 (9–11, 4–4)
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll.
Source:

[1]

Roster and scoring statistics

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No. Name Year Position Hometown S/P/C Games Goals Assists Pts PIM
9 Doug Volmar Junior F Cleveland Heights, OH Ohio 29 26 28 54 57
7 Mike Coppo Senior F Hancock, MI Michigan 29 21 21 42 32
12 Brian McAndrew Junior F Copper Cliff, ON Ontario 29 14 23 37 20
20 Tom Mikkola Junior F Copper Cliff, ON Ontario 29 10 23 33 18
8 Bill Faunt Junior F Sault Ste. Marie, ON Ontario 29 8 23 31 6
10 Mike Jacobson Junior F Copper Cliff, ON Ontario 24 13 9 22 22
16 Bob Fallat Sophomore F Espanola, ON Ontario 29 11 5 16 36
4 Don Heaphy Senior D Copper Cliff, ON Ontario 29 3 10 13 44
15 Wayne Duffett Sophomore F Kirkland Lake, ON Ontario 29 5 7 12 14
14 Nino Cristofoli Sophomore F Trail, BC British Columbia 29 5 7 12 12
5 Tom Purdo Junior D Detroit, MI Michigan 28 1 7 8 57
3 Dick Bois Sophomore D Espanola, ON Ontario 27 2 3 5 50
11 Matt Mulcahy Senior F Dearborn, MI Michigan 29 2 3 5 4
2 Bob Brawley Junior D Sault Ste. Marie, ON Ontario 22 1 4 5 46
6 Doug French Sophomore D Espanola, ON Ontario 22 1 4 5 20
21 John Schuster Junior F Wyandotte, MI Michigan 23 0 1 1 0
18 Ron Roth Junior D Saint Paul, MN Minnesota 7 0 1 1 4
22 Larry Roche Sophomore G Houghton, MI Michigan 2 0 0 0 0
1 Jerry Fisher Junior G Detroit, MI Michigan 12 0 0 0 2
23 Gaye Cooley Sophomore G North Bay, ON Ontario 18 0 0 0 0
19 Dainis Vedejs Senior D Grand Rapids, MI Michigan 0 - - - -
Total 123 179 302 454

[1]

Goaltending statistics

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No. Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
22 Larry Roche 2 – – – – – – 0 .889 2.5
23 Gaye Cooley 18 – – – – – – 0 .903 3.1
1 Jerry Fisher 12 – – – – – – 0 .868 4.0
Total 29 – 16 13 0 111 – 0 – –

1966 championship game

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(E2) Clarkson vs. (W2) Michigan State

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March 19[4] Clarkson 1 – 6 Michigan State Williams Arena


Scoring summary
Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score
1st MSU Mike Coppo Heaphy 14:31 1–0 MSU
CLK Andrew Hamilton McLennan and Hurley 17:54 1–1
2nd MSU Bob Brawley – GW McAndrew and Heaphy 34:31 2–1 MSU
3rd MSU Mike Coppo Faunt 40:17 3–1 MSU
MSU Bob Fallat McAndrew 43:38 4–1 MSU
MSU Doug Volmar Faunt 52:12 5–1 MSU
MSU Bill Faunt unassisted 59:32 6–1 MSU

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Michigan State Spartans 2018-19 Hockey Media Guide" (PDF). Michigan State Spartans. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  2. ^ "Cornell Men's Hockey Media Guide Pages 59-88 (History and Records)" (PDF). Cornell Big Red. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  3. ^ "WCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  4. ^ "Michigan State 2013-14 Hockey History" (PDF). Michigan State Spartans. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 22, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
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