1957–58 Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey season

The 1957–58 Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey team represented University of Denver in college ice hockey. In its 2nd year under head coach Murray Armstrong the team compiled a 24–10–2 record and reached the NCAA tournament for the first time. The Pioneers defeated North Dakota 6–2 in the championship game at the Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the first national title not held at the Broadmoor Ice Palace. Denver became the first team to win its inaugural championship appearance since Michigan in 1948, the first time the tournament was held.

1957–58 Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey season
National Champion
WIHL Co-Champion
1958 NCAA Tournament, Champion
ConferenceT–1st WIHL
Home iceDU Arena
Record
Overall24–10–2
Conference12–10–0
Home18–2–2
Road4–8–0
Neutral2–0–0
Coaches and Captains
Head CoachMurray Armstrong
Captain(s)Ed Zemrau[1]
Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey seasons
« 1956–57 1958–59 »

Season

When Murray Armstrong Arrived in 1956, the fairly new program at Denver had been declining for several years. This trend continued in Armstrong's first season when the Pioneers posted a losing record for the first time since their inaugural campaign.[1] During that year, however, Armstrong brought in 9 recruits from Canada who played on the Freshman team before hitting the ice with the varsity squad in 1957–58. Among those players were Murray Massier, Jim Brown and future NHL-er John MacMillan. With those three forwards leading the way on offense Denver jumped out to an impressive start with 2-win weekends over Toronto, Michigan, Michigan State and Michigan Tech. Only arch-rival Colorado College was able to dent their record early-on, winning once in the first of four home-and-home series for the season. Denver suffered its first home loss on New Year's Day against Minnesota but won the rematch two days later to remain high in the conference standings with an 8–2 record.

After taking three points in a series against the US National Team Denver split its second series with CC before welcoming a pair on non-conference teams. The Pioneers defeated the Flin Flon Bombers, a junior team from Manitoba, twice by a combined score of 14–2 then utterly dominated Rensselaer 20–3 in the first game of a 2-game sweep. At the end of January Denver hit the road for a compressed road trip where they would play Minnesota and North Dakota twice each in the span of a week. That scheduling quirk turned out very badly for the Pioneers who lost all four games and dropped back to the rest of the pack with a 9–7 record, though they still held on to first place.

The Pioneers returned home to host two Canadian junior teams over a 10-day period, winning three times and tying once. During that two-week period Colorado College swept a series against North Dakota to jump up in the WIHL standings and claim a tie for the top spot with 14 points.[2] That came just in time for the start to a four-game series between the two teams that could decide the second western qualifier for the NCAA Tournament. Each team would play two home games with CC winning the opening game at home 5–1. Because the teams were scheduled to play 8 times over the course of the season each game was worth only 1/2 point in the conference standings, meaning that Denver only had a possible 1-1/2 points possible remaining between the two teams and with little room for error the Pioneers rallied to take the next two games at home, winning 7–0 and 6–3. With the pioneers up by half a point the teams returned to Colorado Springs where, for the 8th time that season, the home team won. While Denver and CC were busy battling to no decisive effect, North Dakota had swept back-to-back weekends against Michigan State and Michigan Tech to put all three team in a tie for first in the WIHL.[3]

Entering the final week of the season two of the three would be selected to play in the NCAA Tournament with 4th-place Minnesota too far behind to move up in the standings. While Denver was hosting North Dakota, Colorado College went on the road to face Minnesota. Denver took the first game against the Fighting Sioux while CC fell to the Golden Gophers 5–7. Even with a 1-point advantage it was still possible for both other teams to pass Denver in the standings so when the Pioneers were defeated by North Dakota for only their second home loss of the season they slipped to the #2 spot because UND had won 3 of the four matches between the two on the season. CC, meanwhile, had dueled Minnesota to a 1-1 tie in regulation but the tigers had to have a victory if they wanted a chance to defend their national title. However it was the Gophers who were able to earn the overtime marker and end the Tigers' season.

Denver went to Minnesota to play in their first national tournament, the first championship held outside of the state of Colorado. They were met in the first game by Tri-State League champion Clarkson who had limited opponents to 40 goals in their 18 games while averaging 4.5 goals per game. While Denver was making their national debut the 16-2 Golden Knights had finished 3rd in the previous tournament and were looking to build on an already stellar season. In the semifinal game, however, Clarkson was unable to hold back the Denver attack and surrendered 6 goals, the most they had allowed all season.[4] Denver advanced to the title game to face North Dakota for the fifth time that season after the Fighting Sioux easily dispatched Harvard 9–1.

Despite the two teams' familiarity with one another the game started a bit slowly with UND's Ed Thomlinson scoring the only goal of the first period. It took more than seven minutes into the second before Denver was able to even the score at 1–1 but once they got onto the scoresheet the floodgates opened and the Pioneers scored twice more in less than four minutes. North Dakota regained their footing and held Denver back for the remainder of the period. With a 3–1 Denver advantage entering the third period the Pioneers pulled back and tried to protect their lead but just over five minutes in the lead was halved by Joe Poole who found himself open in front of the net. Murray Massier quickly responded with his 21st goal of the season to regain the 2-goal edge and while there was still plenty of time left the Massier marker appeared to sap the life out of the Fighting Sioux. While Denver only managed 5 shots in the final frame UND was limited to the same amount. To make matters worse North Dakota netminder Robert Peabody allowed three goals on those five shots to end the UND season on a whimper.

Massier was named tournament MOP and was joined by Jim Brown, Ed Zemrau and Rodney Schneck on the All-Tournament first team while Blair Livingstone, Barry Sharp and John MacMillan earned All-Tournament second team honors.

Senior Captain Ed Zemrau was the only Pioneer named to the AHCA All-American West Team and was named to the All-WIHL First Team while Massier made the WIHL second team.

Because the WIHL would be dissolved that summer because of a dispute over recruiting practices Denver's first WIHL title was the last that would ever be awarded. This also made the '58 Denver team the last WIHL squad to win a national championship.

Standings
Conference Overall
GP W L T PCT PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
North Dakota†201550.75016876032247115982
Denver†2212100.5451674803624102171115
Colorado College201190.5501597743017121170116
Minnesota2413110.542139081271611010684
Michigan State209110.45010576823121109873
Michigan187110.389953632181306173
Michigan Tech205150.2505508028111618596
† indicates conference regular season champion
Note: All games played between league members counted in the standings. When teams played each other twice, two points were awarded for a win, one for a tie.

When teams met each other four times, one point was awarded for a win, one-half for a tie. When teams met eight times (Denver and CC), one-half point was awarded for a win, and one-fourth point for a tie.[5]

Schedule

Conference games against Minnesota and North Dakota were only worth 1 point in the standings. Conference games against Colorado College were only worth 1/2 point in the standings.

Date Opponent# Rank# Site Result Record
Exhibition
November 30 vs. DU Hilltoppers* DU Arena • Denver, Colorado W 6–2 
Regular Season
December 6 vs. Toronto* DU Arena • Denver, Colorado W 4–3  1–0–0
December 10 vs. Toronto* DU Arena • Denver, Colorado W 6–1  2–0–0
December 13 vs. Colorado College DU Arena • Denver, Colorado W 6–4  3–0–0 (1–0–0)
December 14 at Colorado College Broadmoor World Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado L 2–6  3–1–0 (1–1–0)
December 17 at Michigan Weinberg Coliseum • Ann Arbor, Michigan W 7–6  4–1–0 (2–1–0)
December 18 at Michigan Weinberg Coliseum • Ann Arbor, Michigan W 3–2 OT 5–1–0 (3–1–0)
December 20 at Michigan State Demonstration Hall • East Lansing, Michigan W 5–1  6–1–0 (4–1–0)
December 21 at Michigan State Demonstration Hall • East Lansing, Michigan W 4–2  7–1–0 (5–1–0)
December 27 vs. Michigan Tech DU Arena • Denver, Colorado W 3–0  8–1–0 (6–1–0)
December 30 vs. Michigan Tech DU Arena • Denver, Colorado W 6–2  9–1–0 (7–1–0)
January 1 vs. Minnesota DU Arena • Denver, Colorado L 1–2  9–2–0 (7–2–0)
January 3 vs. Minnesota DU Arena • Denver, Colorado W 4–2  10–2–0 (8–2–0)
January 7 vs. US National Team* DU Arena • Denver, Colorado T 4–1  10–2–1 (8–2–0)
January 10 vs. US National Team* DU Arena • Denver, Colorado W 5–3  11–2–1 (8–2–0)
January 13 at Colorado College Broadmoor World Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado L 4–10  11–3–1 (8–3–0)
January 14 vs. Colorado College DU Arena • Denver, Colorado W 3–2 OT 12–3–1 (9–3–0)
January 17 vs. Flin Flon Bombers* DU Arena • Denver, Colorado W 7–0  13–3–1 (9–3–0)
January 20 vs. Flin Flon Bombers* DU Arena • Denver, Colorado W 7–2  14–3–1 (9–3–0)
January 24 vs. Rensselaer* DU Arena • Denver, Colorado W 20–3  15–3–1 (9–3–0)
January 25 vs. Rensselaer* DU Arena • Denver, Colorado W 4–2  16–3–1 (9–3–0)
January 31 at Minnesota Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota L 4–6  16–4–1 (9–4–0)
February 1 at Minnesota Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota L 0–4  16–5–1 (9–5–0)
February 3 at North Dakota Winter Sports Building • Grand Forks, North Dakota L 0–9  16–6–1 (9–6–0)
February 4 at North Dakota Winter Sports Building • Grand Forks, North Dakota L 1–2  16–7–1 (9–7–0)
February 7 vs. Prince Albert Mintos* DU Arena • Denver, Colorado W 9–3  17–7–1 (9–7–0)
February 8 vs. Prince Albert Mintos* DU Arena • Denver, Colorado T 2–2  17–7–2 (9–7–0)
February 14 vs. Edmonton Oil Kings* DU Arena • Denver, Colorado W 6–4  18–7–2 (9–7–0)
February 18 vs. Edmonton Oil Kings* DU Arena • Denver, Colorado W 4–3  19–7–2 (9–7–0)
February 21 at Colorado College Broadmoor World Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado L 1–5  19–8–2 (9–8–0)
February 22 vs. Colorado College DU Arena • Denver, Colorado W 7–0  20–8–2 (10–8–0)
February 28 vs. Colorado College DU Arena • Denver, Colorado W 6–3  21–8–2 (11–8–0)
March 1 at Colorado College Broadmoor World Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado L 2–5  21–9–2 (11–9–0)
March 5 vs. North Dakota DU Arena • Denver, Colorado W 4–3  22–9–2 (12–9–0)
March 7 vs. North Dakota DU Arena • Denver, Colorado L 1–4  22–10–2 (12–10–0)
NCAA Tournament
March 13 vs. Clarkson* Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota (National Semifinal) W 6–2  23–10–2 (12–10–0)
March 15 vs. North Dakota* Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota (National Championship) W 6–2  24–10–2 (12–10–0)
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll.
Source:

[1]

Roster and scoring statistics
No.NameYearPositionHometownS/P/CGamesGoalsAssistsPtsPIM
1Rodney SchneckJuniorGWetaskiwin, AB37––––
2Wayne KlinckSophomoreDRegina, SK37–––66
3Ed ZemrauSeniorDEdmonton, AB–––––
4Barry SharpSeniorCPortage la Prairie, MB37––43–
5Blair LivingstoneSeniorD/FToronto, ON36–––14
7Walt DingwallJuniorLWSaskatoon, SK–12–––
8John GodfreyJuniorFVancouver, BC37––––
9Alan CookSophomoreGBrooklyn, NY–––––
10Con CollieSophomoreRWRegina, SK–101121–
11Murray MassierSophomoreCRegina, SK37213051–
13Dennis SlinnSophomoreRWRegina, SK–––––
14Murray MacDonaldSophomoreLWRegina, SK–––––
15Gordon CresswellJuniorLWToronto, ON24––––
16Bruce WalkerSophomoreRWMeadow Lake, SK–18–––
17John MacMillanSophomoreRWLethbridge, AB3719123150
18Al BarnhillSophomoreDWetaskiwin, AB–––––
19Jim BrownSophomoreCCalgary, AB35292554–
Total
  • Alan Cook was a member of the team but did not play in any game.

[6]

Goaltending Statistics
No.NameGamesMinutesWinsLossesTiesGoals AgainstSavesShut OutsSV %GAA
1Rodnek Schneck36–24102––3.8903.10
9Alan Cook––––––––––
Total36–––––––––

1958 Championship Game

W1 North Dakota vs. W2 Denver
Scoring summary
Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score
1st UND Ed Thomlinson Steenson 7:22 1–0 UND
2nd DEN Jim Brown Sharp 27:18 1–1
DEN Bruce Walker Massier and Dingwall 30:39 2–1 DEN
DEN Walt Dingwall – GW Massier and Zemrau 30:58 3–1 DEN
3rd UND Joe Poole King 45:21 3–2 DEN
DEN Murray Massier Klinck and Walker 47:18 4–2 DEN
DEN Barry Sharp Collie 53:49 5–2 DEN
DEN Dennis Slinn Massier and Godfrey 56:17 6–2 DEN
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See also
  • 1958 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
  • List of NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament champions

References
  1. "Denver Hockey 2018-19 Media Guide" (PDF). Denver Pioneers. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  2. "Colorado College 2017-18 Hockey Media Guide". Colorado College Tigers. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  3. "North Dakota Hockey 2018-19 Hockey Media Guide" (PDF). North Dakota Fighting Hawks. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  4. "Clarkson Men's Hockey 2018-19 Hockey Media Guide". Clarkson Golden Knights. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  5. "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 97-112" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved 2014-06-01.
  6. "Denver Pioneers 1957-58 roster and statistics". EliteProspects. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  7. "Denver Pioneers 2007-08 Hockey Yearbook" (PDF). Denver Pioneers. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
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