Jack McDonald (ice hockey goaltender)

John A. "Black Jack" McDonald is an American retired ice hockey goaltender who backstopped Michigan to the first NCAA ice hockey championship in 1948.[1]

Jack McDonald
Born International Falls, Minnesota, USA
Position Goaltender
Played for Michigan
Playing career 1946–1950

Career

McDonald served as in the Navy air corps for fur years during World War II. After the war he resumed his studies and began attending the University of Michigan where he joined the ice hockey team for the second half of the 1945–46 season. He established himself as the starting goaltender the following year and was instrumental in the success of the Michigan program immediately after the war.

In 1947 the NCAA formed a national tournament for the upcoming ice hockey season. Michigan was expected to vie for one of the two western spots but, with McDonald between the pipes, Michigan produced an 18–2–1 record and received the top western seed. In their opening round match Michigan and Boston College battled to a 4–4 tie in regulation which forced a 20-minute overtime. The rules at the time stated that the entire overtime session had to be played. This allowed Michigan to score twice in the extra session and win the game. This was the only non-sudden-death overtime in NCAA tournament history.[2] The following game Michigan faced eastern powerhouse Dartmouth and found themselves down by two goals mid-way through the game. McDonald bore down and stopped all succeeding shots, allowing his team to climb back and go on a 6-goal run to capture the first NCAA ice hockey Tournament.

McDonald won all of Michigan's 20 games that season, becoming the first goaltender to achieve that mark in one season. He equaled that total the following year, though Michigan fell in the National Semifinal. Because he had played in the second half of the 1945–46 season he was only able to play during the first semester of the 1949–50 season but McDonald proved stout in net, winning 10 of 12 games[3] and providing Michigan a foundation upon which they built the first college hockey dynasty.

McDonald graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and at the time he was the winningest goaltender in the history of college hockey. His 50 wins would stand as a career mark for only six seasons, however, no one could take from him the honor of winning the first championship. He was inducted in the Dekers Hall of Fame in 1986.

Awards and honors
Award Year
AHCA Second Team All-American 1949–50 [4]
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References
  1. "Hall of Fame: Jack McDonald (1986)". Dekersclub.org. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  2. "All-Time Championship Tournament records and results" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
  3. "Big Ten Basketball Standings". The Michigan Alumnus. February 11, 1950. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  4. "1949-1950 All-American Team". The American Hockey Coaches Association. Retrieved 2017-06-21.
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