Illinois Fighting Illini men's ice hockey
The Illinois Fighting Illini men's ice hockey team is a college ice hockey program that represents the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. The Illini play on campus at historic[2] 1,500-seat University of Illinois Ice Arena.[3] They are a member of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) at the ACHA Division I level.[4] The team is a former member of the Central States Collegiate Hockey League (CSCHL) within the ACHA and a current member of Midwest College Hockey. The team operates as a registered student organization (RSO) at the University of Illinois. The university does not currently have an NCAA varsity team, and thus the club team is the highest level of hockey offered by the university.[5] A feasibility study published in March 2018, and commissioned by the NHL, NHLPA, and College Hockey, Inc., found a high probability of success for the hockey program to transition to NCAA Division I.[6][7] Illinois however reversed course in May 2022, announcing that they were no longer exploring adding a varsity hockey program.[8]
Illinois Fighting Illini men's ice hockey | |
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University | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
Conference | Midwest College Hockey |
Head coach | John Opilka 2nd season |
Arena | University of Illinois Ice Arena Champaign, Illinois |
Colors | Orange and blue[1] |
ACHA Tournament championships | |
2005, 2008 | |
ACHA Tournament appearances | |
1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 | |
Conference Tournament championships | |
1986, 1988, 1992, 2003, 2006, 2008 | |
Conference regular season championships | |
2003, 2008, 2013 |
History
editOrganized ice hockey came to Illinois in the 1930s and played its first official season in 1937 as an independent NCAA team.[9] The first head coach was Ray Eliot, who coached the Fightin' Illini from 1937 to 1939.[9] The team went winless in the 1937–38 season, going 0–4 before winning their first game in the following season.[9] Vic Heyliger, a former All-American at Michigan and professional player with the Chicago Blackhawks, took over as head coach for the 1939–40 season.[10] In this second year as Illini head coach he led the team to a 17-win season, the most successful season of the Illini NCAA ice hockey team. The team recorded a 10-win season in 1941–42 and a 9-win season in 1942–43 that included only a single loss.[9] The program was ended after the 1942–43 season during World War II; that same year in 1943 Heyliger came out of retirement for 1943–44 season to fill in the team's depleted war time roster.[10]
The current Fighting Illini men's ice hockey team formed in the post-war era during the mid-1950s.[11] The team joined the CSCHL in 1975, only 5 years after the league formed, making the Illini the longest on-going CSCHL members.[12]
Facility
editNotable events
editFighting Illini Hockey vs. Lindenwood - 2 ACHA Division I National Championships. Won in Bensenville, Illinois in 2005. Won in Rochester, New York in 2008.
- 48 game winning streak spanning from September 28, 2007, to October 25, 2008.
Season-by-season results
editNote: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points
Champions | NCAA Frozen Four | Conference regular-season champions | Conference Playoff Champions |
Season | Conference | Regular Season | Conference Tournament Results | National Tournament Results | ||||||||||
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Conference | Overall | |||||||||||||
GP | W | L | T | Pts* | Finish | GP | W | L | T | % | ||||
Ray Eliot (1937–1939) | ||||||||||||||
1937–38 | Independent | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | ||
1938–39 | Independent | – | – | – | – | – | – | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | .300 | ||
Vic Heyliger (1939–1943) | ||||||||||||||
1939–40 | Independent | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14 | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | ||
1940–41 | Independent | – | – | – | – | – | – | 21 | 17 | 3 | 1 | .833 | Western Intercollegiate Champions | |
1941–42 | Independent | – | – | – | – | – | – | 16 | 10 | 4 | 2 | .688 | Western Intercollegiate Champions | |
1942–43 | Independent | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 | .833 | Western Intercollegiate Champions | |
Totals | GP | W | L | T | % | Championships | ||||||||
Regular Season | 77 | 43 | 31 | 3 | .578 | |||||||||
Conference Post-season | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | |||||||||
NCAA Post-season | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | |||||||||
Regular Season and Post-season Record | 77 | 43 | 31 | 3 | .578 | 3 Western Intercollegiate Championships |
* Winning percentage is used when conference schedules are unbalanced.
Awards
edit- Big Ten Conference championships; (3) : 1941, 1942, 1943
- ACHA National Championships; (2) : 2005, 2008
- ACHA Final Four Appearances; (10) : 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2018
- ACHA National Tournament Appearances; (23) : 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
- CSCHL regular-season championships; (2) : 2003, 2008, 2013
- CSCHL Tournament Championships; (6) : 1986, 1988, 1992, 2003, 2006, 2008
= NHL All-Star team | = NHL All-Star[15] | = NHL All-Star[15] and NHL All-Star team | = Hall of Famers |
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Notable alumni
edit- Lee Archambault - U.S. Air Force colonel and NASA astronaut. Crew member of Mission STS-117 and Commander of Mission STS-119.[16]
- Amo Bessone - A 3-year varsity player, Bessone coached college hockey for 31 years, spending most of his career with Michigan State and led the program to its first national championship in 1966.
- Chad Cassel - Inducted into the Illinois Hockey Hall of Fame (2007). Winningest coach in Illini Hockey history with a record of 326–104–14.[13]
- Gene Honda - Public address announcer for the Chicago Blackhawks.
- Tommy Karakas - Goaltender in the team's final varsity season, set a modern collegiate record for consecutive shutouts (4, since broken). Brother of Stanley Cup champion Mike Karakas.
- Norbert Sterle - Led program in scoring during the team's championship season in 1940–41. Killed while serving in World War II.
References
edit- ^ "University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Visual Identity: Color". Retrieved November 13, 2022.
- ^ Leetaru, Kalev. "Buildings - Ice Skating Rink/Ice Arena". UIHistories Project: A History of the University of Illinois. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
- ^ Zeck, Gregory (August 30, 2010). "Hockey hecklers make noise at Ice Arena". Daily Illini. Archived from the original on September 5, 2010. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
- ^ Pauly, Tom (September 15, 2010). "Multimedia - the Daily Illini". Daily Illini. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
- ^ Augustoviz, Roman (September 20, 2010). "Illinois downplays likelihood it will add hockey". Star Tribune. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
- ^ "Why Illini Hockey". University of Illinois Athletics. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
- ^ "Feasibility study: UI setting just right for hockey". The News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana). Retrieved March 24, 2018.
- ^ "Illinois no longer exploring adding men's ice hockey". 2 May 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Team History". College Hockey News. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
- ^ a b "Vic Heyliger". Legends of Hockey. Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
- ^ "Alumni". Illini Ice Hockey. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
- ^ "CSCHL History". CSCHL. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
- ^ a b "2007-2008 Men's Division 1 Coach-of-the-Year". CSCHL. March 31, 2008. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
- ^ "The History of Big Ten Hockey (1922-Present) | mgoblog".
- ^ a b Players are identified as an All-Star if they were selected for the All-Star game at any time in their career.
- ^ NASA (2007). "NASA Assigns Crew for Final Solar Array Delivery to Station". NASA. Archived from the original on October 21, 2007. Retrieved October 19, 2007.