1947–48 MIT Engineers men's ice hockey season

The 1947–48 MIT Engineers men's ice hockey season was the 45th season of play for the program but first under the oversight of the NCAA. The Engineers represent the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and were coached by Al Carvelli in his 2nd season.

1947–48 MIT Engineers
men's ice hockey season
Conference5th NEIHL
Home iceBoston Arena
Record
Overall8–11–0
Conference5–9–0
Home3–4–0
Road3–0–0
Neutral2–7–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachAl Carvelli
Captain(s)Jack Clifford
MIT Engineers men's ice hockey seasons
« 1946–47 1948–49 »

Season

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MIT entered the season by putting together the most expansive slate of games in program history. The Engineers were scheduled to play 19 matches, 14 of which coming against NEIHL opponents.[1] With most of the games being played at the Boston Arena, MIT could at least be assured that weather would not impact their season too severely.

The Beavers played their first match in early December but had to do so without two of their star players as both Ed Thompson and Don Lea were both injured.[2] Without the standout forwards, MIT had to rely on its defense and team captain Jack Clifford led the way to a pair of victories after opening the year with a loss.

The following week, MIT was putting forth a tremendous performance against Northeastern despite missing three forwards. Don Lea was back in action and had paced the Engineers to a 4–2 lead. Unfortunately, he reinjured his twisted ankle in the second period while Tom Tsotsi was ejected after a fight. Short five regulars in the final period, MIT could not keep up the scoring pace and fell to the Huskies. The lack of offense was keenly felt in the next game when the Techmen were bowled over by Boston University 0–7.[3] Lea fought through his injury and returned for the match against Boston College. He proved to be pivotal in the team attempted comeback after falling down 1–4 in the first. He scored twice to pull the Engineers into a tie with the vaunted Eagles but BC played a stingy brand of defense thereafter and managed to grind out two goals to capture the match.[4]

After returning from the winter break, the Engineers had recovered from their various ailments and ice a full team for the first time that season. The result was a commanding victory over Suffolk with Clifford pacing all players with 7 points (4 g, 3 a).[5] The offense got a bit too loose in the next game and, despite scoring 5 goals, missed the net with 50 attempts. The unconverted opportunities led to MIT's 4th-consecutive conference loss and put the Engineers in a nearly impossible position for making the NEIHL playoffs.[6] To add injury to insult, Tsotsi was checked hard into the boards and was knocked unconscious for 20 minutes. He was sent to the Homberg Infirmary where he recovered.

The following week, MIT rallied to score two conference victories in convincing fashion.[7] They followed that up with a win over Fort Devens State to lift them up to an even record. However, those would be the final games for captain Clifford as he graduated after the fall semester.

After returning from the break, the team felt Clifford's absence on both sides of the ice as neither the offense nor the defense were performing at the same level.[8] The team knew it still needed to finish strong if it wanted to have a shot at the postseason berth, but losing the very next game to Bowdoin dealt a mortal blow to those chances. MIT's forwards were able to band together to overcome Clifford's loss; however, the defense was never able to fully recover and caused the Engineers to lose their last three conference matches.[9] The defeats dropped MIT to 5th place, just 1 behind Bowdoin for the final playoff berth.

Roster

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No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team
Jack Adams G
George Aery F
Bradley F
John M. Clifford (C) Senior D
John Densmore D
  Donald C. Lea Sophomore F 1927-08-20 Concord, New Hampshire
  Theodore R. Madden Junior D 1925-03-04 Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
Clint McKim F
Don Molino D
  William T. Morris Sophomore F 1928-11-12 Concord, Massachusetts
  Charles D. Nolan Sophomore F 1926-10-29 Saint Paul, Minnesota
Charlie Seifert F
Mike Tenney F
Ed Thompson F
Norm Tisdale F
Tom Tsotsi F
  Gerard J. Walworth Junior F 1926-06-30 Arlington, Massachusetts
Bud Willard F

[10]

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
Conference Overall
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Boston University 13 12 1 0 .923 86 40 24 20 4 0 179 86
Boston College * 10 9 1 0 .900 77 29 19 14 5 0 126 60
Northeastern 14 8 6 0 .571 108 79 19 10 9 0 135 119
Bowdoin 6 3 3 0 .500 32 38 11 6 5 0 56 73
MIT 14 5 9 0 .357 62 87 19 8 11 0 93 114
Middlebury 6 2 4 0 .333 27 48 16 10 5 1 127 74
New Hampshire 10 3 7 0 .300 42 56 13 4 9 0 58 67
Norwich 7 2 5 0 .286 25 50 13 6 7 0 56 70
Fort Devens State 11 3 8 0 .273 30 55
Colby 5 1 4 0 .200 17 27 8 2 6 0 28 41
indicates conference champion
* indicates conference tournament champion

Schedule and results

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Date Opponent Site Result Record
Regular Season
December 6 vs. Boston University Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts L 5–10  0–1–0 (0–1–0)
December 8 vs. Tufts* Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts W 7–3  1–1–0
December 9 Fort Devens State Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts W 4–3  2–1–0 (1–1–0)
December 15 vs. Northeastern Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts L 4–6  2–2–0 (1–2–0)
December 16 vs. Boston University Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts L 0–7  2–3–0 (1–3–0)
December 22 vs. Boston College Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts L 5–10  2–4–0 (1–4–0)
January 11 vs. Suffolk* Boston Skating Club • Boston, Massachusetts W 11–4  3–4–0
January 13 Middlebury Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts L 6–7 OT 3–5–0 (1–5–0)
January 16 at Bowdoin Delta RinkBrunswick, Maine W 8–4  4–5–0 (2–5–0)
January 17 at New Hampshire UNH Ice RinkDurham, New Hampshire W 8–2  5–5–0 (3–5–0)
January 27 vs. Tufts* Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts L 4–5  5–6–0
February 2 Fort Devens State Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts W 5–3  6–6–0 (4–5–0)
February 9 Colby Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts L 2–5  6–7–0 (4–6–0)
February 10 New Hampshire Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts W 4–3  7–7–0 (5–6–0)
February 11 Brown* Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts L 2–9  7–8–0
February 16 Bowdoin Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts L 5–8  7–9–0 (5–7–0)
February 25 at Brown* Rhode Island AuditoriumProvidence, Rhode Island W 7–6  8–9–0
February 27 vs. Boston College Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts L 2–9  8–10–0 (5–8–0)
March 2 vs. Northeastern Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts L 4–10  8–11–0 (5–9–0)
*Non-conference game.

[11]

References

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  1. ^ "Beaver Pucksters Open Season Against B.U. This Saturday at the Arena" (PDF). The Tech. December 2, 1947. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  2. ^ "Pucksters Win Two 7-3, 4-3" (PDF). The Tech. December 2, 1947. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  3. ^ "Losses Plague Hockey Team as Northeastern, B.U. Win" (PDF). The Tech. December 19, 1947. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  4. ^ "Icemen Suffer as B.C. Cometh" (PDF). The Tech. January 9, 1948. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  5. ^ "Clifford , Lea, Thompson Lead Sextet to Win Over Suffolk" (PDF). The Tech. January 13, 1948. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  6. ^ "Beaver Sextet Suffers Overtime Loss; Tsotsi Receives Severe Injury" (PDF). The Tech. January 13, 1948. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  7. ^ "Jack Adams Leads Beaver Sextet to Whip Bowdoin, New Hampshire, 8-4, 8-2" (PDF). The Tech. January 20, 1948. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  8. ^ "Sextet Splits 4 Games As Playoff Hopes Fade" (PDF). The Tech. February 13, 1948. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  9. ^ "Beaver Sextet Closes Season with N.U. Loss" (PDF). The Tech. March 5, 1948. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  10. ^ "Beaver Pucksters Open Season Against B.U. This Saturday at the Arena" (PDF). The Tech. December 2, 1947. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  11. ^ "The Tech Archive". Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved February 24, 2023.