St. Thomas (Minnesota) Tommies men's ice hockey

The St. Thomas (Minnesota) Tommies men's ice hockey team represents the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) in NCAA Division III ice hockey.

St. Thomas (Minnesota) Tommies men's ice hockey
University	University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)
Conference	MIAC
First season	1920–21
Head coach	Jeff Boeser 11th season, 154–80–31 (.640)
Arena	St. Thomas Ice Arena Capacity: 1,400
Location	Saint Paul, Minnesota
Colors	Purple and Grey[1]
NCAA Tournament Frozen Four
2000, 2005
NCAA Tournament appearances
1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2020
Conference Tournament championships
MIAC: 1986, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2020
Conference regular season championships
1923, 1934, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1947, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1974, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018

History

St. Thomas is one of the oldest ice hockey programs in the nation, predating even Minnesota, having played their first varsity game in the 1920–21 season. That year St. Thomas, along with six other small Minnesota colleges, formed the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and began playing one another in many sports. Over the course of the first sixty five years, St. Thomas was one of the better teams in the conference but it became the leading program once Terry Skrypek arrived in 1987. In his 23 years with the program, Skrypek won 13 conference championships, 9 conference tournament titles and reached the NCAA Division III championship game twice.[2]

In 2019 the MIAC took the unprecedented step of removing St. Thomas from its membership due to the Tommies having won too much.[3] Because the removal affected all sports and was effective at the end of the 2020-21 season, St. Thomas had time to decide what it would do next. On the ice hockey end of things, the program was given the green light to jump directly to the Division I level in July of 2020.[4] Before the end of the month, the seven teams who had previously announced their intention to restart the CCHA with the 2021–22 season voted unanimously to accept the Tommies as the eighth member of the conference.[5]

Season-by-season results[2]

Head coaches

As of completion of the 2019–20 season

Tenure	Coach	Years	Record	Pct.
1920–1921	Harold Dudley	1	6–1–0	.857
1921–1923, 1925–1926	Joe Brandy	3	19–9–0	.679
1923–1924	Dave Hayes	1	8–2–0	.800
1924–1925	Bill Houle	1	1–0–1	.750
1926–1927	Willard Faulk	1	5–9–0	.357
1927–1928	John O'Halloran	1	4–5–3	.458
1928–1930	Matt Coogan	2	15–13–0	.536
1930–1932	Frank Penas	2	7–7–4	.500
1932–1933	Joe Boland	1	7–3–0	.700
1933–1935	Frank Halder	2	6–6–1	.500
1935–1937	Frank Klingberg	2	12–10–3	.540
1937–1939	Leo McGuire	2	13–7–2	.636
1939–1942	Wee Walsh	3	18–3–3	.813
1946–1948	Tom Cunningham	2	20–9–0	.690
1948–1951, 1952–1955	Bill Funk	6	66–19–11	.745
1951–1952	Norm Robertson	1	7–3–0	.700
1955–1959	Ken Staples	4	38–19–0	.667
1959–1962	Don Saatzer	3	19–14–0	.576
1962–1963	Tom Martinson	1	11–4–1	.719
1963–1970	Joe Flood	7	57–53–4	.518
1970–1982	Gus Schwartz	12	150–150–5	.500
1982–1987	Terry Abram	5	105–45–2	.697
1987–2010	Terry Skrypek	23	415–194–45	.669
2010–Present	Jeff Boeser	10	154–80–31	.640
Totals	24 coaches	96 Seasons	1163–665–116	.628

References

1. "Club Branding". Retrieved September 15, 2019.
2. "St. Thomas Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
3. "D-III Powerhouse St. Thomas Is Getting Kicked Out of Its Conference Because It's Too Good at Sports". Sports Illustrated. May 22, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
4. "At the rink, it's 'Tommie Time,' as St. Thomas moves hockey programs to Division I". Duluth News Tribune. July 15, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
5. "St. Thomas men's team moves to Division I, will join new CCHA for 2021-22 season". USCHO.com. July 29, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.

External links

• Official Home Page