1972–73 Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey season

The 1972–73 Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey team represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in college ice hockey. In its seventh year under head coach Bob Johnson, the team compiled a 29–9–2 record (18–9–1 against Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) opponents) and outscored all opponents 217 to 139.[1] The Badgers received one of the WCHA's automatic bids to the 1973 NCAA University Division Men's Ice Hockey Tournament by winning the 1973 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. They defeated the Cornell Big Red in the Frozen Four semifinals and then beat WCHA-rival Denver Pioneers 4–2 to win their first national championship in Boston, Massachusetts.

1972–73 Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey season
National Champion
Big Ten, Champion
WCHA Tournament, co-Champion
NCAA Tournament, Champion
Conference1st (tied) Big Ten
3rd (tied) WCHA
Home iceDane County Coliseum
Record
Overall29–9–2 (18–9–1 / 8–3–1)
Home17–1
Road5–8–1
Neutral7–0–1
Coaches and Captains
Head CoachBob Johnson
Assistant CoachesBill Rothwell
Captain(s)Tim Dool
Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey seasons
« 1971–72 1973–74 »

Forward Dean Talafous was chosen as the Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Tournament. He had the winning goal in both of Wisconsin's victories as well as a tying score in the waning moments of the Badgers' semifinal match.[2]

Season

Coming off of a then-season-best 27 wins, and second NCAA tournament appearance in three years,[3] Wisconsin was looking to take the final step towards winning a National Championship. After losing to a dismal Colorado College team in their first game, Bob Johnson's Badgers went on an eleven-game tear and announced themselves as early-season contenders. In hindsight their 11-1 record was a bit misleading due to having faced CC and Michigan (the two worst WCHA teams) four times each as well as a series against 15th-place Colgate, going 9-1 in those games. Once Wisconsin began to face difficult opponents their record came back to earth. While their overall mark dipped as the season wore on, Wisconsin's home record remained in the stratosphere, not dropping a single match at the Dane County Coliseum until March and finishing with an astounding 17-1 record at home.

Key to the Badgers' success was a very evenly distributed offense. While none of Wisconsin's players finished anywhere near the top of the NCAA leaderboard, the team produced five 20-goal scorers and a further five 10-goal scorers, a feat some NHL teams struggle to achieve in twice as many games. The balanced Badger attack kept Wisconsin alive as they slowly dipped in the standings especially with their trouble on the road. After Minnesota ended Wisconsin's winning streak the Badgers won the St. Louis Invitational Tournament over the Christmas break but split the next two true away series. Starting with a loss to Michigan State on January 13th the Badgers dropped the final five road games and were in jeopardy of slipping to 4th in the conference when the Golden Gophers beat them at home in the penultimate game of the regular season. A win in the last match, however, kept them tied with Michigan State in the standings and with the tie-breakers in Wisconsin's favor the Badgers were able to avoid a potential matchup with league-leading Denver in the WCHA tournament.

Wisconsin began the conference tournament facing Minnesota and got a measure of revenge for earlier struggles with a pair of two-goal victories. The second round saw the Badgers pitted against Notre Dame and, because of a weekend sweep by the Fighting Irish at the end of February, Wisconsin was forced to face their foe in the opponent's building. Despite the game technically being a neutral-site meeting the hostile crowd let everyone know was favored. The two teams battled to a 4-4 tie in the first game, leaving the second match as a winner-take-all affair. Miraculously Wisconsin proved the victor with a 4-3 score and won their way into the NCAA tournament for the third time.

For their first match Wisconsin was set against the powerhouse ECAC Hockey champion Cornell Big Red. The boys from Ithaca possessed one of the strongest defenses in the nation, surrendering only 83 goals in 27 games en route to posting a 23-3-1 record. The favored Big Red didn't disappoint, scoring the opening goal 40 seconds into the game. After a second marker in the first frame and another 30 seconds into the middle period the Badgers were behind the eight-ball. Cornell score yet again four minutes later and before the game was even half over the Badger's already appeared to have been defeated. The decentralized Badger attack finally made itself known in the second half of period two with a pair of markers to cut Cornell's lead in half. With the Wisconsin faithful chanting 'SIEVE' at Dave Elenbaas Cornell didn't seem to mind and scored their third goal in the first minute of a period to take a 5-2 lead. Somehow, despite being outplayed, Wisconsin pulled to within one with goals at 12- and 3-minutes to play. With time winding down the Badgers furiously fired the puck and with five seconds left on the clock Dean Talafous notched the tying goal and sent the building into a frenzy. The overtime session saw several opportunities by both squads but as fatigue began to set in mistakes were made and just before the first extra frame ended a trio of Badgers rushed towards the goal. Elenbaas tried to meet them head-on but the puck found its way onto the stick of Talafous who shot it into the net and allowed Wisconsin to capture an improbable 6-5 overtime win.[4]

In Wisconsin's first championship game they faced the other top team in the NCAA, Denver. The Pioneers possessed an even stingier defense, led by WCHA Most Valuable Player and All-American Ron Grahame. While Denver had a good offense and four First Team All-WCHA players, the Badgers' unheralded bunch had combined to score more than Denver had and managed to earn two Second Team positions. The Badgers got out to an early lead just over three minutes into the game but the Pioneers responded with one of their own less than a minute later. While the play favored Wisconsin the score didn't and Denver was able to take a lead with a power play marker 54 seconds into the second period. just over three minutes later Bob Young took Denver's only penalty of the game and it proved a costly one as Wisconsin was able to tie the score on the ensuing man-advantage. Just over four minutes after that Dean Talafous scored his third goal of the tournament to put the Badgers into the lead for the second time. The score remained that way until the third minute of the final period when Jim Johnston gave Wisconsin a two-goal lead. Denver was unable to match the Badger's fervor and Jim Makey's stellar goaltending allowed Wisconsin to skate off with their first National Title.

Wisconsin's win brought the crown back to the WCHA for the first time in four seasons and started a five-year run of western dominance where no eastern team could even make the title match. Dean Talafous scored both game-winning goals for the Badgers as well as notching the tying marker in the semifinal so it came with no surprise that he was named as the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.[5] Along with Talafous, Jim Makey, John Taft and Stan Hinkley were named to the All-Tournament Team[6] After the tournament had ended the NCAA wanted to enforce a new policy that would make students who had played for Canadian junior team ineligible as they received a nominal stipend for room and board which the NCAA considered a payment making those players professionals. To ease the transition the NCAA told the universities that they wanted their programs to declare their own players ineligible and afterwards the NCAA would restore status to the players, effectively 'grandfathering' in the prohibition on major junior players. While most teams, including Wisconsin, acquiesced to the NCAA, Denver refused to follow suit and had their players not only ruled ineligible but their participation in the 1973 tournament vacated.[7]

Standings
Conference Overall
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Denver†*2820805214185392991208116
Notre Dame281990481501193823141199174
Wisconsin*28189147134101402992217139
Michigan State261691471321143623121194149
Michigan Tech2616100441351063824131198139
Minnesota281213335941023415163124129
North Dakota3013152321241313617172154157
Minnesota-Duluth2813150301231313619170166161
Colorado College285230141031713410240150198
Michigan30425111116183346271136206
Championship: Wisconsin, Denver
† indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion
Conference Overall
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Wisconsin†12831176040402992217139
Michigan State†128311760443623121194149
Minnesota125431350473415163124129
Michigan12111024075346271136206
† indicates conference regular season champion

Schedule

During the season, Wisconsin compiled a 29–10–2 record, the best year the program had produced to that point.[3] Its schedule was as follows.[8]

DateOpponentScoreResultVenueLocationRecord (WCHA / Big Ten)
Nov. 3, 1972Colorado College †6–10LossBroadmoor World ArenaColorado Springs, CO0–1 (0–1 / 0–0)
Nov. 4, 1972Colorado College †5–0WinBroadmoor World ArenaColorado Springs, CO1–1 (1–1 / 0–0)
Nov. 10, 1972Colgate13–3WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI2–1 (1–1 / 0–0)
Nov. 11, 1972Colgate13–1WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI3–1 (1–1 / 0–0)
Nov. 17, 1972Colorado College †6–3WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI4–1 (2–1 / 0–0)
Nov. 18, 1972Colorado College †5–3WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI5–1 (3–1 / 0–0)
Nov. 24, 1972Michigan ‡5–3WinYost Ice ArenaAnn Arbor, MI6–1 (4–1 / 1–0)
Nov. 25, 1972Michigan ‡7–2WinYost Ice ArenaAnn Arbor, MI7–1 (5–1 / 2–0)
Dec. 1, 1972Notre Dame †5–4*WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI8–1 (6–1 / 2–0)
Dec. 2, 1972Notre Dame †5–3WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI9–1 (7–1 / 2–0)
Dec. 8, 1972Michigan ‡6–3WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI10–1 (8–1 / 3–0)
Dec. 9, 1972Michigan ‡10–4WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI11–1 (9–1 / 4–0)
Dec. 22, 1972Minnesota4–4*TieWilliams ArenaMinneapolis, MN11–1–1 (9–1–1 / 4–0–1)
Dec. 23, 1972Minnesota2–4LossWilliams ArenaMinneapolis, MN11–2–1 (9–2–1 / 4–1–1)
Dec. 28, 1972Colorado College %6–2WinSt. Louis ArenaSt. Louis, MO12–2–1 (9–2–1 / 4–1–1)
Dec. 31, 1972Minnesota %5–1WinSt. Louis ArenaSt. Louis, MO13–2–1 (9–2–1 / 4–1–1)
Jan. 5, 1973Denver †3–2WinDenver ColiseumDenver, CO14–2–1 (10–2–1 / 4–1–1)
Jan. 6, 1973Denver †1–2LossDenver ColiseumDenver, CO14–3–1 (10–3–1 / 4–1–1)
Jan. 12, 1973Michigan State ‡4–3WinMunn Ice ArenaEast Lansing, MI15–3–1 (11–3–1 / 5–1–1)
Jan. 13, 1973Michigan State ‡5–7LossMunn Ice ArenaEast Lansing, MI15–4–1 (11–4–1 / 5–2–1)
Jan. 19, 1973Clarkson5–4*WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI16–4–1 (11–4–1 / 5–2–1)
Jan. 20, 1973Clarkson8–3WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI17–4–1 (11–4–1 / 5–2–1)
Jan. 26, 1973North Dakota †8–3WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI18–4–1 (12–4–1 / 5–2–1)
Jan. 27, 1973North Dakota †4–3WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI19–4–1 (13–4–1 / 5–2–1)
Feb. 2, 1973Michigan Tech †1–7LossStudent Ice ArenaHoughton, MI19–5–1 (13–5–1 / 5–2–1)
Feb. 3, 1973Michigan Tech †3–5LossStudent Ice ArenaHoughton, MI19–6–1 (13–6–1 / 5–2–1)
Feb. 9, 1973Michigan State ‡5–2WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI20–6–1 (14–6–1 / 6–2–1)
Feb. 10, 1973Michigan State ‡6–4WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI21–6–1 (15–6–1 / 7–2–1)
Feb. 16, 1973Minnesota–Duluth †6–2WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI22–6–1 (16–6–1 / 7–2–1)
Feb. 17, 1973Minnesota–Duluth †9–2WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI23–6–1 (17–6–1 / 7–2–1)
Feb. 23, 1973Notre Dame †5–8LossJoyce CenterNotre Dame, IN23–7–1 (17–7–1 / 7–2–1)
Feb. 24, 1973Notre Dame †3–4LossJoyce CenterNotre Dame, IN23–8–1 (17–8–1 / 7–2–1)
Mar. 2, 1973Minnesota †3–4LossDane County ColiseumMadison, WI23–9–1 (17–9–1 / 7–3–1)
Mar. 3, 1973Minnesota †3–0WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI24–9–1 (18–9–1 / 8–3–1)
WCHA TOURNAMENT
Mar. 5, 1973Minnesota8–6WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI25–9–1 (18–9–1 / 8–3–1)
Mar. 6, 1973Minnesota6–4WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI26–9–1 (18–9–1 / 8–3–1)
Wisconsin Wins Series 14-10
Mar. 9, 1973Notre Dame †4–4*TieJoyce CenterNotre Dame, IN26–9–2 (18–9–1 / 8–3–1)
Mar. 10, 1973Notre Dame †4–3WinJoyce CenterNotre Dame, IN27–9–2 (18–9–1 / 8–3–1)
Wisconsin Wins Series 8-7
NCAA TOURNAMENT
March 25, 1973Cornell6–5*WinBoston GardenBoston, MA28–9–2 (18–9–1 / 8–3–1)
March 26, 1973Denver4–2WinBoston GardenBoston, MA29–9–2 (18–9–1 / 8–3–1)
217–13929–9–2 (18–9–1 / 8–3–1)

* Denotes overtime periods
† WCHA game
‡ Big Ten and WCHA game
% St. Louis Invitational Tournament

National Championship

(W1) Denver vs. (W2) Wisconsin
Scoring summary
Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score
1st WIS Dave Pay Johnston and Eaves 3:05 1–0 WIS
DEN Jim Miller McNab and Pearson 3:55 1–1
2nd DEN John Pearson – PP McNab :54 2–1 DEN
WIS Tim Dool – PP Cherrey and Bentley 4:17 2–2
WIS Dean Talafous – GW Lundeen and Deprez 8:30 3–2 WIS
3rd WIS Jim Johnston Winchester and Pay 2:34 4–2 WIS
Penalty summary
Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM
1st WIS Jim Johnston Tripping 19:32 2:00
2nd DEN Bob Young Interference 4:01 2:00
WIS Peter McNab High–Sticking 13:07 2:00
WIS Dave Pay Tripping 17:59 2:00
3rd WIS Dave Pay High–Sticking 14:18 2:00

Jim Makey, John Taft, Stan Hinkley and Dean Talafous were named to the All-Tournament Team[6]

Roster and scoring statistics
No.NameYearPositionHometownS/P/CGamesGoalsAssistsPtsPIM
12Dennis OlmsteadFreshmanCCalgary, AB4023325516
17Dean TalafousSophomoreCDuluth, MN4021325334
22Lloyd "Max" BentleyJuniorCSault Ste. Marie, ON4023295229
8Gary WinchesterJuniorCCalgary, AB4024244812
21Norm CherreySeniorRWSouris, MB3924214510
9Dave PayFreshmanLWSt. Catharines, ON3618173536
10Jim JohnstonJuniorRWPeterborough, ON4014193335
23Tim DoolJuniorLWSault Ste. Marie, ON4012193122
20Stan HinkleyJuniorLWPonoka, AB4012183048
7John TaftFreshmanDMinneapolis, MN409182728
4Bob LundeenSophomoreDMinneapolis, MN367202726
11Steve AlleyFreshmanLWAnoka, MN408152312
5Dave ArundelJuniorDMinneapolis, MN401181926
15Billy Reay, Jr.JuniorRWChicago, IL321061638
3Jack JohnsonFreshmanDBloomfield Hills, MI384111516
2Tom MachowskiSophomoreDChicago, IL401131448
19Don DeprezSophomoreLWStony Mountain, MB2844812
16Bob ShaughnessyJuniorCBlind River, ON171234
24Doug KelsoSeniorCMadison, WI81012
30Doug McFaddenSophomoreGPeterborough, ON10000
23Steve ShortFreshmanDRoseville, MN20004
1Dick PerkinsSeniorGSt. Paul Park, MN170000
30Jim MakeySeniorGDunnville, ON220000
13Tom KuklinskiJuniorLWMosinee, WI–––––
14Ernie BlackburnSeniorDBemidji, MN–––––
18Mark LomendaFreshmanRWEsterhazy, SK–––––
25Chris WrightSeniorCMilwaukee, WI–––––
1Doug SpitzigJuniorGSaskatoon, SK–––––
Total716217318535458

[11]

Goaltending Statistics
No.NameGamesMinutesWinsLossesTiesGoals AgainstSavesShut OutsSV %GAA
30Doug McFadden16010011900.9501.00
1Dick Perkins1710215847820.8923.41
30Jim Makey2213227968000.8963.59
Total402403138117720.8953.45

Players drafted into the NHL/WHA

1973 NHL Amateur Draft
= Did not play in the NHL
RoundPickPlayerNHL Team
453Dean TalafousAtlanta Flames
7101Tom MachowskiAtlanta Flames
9132Dave PayToronto Maple Leafs
9140Jack JohnsonChicago Black Hawks
9141Steve AlleyChicago Black Hawks

[12]

1973 WHA Amateur Draft
= Did not play in the WHA
RoundPickPlayerWHA Team
113Dean TalafousCincinnati Stingers
665Dave PayAlberta Oilers
785Tom MachowskiMinnesota Fighting Saints
790Steve AlleyNew England Whalers
10113Jack JohnsonCincinnati Stingers

[13]

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gollark: Yes, rotation uses dependent types in any modern programming language.
gollark: Wrong direction¡¡¡!
gollark: I could use the orbital lasers possibly. With some tweaks to the focus.
gollark: Also, it's not like *I* have a blowtorch.

See also

References
  1. "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 113-128" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved 2014-06-01.
  2. "Wisconsin Men's Hockey 2017-18 Fact Book" (PDF). Wisconsin Badgers. Retrieved 2018-08-13.
  3. "Wisconsin Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  4. "On, Wisconsin, or hullabaloo goes East". Sports Illustrated. 1973-03-26. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  5. "NCAA Division I Awards". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
  6. "NCAA Frozen Four Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-06-22. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  7. "Denver Pioneers: 55 Years of Overcoming Obstacles". USCHO.com. 2004-04-20. Retrieved 2018-08-14.
  8. "Badger Hockey 2005-06 Media Guide" (PDF). Wisconsin Badgers. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  9. "1973 Championship Boxscore" (PDF). Wisconsin Badgers. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  10. "1994-95 Wisconsin Hockey Media Guide" (PDF). Wisconsin Badgers. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  11. "1972-73 U. of Wisconsin roster and statistics". Hockey DB. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  12. "1973 NHL Amateur Draft". Hockey DB. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  13. "1973 WHA Amateur Draft". Hockey DB. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
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