1947–48 California Golden Bears men's ice hockey season

The 1947–48 California Golden Bears men's ice hockey season was the 18th season of play for the program but first under the oversight of the NCAA. The Bears represented the University of California, Berkeley and were coached by Julius Schroder.

1947–48 California Golden Bears
men's ice hockey season
ConferenceIndependent
Record
Overall5–12–0
Home2–3–0
Road2–8–0
Neutral1–1–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachJulius Schroder
Captain(s)Pat Finnegan
California Golden Bears men's ice hockey seasons
« 1946–47 1948–49 »

Season

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After a rather poor season, Cal got under way early with a game before Thanksgiving. While they lost the match, it did reveal the two best players on the team, Pat Finnegan and Ian Watson.[1] Cal played sparingly over the succeeding month but were able to get in enough practice time to improve their play and earn their first victory in the rematch with the Olympic Club. A couple of weeks afterwards, the Bears stunned British Columbia to the tune of 6–2 with Finnegan's hat-trick leading the way.[2]

With renewed optimism, the team welcomed a pair of midwestern colleges to the Pacific for a three-game slate over the winter break. Cal kept close in all of the games but lost each match despite their best efforts.[3] Though the losses stung, the team could hang their hat on drawing 5,500 spectators to the game in Los Angeles. That plus the potential of UCLA returning to the ice gave hope that the Golden Bears program would be able to continue. While the future appeared rosy, the present was a bit murky. Cal's losing streak was extended with another loss to the Olympic Club. Just before the exam break, Cal lost another pair of games to the Olympics, dropping their record to 2–7.

During the break, the team went on a 6,000 mile journey to play several other college teams. Their first stop was in Colorado where they took on one of the strongest outfits that season, the Colorado College Tigers. Once more, Cal was able to keep the score close in the two-game series but ended up dropping both contests. A few days later the team was in New England and were finally able to end their losing streak with a win over Yale. Unfortunately, Ian Watson was injured in the game when a puck struck him in the face. He finished the match but was out for the following night's tilt against Dartmouth. His absence couldn't have come at a worse time as the Indians were the best team in the nation and throttled the Golden Bears 4–13 while the green's backup netminder manned the goal crease for Cal.

Watson was healthy enough to return for the game at Brown and Cal proved to be the superior species of Bruin as the Golden Bears swamped the Brunos 10–4. Cal then travelled to face Michigan on their return trip but they were woefully outmatched by the superb Wolverine squad. The Maize and Blue trounced Cal 2–11 in the first meeting while Watson's stellar play allowed the team to at least save face in the rematch.[4] While the trip didn't turn out as they might have hoped, the five losses they suffered were all against teams that would make the NCAA tournament. Cal ended its season with a final game against the Olympic Club and produced their best effort to date. Their performance in the 15–6 win was perhaps too little too late but Cal had performed well in many of their games despite possessing far fewer players than their collegiate opponents.

Roster

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No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team
Roy Brandreth F
George L. Butler Senior
Cy Cardiff F/D
Larry Collison F
John Daley F
Hugh Duberley D
Ed Felkel
  Pat Finnegan F 1927-12-18 Eveleth, Minnesota
Scotty Lanbecht D
Jim McIntire D
Bruce Watson F
  Ian Watson G Calgary, Alberta
Marvin Westover F

Standings

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Intercollegiate Overall
GP W L T Pct. GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Army 16 11 4 1 .719 78 39 16 11 4 1 78 39
Bemidji State 5 0 5 0 .000 13 36 10 2 8 0 37 63
Boston College 19 14 5 0 .737 126 60 19 14 5 0 126 60
Boston University 24 20 4 0 .833 179 86 24 20 4 0 179 86
Bowdoin 9 4 5 0 .444 45 68 11 6 5 0 56 73
Brown 14 5 9 0 .357 61 91 14 5 9 0 61 91
California 10 2 8 0 .200 45 62 17 5 12 0 87 89
Clarkson 12 5 6 1 .458 67 39 17 10 6 1 96 54
Colby 8 2 6 0 .250 28 41 8 2 6 0 28 41
Colgate 10 7 3 0 .700 54 34 13 10 3 0 83 45
Colorado College 14 9 5 0 .643 84 73 27 19 8 0 207 120
Cornell 4 0 4 0 .000 3 43 4 0 4 0 3 43
Dartmouth 23 21 2 0 .913 156 76 24 21 3 0 156 81
Fort Devens State 13 3 10 0 .231 33 74
Georgetown 3 2 1 0 .667 12 11 7 5 2 0 37 21
Hamilton 14 7 7 0
Harvard 22 9 13 0 .409 131 131 23 9 14 0 135 140
Lehigh 8 0 8 0 .000 8 95 10 0 10 0 12 108
Massachusetts 2 0 2 0 .000 1 23 3 0 3 0 3 30
Michigan 18 16 2 0 .889 105 53 23 20 2 1 141 63
Michigan Tech 19 7 12 0 .368 87 96 20 8 12 0 91 97
Middlebury 14 8 5 1 .607 111 68 16 10 5 1 127 74
Minnesota 16 9 7 0 .563 78 73 21 9 12 0 100 105
Minnesota–Duluth 6 3 3 0 .500 21 24 9 6 3 0 36 28
MIT 19 8 11 0 .421 93 114 19 8 11 0 93 114
New Hampshire 13 4 9 0 .308 58 67 13 4 9 0 58 67
North Dakota 10 6 4 0 .600 51 46 16 11 5 0 103 68
North Dakota Agricultural 5 3 2 0 .600 27 28 6 4 2 0 37 29
Northeastern 19 10 9 0 .526 135 119 19 10 9 0 135 119
Norwich 9 3 6 0 .333 38 58 13 6 7 0 56 70
Princeton 18 8 10 0 .444 65 72 21 10 11 0 79 79
St. Cloud State 12 10 2 0 .833 55 35 16 12 4 0 73 55
St. Lawrence 9 6 3 0 .667 65 27 13 8 4 1 95 50
Suffolk
Tufts 4 3 1 0 .750 17 15 4 3 1 0 17 15
Union 9 1 8 0 .111 7 86 9 1 8 0 7 86
Williams 11 3 6 2 .364 37 47 13 4 7 2
Yale 16 5 10 1 .344 60 69 20 8 11 1 89 85

Schedule and results

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Date Opponent Site Result Record
Regular Season
November 18 Oakland Ice Oaks* Berkeley Icelands • Berkeley, California (Exhibition) L 3–14 
November 19 at Olympic Club* Winterland ArenaSan Francisco, California L 2–3  0–1–0
December 3 Olympic Club* Berkeley Icelands • Berkeley, California W 9–8  1–1–0
December 16 British Columbia* Berkeley Icelands • Berkeley, California W 6–2  2–1–0
December 23 Minnesota* Berkeley Icelands • Berkeley, California L 4–5 OT 2–2–0
December 27 vs. Minnesota* Pan Pacific Rink • Los Angeles, California L 3–4  2–3–0
December 30 Michigan Tech* Berkeley Icelands • Berkeley, California L 5–6  2–4–0
January 7 at Olympic Club* Winterland ArenaSan Francisco, California L 3–5  2–5–0
January 21 at Olympic Club* Winterland ArenaSan Francisco, California L 3–6  2–6–0
January 22 Olympic Club* Berkeley Icelands • Berkeley, California L 4–6  2–7–0
February 6 at Colorado College* Broadmoor Ice PalaceColorado Springs, Colorado L 5–6  2–8–0
February 7 at Colorado College* Broadmoor Ice PalaceColorado Springs, Colorado L 4–7  2–9–0
February 11 at Yale* New Haven ArenaNew Haven, Connecticut W 6–2  3–9–0
February 12 at Dartmouth* Davis RinkHanover, New Hampshire L 4–13  3–10–0
February 14 at Brown* Rhode Island AuditoriumProvidence, Rhode Island W 10–4  4–10–0
February 16 at Michigan* Weinberg ColiseumAnn Arbor, Michigan L 2–11  4–11–0
February 17 at Michigan* Weinberg ColiseumAnn Arbor, Michigan L 2–4  4–12–0
February 21 vs. Olympic Club* Fresno Ice Rink • Fresno, California W 15–6  5–12–0
*Non-conference game.

[5]

Awards and honors

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Player Award Ref
Ian Watson AHCA First Team All-American [6]
Pat Finnegan

References

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  1. ^ "Olympic Skaters Outlast Bears 3-2". The Daily Californian. November 20, 1947. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  2. ^ "Golden Bear Sextet Upsets Visiting Thunderbirds, 6 to 2". The Daily Californian. December 17, 1947. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  3. ^ "Bear Slants". The Daily Californian. January 8, 1948. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  4. ^ "Michigan Downs Bear Skaters; Season Finale on Saturday". The Daily Californian. February 18, 1948. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  5. ^ "Daily Cal". Berkeley Library. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  6. ^ "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 18, 2013.