1972–73 Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey season

American college ice hockey season March 2026 August 2023 color:white; background:#C5050C; a #000000 2px white white Wisconsin Badgers white 1972–73 Wisconsin Badgers Wisconsin Badgers logo.svg men Big Ten3rd (tied) WCHA 1st (tied) 29–9–2 18–9–1 / 8–3–1 17–1 5–8–1 7–0–1 Bob Johnson Bill Rothwell Tim Dool Dane County Coliseum National championBig Ten, championWCHA Tournament, co-champion NCAA Tournament champion 1971–72 1973–74 Wisconsin Badgers #FFFFFF background:#eeeeee; 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 139.2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 113-128 http://wcha.com/pdf/mguide0910/Ybk-113-128.pdf WCHA 2014-06-01 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. 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.Wisconsin Men's Hockey 2017-18 Fact Book https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/uwbadgers.com/documents/2017/9/22/201718_HKY_FactBook.pdf?_sm_au_=iHVnnFNvDMkJPk66 Wisconsin Badgers 2018-08-13 Season Coming off of a then-season-best 27 wins, and second NCAA tournament appearance in three years,Wisconsin Men's Hockey Team History https://www.uscho.com/stats/history/wisconsin/mens-hockey/ USCHO.com 2018-08-03 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 13 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.On, Wisconsin, or hullabaloo goes East https://www.si.com/vault/1973/03/26/567205/on-wisconsin-or-hullabaloo-goes-east Sports Illustrated 1973-03-26 2018-08-03 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.NCAA Division I Awards http://www.augenblick.org/chha/ncaa_awd.html College Hockey Historical Archives 2013-07-17 Along with Talafous, Jim Makey, John Taft and Stan Hinkley were named to the All-Tournament TeamNCAA Frozen Four Records http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/frozen_4/2009/f4recs.pdf NCAA.org 2013-06-19 https://web.archive.org/web/20120817163005/http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/frozen_4/2009/f4recs.pdf 2012-08-17 live 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.Denver Pioneers: 55 Years of Overcoming Obstacles https://www.uscho.com/2004/04/20/denver-pioneers-55-years-of-overcoming-obstacles/ USCHO.com 2004-04-20 2018-08-14 Standings WIS WIS Schedule During the season, Wisconsin compiled a 29–10–2 record, the best year the program had produced to that point. Its schedule was as follows.Badger Hockey 2005-06 Media Guide http://images.library.wisc.edu/UW/EFacs/UWAthletics/Hockey/Hock2005/reference/uw.hock2005.i0001.pdf Wisconsin Badgers 2018-08-01 2 Wisconsin Badgers Date Opponent Score Result Venue Location Record (WCHA / Big Ten) Nov. 3, 1972Colorado College †6–10LossBroadmoor World ArenaColorado Springs, CO 0–1 (0–1 / 0–0)Nov. 4, 1972Colorado College †5–0WinBroadmoor World ArenaColorado Springs, CO 1–1 (1–1 / 0–0)Nov. 10, 1972Colgate 13–3WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI 2–1 (1–1 / 0–0)Nov. 11, 1972Colgate 13–1WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI 3–1 (1–1 / 0–0)Nov. 17, 1972Colorado College †6–3WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI 4–1 (2–1 / 0–0)Nov. 18, 1972Colorado College †5–3WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI 5–1 (3–1 / 0–0)Nov. 24, 1972Michigan ‡5–3WinYost Ice ArenaAnn Arbor, MI 6–1 (4–1 / 1–0)Nov. 25, 1972Michigan ‡7–2WinYost Ice ArenaAnn Arbor, MI 7–1 (5–1 / 2–0)Dec. 1, 1972Notre Dame †5–4*WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI 8–1 (6–1 / 2–0)Dec. 2, 1972Notre Dame †5–3WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI 9–1 (7–1 / 2–0)Dec. 8, 1972Michigan ‡6–3WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI 10–1 (8–1 / 3–0)Dec. 9, 1972Michigan ‡10–4WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI 11–1 (9–1 / 4–0)Dec. 22, 1972Minnesota4–4*TieWilliams ArenaMinneapolis, MN 11–1–1 (9–1–1 / 4–0–1)Dec. 23, 1972Minnesota2–4LossWilliams ArenaMinneapolis, MN 11–2–1 (9–2–1 / 4–1–1)Dec. 28, 1972Colorado College %6–2WinSt. Louis ArenaSt. Louis, MO 12–2–1 (9–2–1 / 4–1–1)Dec. 31, 1972Minnesota %5–1WinSt. Louis ArenaSt. Louis, MO 13–2–1 (9–2–1 / 4–1–1)Jan. 5, 1973Denver †3–2WinDenver ColiseumDenver, CO 14–2–1 (10–2–1 / 4–1–1)Jan. 6, 1973Denver †1–2LossDenver ColiseumDenver, CO 14–3–1 (10–3–1 / 4–1–1)Jan. 12, 1973Michigan State ‡4–3WinMunn Ice ArenaEast Lansing, MI 15–3–1 (11–3–1 / 5–1–1)Jan. 13, 1973Michigan State ‡5–7LossMunn Ice ArenaEast Lansing, MI 15–4–1 (11–4–1 / 5–2–1)Jan. 19, 1973Clarkson 5–4*WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI 16–4–1 (11–4–1 / 5–2–1)Jan. 20, 1973Clarkson 8–3WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI 17–4–1 (11–4–1 / 5–2–1)Jan. 26, 1973North Dakota †8–3WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI 18–4–1 (12–4–1 / 5–2–1)Jan. 27, 1973North Dakota †4–3WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI 19–4–1 (13–4–1 / 5–2–1)Feb. 2, 1973Michigan Tech †1–7LossStudent Ice ArenaHoughton, MI 19–5–1 (13–5–1 / 5–2–1)Feb. 3, 1973Michigan Tech †3–5LossStudent Ice ArenaHoughton, MI 19–6–1 (13–6–1 / 5–2–1)Feb. 9, 1973Michigan State ‡5–2WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI 20–6–1 (14–6–1 / 6–2–1)Feb. 10, 1973Michigan State ‡6–4WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI 21–6–1 (15–6–1 / 7–2–1)Feb. 16, 1973Minnesota–Duluth †6–2WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI 22–6–1 (16–6–1 / 7–2–1)Feb. 17, 1973Minnesota–Duluth †9–2WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI 23–6–1 (17–6–1 / 7–2–1)Feb. 23, 1973Notre Dame †5–8LossJoyce CenterNotre Dame, IN 23–7–1 (17–7–1 / 7–2–1)Feb. 24, 1973Notre Dame †3–4LossJoyce CenterNotre Dame, IN 23–8–1 (17–8–1 / 7–2–1)Mar. 2, 1973Minnesota †3–4LossDane County ColiseumMadison, WI 23–9–1 (17–9–1 / 7–3–1)Mar. 3, 1973Minnesota †3–0WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI 24–9–1 (18–9–1 / 8–3–1)WCHA TOURNAMENTMar. 5, 1973Minnesota8–6WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI 25–9–1 (18–9–1 / 8–3–1)Mar. 6, 1973Minnesota6–4WinDane County ColiseumMadison, WI 26–9–1 (18–9–1 / 8–3–1)Wisconsin Wins Series 14-10Mar. 9, 1973Notre Dame †4–4*TieJoyce CenterNotre Dame, IN 26–9–2 (18–9–1 / 8–3–1)Mar. 10, 1973Notre Dame †4–3WinJoyce CenterNotre Dame, IN 27–9–2 (18–9–1 / 8–3–1)Wisconsin Wins Series 8-7NCAA TOURNAMENTMarch 25, 1973Cornell6–5*WinBoston GardenBoston, MA 28–9–2 (18–9–1 / 8–3–1)March 26, 1973Denver4–2WinBoston GardenBoston, MA 29–9–2 (18–9–1 / 8–3–1) 217–139 29–9–2 (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 Denver Wisconsin Boston Garden March 171973 Championship Boxscore http://uwbadgers.com/documents/2015/8/21/1973_box_score_3961.pdf Wisconsin Badgers 2018-04-191994-95 Wisconsin Hockey Media Guide http://images.library.wisc.edu/UW/EFacs/UWAthletics/Hockey/Hock1994/reference/uw.hock1994.i0001.pdf Wisconsin Badgers 2018-08-10 2 – 4 2 Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st WISDave PayJohnston and Eaves 3:05 1–0 WIS DENJim MillerMcNab and Pearson 3:55 1–1 2nd DENJohn Pearson – PPMcNab :54 2–1 DEN WISTim Dool – PPCherrey and Bentley 4:17 2–2 WISDean Talafous – GWLundeen and Deprez 8:30 3–2 WIS 3rd WISJim JohnstonWinchester and Pay 2:34 4–2 WIS Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st WISJim JohnstonTripping 19:32 2:00 2nd DENBob YoungInterference 4:01 2:00 WISPeter McNabHigh–Sticking 13:07 2:00 WISDave PayTripping 17:59 2:00 3rd WISDave PayHigh–Sticking 14:18 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 T Wisconsin 12 9 8 29 Denver 14 11 9 34 Goaltenders Team Name Saves Goals against Time on ice WIS Jim Makey 32 2 DEN Ron Grahame 25 4 Jim Makey, John Taft, Stan Hinkley and Dean Talafous were named to the All-Tournament Team Roster and scoring statistics 2 Wisconsin Badgers No. Name Year Position Hometown unsortable S/P/C Games Goals Assists Pts #FFFFFF PIM 12 Dennis Olmstead Freshman C Calgary, AB Alberta 40 23 32 55 16 17 Dean Talafous Sophomore C Duluth, MN Minnesota 40 21 32 53 34 22 Lloyd "Max" Bentley Junior C Sault Ste. Marie, ON Ontario 40 23 29 52 29 8 Gary Winchester Junior C Calgary, AB Alberta 40 24 24 48 12 21 Norm Cherrey Senior RW Souris, MB Manitoba 39 24 21 45 109 Dave Pay Freshman LW St. Catharines, ON Ontario 36 18 17 35 3610 Jim Johnston Junior RW Peterborough, ON Ontario 40 14 19 33 3523 Tim Dool Junior LW Sault Ste. Marie, ON Ontario 40 12 19 31 2220 Stan Hinkley Junior LW Ponoka, AB Alberta 40 12 18 30 487 John Taft Freshman D Minneapolis, MN Minnesota 40 9 18 27 284 Bob Lundeen Sophomore D Minneapolis, MN Minnesota 36 7 20 27 2611 Steve Alley Freshman LW Anoka, MN Minnesota 40 8 15 23 125 Dave Arundel Junior D Minneapolis, MN Minnesota 40 1 18 19 2615 Billy Reay, Jr. Junior RW Chicago, IL Illinois 32 10 6 16 383 Jack Johnson Freshman D Bloomfield Hills, MI Michigan 38 4 11 15 162 Tom Machowski Sophomore D Chicago, IL Illinois 40 1 13 14 4819 Don Deprez Sophomore LW Stony Mountain, MB Manitoba 28 4 4 8 1216 Bob Shaughnessy Junior C Blind River, ON Ontario 17 1 2 3 424 Doug Kelso Senior C Madison, WI Wisconsin 8 1 0 1 230 Doug McFadden Sophomore G Peterborough, ON Ontario 1 0 0 0 023 Steve Short Freshman D Roseville, MN Minnesota 2 0 0 0 41 Dick Perkins Senior G St. Paul Park, MN Minnesota 17 0 0 0 030 Jim Makey Senior G Dunnville, ON Ontario 22 0 0 0 013 Tom Kuklinski Junior LW Mosinee, WI Wisconsin – – – – –14 Ernie Blackburn Senior D Bemidji, MN Minnesota – – – – –18 Mark Lomenda Freshman RW Esterhazy, SK Saskatchewan – – – – –25 Chris Wright Senior C Milwaukee, WI Wisconsin – – – – –1 Doug Spitzig Junior G Saskatoon, SK Saskatchewan – – – – – Total 716 217 318 535 458 1972-73 U. of Wisconsin roster and statistics http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0005801973.html Hockey DB 2018-08-06 Goaltending Statistics 2 Wisconsin Badgers No. Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals against Saves Shut outs #FFFFFF SV % #FFFFFF GAA30 Doug McFadden 1 60 1 0 0 1 19 0 0.950 1.001 Dick Perkins 17 1021 58 478 2 0.892 3.4130 Jim Makey 22 1322 79 680 0 0.896 3.59 Total 40 2403 138 1177 2 0.895 3.45 Players drafted into the NHL/WHA 1973 NHL Amateur Draft = Did not play in the NHL 2 Wisconsin Badgers Round Pick Player NHL team 4 53 Dean Talafous Atlanta Flames 7 101 Tom Machowski Atlanta Flames 9 132 Dave Pay Toronto Maple Leafs 9 140 Jack Johnson Chicago Black Hawks 9 141 Steve Alley Chicago Black Hawks 1973 NHL Amateur Draft http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl1973a.html Hockey DB June 19, 2019 1973 WHA Amateur Draft = Did not play in the WHA 2 Wisconsin Badgers Round Pick Player WHA Team 1 13 Dean Talafous Cincinnati Stingers 6 65 Dave Pay Alberta Oilers 7 85 Tom Machowski Minnesota Fighting Saints 7 90 Steve Alley New England Whalers 10 113 Jack Johnson Cincinnati Stingers 1973 WHA Amateur Draft http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/wha1973a.html Hockey DB June 19, 2019 See also 1973 NCAA University Division Men's Ice Hockey Tournament List of NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament champions References 50em Category:Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey seasons Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin