# 1947–48 Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey season

The 1947–48 Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey season was the 26th season of play for the program but first under the oversight of the NCAA. The Terriers represent Boston University and were coached by Harry Cleverly, in his 3rd season.

## Season

With the advent of a national tournament for this season, Boston University was one of the eastern teams favored to receive one of the two available bids. The Terriers didn't disappoint early when their offense, led by the top line of Dana Hixon, Irving Haynes and Jack Clopeck, showed up in force. BU scored in bunches and dominated their first four opponents. Their fifth game would be their biggest test, however, as Dartmouth was another prospective tournament hopeful, having won the last four eastern intercollegiate titles. Both teams were the measure of the other in the match and the two heavyweights fought to a draw in regulation. Unfortunately for the Terriers, Dartmouth pulled out the victory in overtime.
BU responded to their first loss of the season by going on a tear through eastern teams, winning their next four games by wide margins. After a week off the Terriers slowed down a bit but continued to pile up the victories and ran their record to 11–1. The team was hoping to break even with Dartmouth in the rematch, however, the second edition looked eerily similar to the first as the Indians took the match 5–6 in regulation. With the two losses to the greens and Dartmouth being the best team in the east, Boston University would need to win its conference championship if it had any hope of making the tournament.
To that point, the Terriers had been undefeated in league play and that trend continued as BU went on a third winning streak. Their final game of the regular season came against rival Boston College and was a rematch of an earlier BU victory. While the game would not affect BU's position in the standings, as they had already guaranteed themselves the NEIHL title, It could still impact the selection committee's decision on who would be the second eastern team. The Eagles, who were now playing with a full complement of players, stunned BU with a 2–9 drubbing and evened the season series. Fortunately, the Terriers had a chance to improve their standing because the NEIHL had instituted a conference tournament this season. BU was set against 3rd-place team Northeastern and were expecting the beat the Huskies for the third time that season, however, BU's defense faltered for the second straight game and the Terriers fell 5–8. The loss all but guaranteed that BU would not be selected for the tournament and the Terriers took their frustration out on Bowdoin in the consolation game, hammering the Polar Bears 18–4 and setting a new program record (since broken) for the most goals scored in one game.

## Standings

1947–48 NCAA Independent ice hockey standingsvte :
| | Intercollegiate | Intercollegiate | Intercollegiate | Intercollegiate | Intercollegiate | Intercollegiate | Intercollegiate | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | 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 |
1947–48 New England Intercollegiate Hockey League standingsvte :
| | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | 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

| Date | Opponent | Site | Result | Record |
| Regular Season |||||
| December 6 | vs. MIT | Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts | W 10–5 | 1–0–0 (1–0–0) |
| December 8 | Fort Devens State | Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts | W 10–1 | 2–0–0 (2–0–0) |
| December 10 | vs. Harvard* | Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts | W 8–2 | 3–0–0 |
| December 16 | vs. MIT | Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts | W 7–0 | 4–0–0 (3–0–0) |
| December 18 | at Dartmouth* | Davis Rink • Hanover, New Hampshire | L 5–6 $^{OT}$ | 4–1–0 |
| December 22 | vs. Northeastern | Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts | W 7–5 | 5–1–0 (4–0–0) |
| January 5 | Holy Cross* | Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts | W 13–5 | 6–1–0 |
| January 7 | at Colby | South End Arena • Waterville, Maine | W 5–0 | 7–1–0 (5–0–0) |
| January 8 | at Brown* | Rhode Island Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island | W 13–2 | 8–1–0 |
| January 17 | at Yale* | New Haven Arena • New Haven, Connecticut | W 4–3 | 9–1–0 |
| January 20 | Fort Devens State | Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts | W 6–3 | 10–1–0 (6–0–0) |
| January 24 | at New Hampshire | UNH Ice Rink • Durham, New Hampshire | W 6–4 | 11–1–0 (7–0–0) |
| January 26 | Dartmouth* | Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts | L 5–6 | 11–2–0 |
| January 27 | New Hampshire | Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts | W 4–1 | 12–2–0 (8–0–0) |
| January 30 | at Army* | Smith Rink • West Point, New York | W 4–3 | 13–2–0 |
| January 31 | at Princeton* | Hobey Baker Memorial Rink • Princeton, New Jersey | W 8–1 | 14–2–0 |
| February 2 | vs. Northeastern | Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts | W 12–2 | 15–2–0 (9–0–0) |
| February 3 | vs. Boston College | Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts | W 5–3 | 16–2–0 (10–0–0) |
| February 10 | Norwich | Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts | W 7–3 | 17–2–0 (11–0–0) |
| February 11 | vs. Harvard* | Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts | W 10–6 | 18–2–0 |
| March 2 | Middlebury | Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts | W 5–4 $^{OT}$ | 19–2–0 (12–0–0) |
| March 3 | vs. Boston College | Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts | L 2–9 | 19–3–0 (12–1–0) |
| NEIHL Tournament |||||
| March 8 | vs. Northeastern* | Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts (NEIHL Semifinal) | L 5–8 | 19–4–0 |
| March 9 | Bowdoin* | Boston Arena • Boston, Massachusetts (NEIHL Consolation) | W 18–4 | 20–4–0 |
| *Non-conference game. |||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Dana Hixon | | - | 33 | 16 | 49 | - |
| Don Cleary | | - | 21 | 16 | 37 | - |
| Bill Gibson | | 24 | 13 | 18 | 31 | - |
| Benjamin Forbes | | - | 17 | 13 | 30 | - |
| William Kirrane | | - | 8 | 13 | 21 | - |
| Donald Cockrell | | 19 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - |
| John Pynchon | | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Irving Haynes | | - | - | 23 | - | - |
| Walt Anderson | | - | - | - | - | - |
| Bob Bell | | - | - | - | - | - |
| Jack Clopeck | | - | - | - | - | - |
| Larry Dutton | | - | - | - | - | - |
| Jerome Gleason | | - | - | - | - | - |
| William Jurgelevich | | - | - | - | - | - |
| Lloyd Robinson | | - | - | - | - | - |
| James Smith | | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ralph Bevins | G | 24 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | | | 123 | 130 | 253 | - |