John Matchefts

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Johnny Matchefts

| image = John Matchefts.png

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|6|18}}

| birth_place= Eveleth, Minnesota

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2013|11|10|1931|6|18}}

| death_place = Colorado Springs, Colorado

| alma_mater =

| player_years1 = 1950–1953

| player_team1 = Michigan

| player_years2 = 1955–1956

| player_team2 = US National Team

| player_positions = Center

| coach_years1 = 1966–1971

| coach_team1 = Colorado College

| coach_years2 = 1972–1974

| coach_team2 = Air Force (assistant)

| coach_years3 = 1974–1985

| coach_team3 = Air Force

| overall_record = 208–238–9 ({{winpct|208|238|9}})

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships = 1951 NCAA National Champion
1952 NCAA national champion
1953 NCAA national champion

| awards = 1953 Tournament Most Outstanding Player
1991 US Hockey Hall of Fame
2015 University of Michigan Hall of Fame

| coaching_records =

}}

John Peter Matchefts (June 18, 1931 – November 10, 2013) was an American ice hockey player and coach. Matchefts played for Team USA at the 1956 Winter Olympics.[https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ma/john-matchefts-1.html Olympic results] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215222755/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ma/john-matchefts-1.html |date=2012-12-15 }}

Career

=Player=

An Eveleth native from birth, Matchefts played for his hometown high school ice hockey team, earning three consecutive all-tournament team honors in his time there and helping Eveleth High School win state titles in his junior and senior years.{{cite news|title=Minnesota hockey legend Matchefts dies|url=http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/232162221.html|publisher=Star Tribune|date=2013-11-16|accessdate=2014-07-19}} Matchefts then moved on to Michigan, signing up to play for the national powerhouse under the charge of Vic Heyliger. After sitting out his freshman season (a normal occurrence at the time) Matchefts joined the varsity team just in time for them to win the school's second national title in 1951.{{cite news|title=NCAA Division 1 Tournament|url=http://www.augenblick.org/chha/ncaa_trn.html|publisher=College Hockey Historical Archive|accessdate=2014-07-19}} The following season the Wolverines became a founding member of the MCHL and responded by posting a second consecutive 22-win season and national title. Matchefts was named team captain for his senior season and while their win total dropped to 17, the Wolverines were invited back to the NCAA tournament and after a scare against Rensselaer in the semifinals, Michigan triumphed for the third straight year, making this the only three-peat in the history of the tournament. (as of 2014) With the win Matchefts joined a very exclusive club of three time NCAA champions as a player in any sport let alone men's hockey.

After graduating in 1953 Matchefts joined the US National Team for a time, playing in both the 1955 World Ice Hockey Championships and the 1956 Olympics, earning a silver medal at Cortina d'Ampezzo before retiring as a player.

=Coaching=

Matchefts returned to Minnesota and spent more than a decade as the coach for both his previous high school and Thief River Falls High School{{cite news|title=John Matchefts|url=http://www.ushockeyhalloffame.com/page/show/827583-john-matchefts|publisher=US Hockey Hall of Fame|accessdate=2014-07-19}} before being offered the opportunity to succeed Bob Johnson as head coach at Colorado College. After a decent first season Matchefts' Tigers dropped to the bottom of the conference and stayed well below .500 for the remainder of his tenure.{{cite news|title=Colorado College Men's Hockey Team History|url=http://www.uscho.com/stats/history/colorado-college/mens-hockey/|publisher=USCHO.com|accessdate=2014-07-19}} He was out as coach after the 1970–71 season after the school denied his request for a $200 raise.{{cite news|title=John Matchefts, former Air Force hockey coach|url=http://www.denverpost.com/classics/ci_14313848|publisher=Denver Post|date=2010-02-02|accessdate=2014-07-19}}

A year later, Matchefts' joined his old college coach, Vic Heyliger, at The Air Force Academy as an assistant and eventually succeeded him in 1974–75. For the next 11 seasons, Matchefts led the airmen through ups and downs as the program established itself as a Division I Independent before retiring and turning the team over to Chuck Delich in 1984–85.{{cite news|title=Air Force Men's Hockey Team History|url=http://www.uscho.com/stats/history/air-force/mens-hockey/|publisher=USCHO.com|accessdate=2014-07-19}}

On November 10, 2013 John Matchefts died in the city where he spent so much of his coaching career, Colorado Springs.{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/gazette/obituary.aspx?n=john-p-matchefts&pid=168072189& |title=John P. Matchefts Obituary: View John Matchefts's Obituary by The Gazette |publisher=Legacy.com |date= |accessdate=2013-11-22}}{{cite web |url=http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/283556/ |title=Duluth, Minnesota |publisher=Duluth News Tribune |date=2013-11-15 |accessdate=2013-11-22 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20131122015314/http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/283556/ |archivedate=2013-11-22 }}

Career statistics

Source:{{cite news|title=John Matchefts|url=http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=112424|publisher=Elite Prospects|accessdate=2014-07-19}}

border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:75%"
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" \| ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" \| ! colspan="5" \| Regular season ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" \| ! colspan="5" \| Playoffs
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! Season ! Team ! League ! GP ! G ! A ! Pts ! PIM ! GP ! G ! A ! Pts ! PIM
ALIGN="center" \| 1950–51 \| Michigan \| NCAA \| —	—	—	56	—	—	—	—	—	—
ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1951–52 \| Michigan \| MCHL \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
ALIGN="center" \| 1952–53 \| Michigan \| MCHL \| 24	15	33	48	—	—	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" \| NCAA totals ! — ! — ! — ! — ! — ! — ! — ! — ! — ! —

Head coaching record

{{CBB Yearly Record Start

|type=coach

|conference=

|postseason=

|poll=no

}}

{{CIH yearly record subhead

|name = Colorado College Tigers men's ice hockey

|color = color:white; background:#000000; {{box-shadow border|a|#EFAB1E|2px}}

|startyear = 1966

|conflong = Western Collegiate Hockey Association

|conference = WCHA

|endyear = 1971

|}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 1966-67

| name = Colorado College

| overall = 15-13-1

| conference = 6-12-0

| confstanding = 7th

| postseason = WCHA first round

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 1967-68

| name = Colorado College

| overall = 9-20-0

| conference = 4-16-0

| confstanding = 7th

| postseason = WCHA first round

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 1968-69

| name = Colorado College

| overall = 12-16-0

| conference = 4-14-0

| confstanding = 7th

| postseason = WCHA West Regional finals

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 1969-70

| name = Colorado College

| overall = 7-22-1

| conference = 3-17-0

| confstanding = 9th

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 1970-71

| name = Colorado College

| overall = 11-17-1

| conference = 7-11-0

| confstanding = 8th

| postseason = WCHA West Regional semifinals

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = Colorado College

| overall = 54-88-3

| confrecord = 24-70-0

}}

{{CIH yearly record subhead

|name = Air Force Falcons men's ice hockey

|color = color:white; background:#0033A0; {{box-shadow border|a|#8F8F8C|2px}}

|startyear = 1974

|conflong = NCAA Division I independent schools (ice hockey)

|conference = Independent

|endyear = 1985

|}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 1974-75

| name = Air Force

| overall = 24-5-1

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 1975-76

| name = Air Force

| overall = 16-10-0

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 1976-77

| name = Air Force

| overall = 20-7-0

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 1977-78

| name = Air Force

| overall = 9-17-0

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 1978-79

| name = Air Force

| overall = 18-12-1

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 1979-80

| name = Air Force

| overall = 15-16-0

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 1980-81

| name = Air Force

| overall = 13-13-0

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 1981-82

| name = Air Force

| overall = 12-17-1

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 1982-83

| name = Air Force

| overall = 5-23-0

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 1983-84

| name = Air Force

| overall = 8-16-2

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 1984-85

| name = Air Force

| overall = 14-14-1

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = Air Force

| overall = 154-150-6

| confrecord =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record End

|overall = 208-238-9

}}

{{cite news|title=2013-14 Colorado College Media Guide|url=http://cctigers.com/documents/2013/10/19/2013-14_Media_Guide.pdf|publisher=Colorado College Tigers|accessdate=2014-07-19}}{{cite news|title=2012-13 Air Force Falcons Media Guide|url=http://issuu.com/afsid/docs/2012-13_air_force_hockey_media_guide/1?e=1984570/2829605|publisher=ISSUU.com|accessdate=2014-07-19}}