1939–40 Illinois Fighting Illini men's ice hockey season

March 2026 August 2023 color:white; background:#13294B; a #E84A27 2px white white Illinois Fighting Illini white 1939–40 Illinois Fighting Illini logo.svg 125 Illinois Fighting Illini men NCAA Division I independent schools (ice hockey) Independent 3–11–0 2–5–0 1–6–0 Vic Heyliger John White University of Illinois Ice Arena 1938–39 1940–41 Illinois Fighting Illini #FFFFFF background:#eeeeee; The 1939–40 Illinois Fighting Illini men's ice hockey season was the 3rd season of play for the program. Season For the team's third season, they brought on Vic Heyliger, a Michigan alumnus with NHL and MOHL playing experience, as their coach. The team had an abundance of young talent, who would be able to contribute in future seasons but were still ineligible for varsity play. The trouble this would pose for the coming season was demonstrated by an exhibition game in December, in which the freshman team defeated the varsity team 13–5.https://idnc.library.illinois.edu/?a=d&d=DIL19391212.2.71&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN--------- Frosh Hockey Team Defeats Varsity Sextet 13-5 The Daily Illini December 12, 1939 May 5, 2021 Illinois lost both games of their opening series to Minnesota, in which a combined 92 saves from goalie John Gillan were not enough to prevent lopsided scores of 8–2 and 10–2.https://idnc.library.illinois.edu/?a=d&d=DIL19391212.2.71&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN--------- Hockey Team Bows to Minnesota; Wrestlers Win The Daily Illini January 7, 1940 May 5, 2021 A week later, Illinois was in Ann Arbor and struggled to score, earning 1 goal in each of their two games against the Wolverines, but they were able to allow far fewer goals to the Maize and Blue. The team took a few weeks off for examinations and then returned in Early February with a dominating performance over Saint Louis. Despite missing coach Heyliger to illness and two players (Stewart and Mettler) to ineligibility, the team won their first game of the season 11–0. Joe Lotzer set a program record with 7 points in the game (3 goals, 4 assists).https://idnc.library.illinois.edu/?a=d&d=DIL19400204.2.47&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN--------- Hockey Team Wins; Wrestlers Down Iowa State The Daily Illini February 4, 1940 May 5, 2021 The good feelings didn't last long, however, as Illinois traveled to meet undefeated Minnesota in Minneapolis the following weekend and were shelled again in both games. Heyliger returned after the losses to Minnesota and took the team down to St. Louis for the rematch with the Billikens club team. Despite poor ice the team won 3–0 and then traveled north for their first ever meeting with Michigan Tech. Illinois faced the Huskies in four consecutive games, the first two being on the road, and lost all four matches. While the Illini weren't as outclassed as they were against the Gophers, the team still had trouble scoring and could only notch more than 1 goal in their final meeting. The team ended its season with a home series against Michigan and, after getting shut down in the first game, the team roared back with a tremendous effort. The Illini were finally able to finish their scoring chances and fired three goals into the net while John Gillan shut the door on the Wolverines. The win was not only the first for Illinois against a Big Ten team, but their first against any varsity squad.https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiuo.ark:/13960/t7fr1587r&view=1up&seq=244 1940 Illio University of Illinois May 5, 2021 James Stables served as team manager. Roster yes Robert J. Falconer jr USA Riverside, Illinois yes George E. Fieldhouse sr D USA Pleasantville, New Jersey yes John H. Gillan so G USA Western Springs, Illinois yes Thomas E. Jaworek jr USA New Bedford, Massachusetts yes Howard F. Kopel jr F USA Detroit, Michigan yes Joseph J. Lotzer so F USA Fond du Lac, Wisconsin yes Wayne J. McKibbin so F USA Fond du Lac, Wisconsin yes Charles W. Mettler jr USA La Grange, Illinois yes C. Paul Slater sr USA Urbana, Illinois yes Charles P. Stewart sr D USA Chicago, Illinois yes Maurice P. Thompson sr D USA Pleasantville, New Jersey yes John M. White sr F USA Seymour, Illinois yes C Chester J. Ziemba jr D USA Chicago, Illinois yes Standings ILL Schedule and results no |- !colspan=12 style="Illinois Fighting Illini #FFFFFF;" | Regular season January 5 l yes no Minnesota University of Illinois Ice Arena Champaign, Illinois 2–8 0–1–0 January 6 l yes no Minnesota University of Illinois Ice Arena Champaign, Illinois 2–10 0–2–0 January 11 l yes yes no Michigan Weinberg Coliseum Ann Arbor, Michigan 1–3 0–3–0 January 13 l yes yes no Michigan Weinberg Coliseum Ann Arbor, Michigan 1–5 0–4–0 February 3 w yes no Saint Louis ‡ University of Illinois Ice Arena Champaign, Illinois 11–0 1–4–0 February 9 l yes yes no Minnesota Minneapolis Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 1–9 1–5–0 February 10 l yes yes no Minnesota Minneapolis Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 2–9 1–6–0 February 17 w yes yes no Saint Louis ‡ St. Louis Arena St. Louis, Missouri 3–0 2–6–0 February 23 l yes yes no Michigan Tech Houghton, Michigan † 1–3 2–7–0 February 24 l yes yes no Michigan Tech Houghton, Michigan † 1–6 2–8–0 February 29 l yes no Michigan Tech University of Illinois Ice Arena Champaign, Illinois 1–3 2–9–0 March 2 l yes no Michigan Tech University of Illinois Ice Arena Champaign, Illinois 2–3 2–10–0 March 7 l yes no Michigan University of Illinois Ice Arena Champaign, Illinois 0–2 2–11–0 March 9 w yes no Michigan University of Illinois Ice Arena Champaign, Illinois 3–0 3–11–0 no no † Michigan Tech archives list the games as being played in Champaign.Michigan Tech Huskies https://www.michigantechhuskies.com/sports/mice/1939-40/schedule 1939-40 Sechedule May 5, 2021‡ Saint Louis' program was a club team at the time. References 50em Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's ice hockey seasons Illinois Illinois Illinois