Sport(s) | Ice hockey |
---|---|
Biographical details | |
Born |
Saskatchewan, Canada |
July 4, 1915
Died | August 26, 1972 Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S. |
(aged 57)
Playing career | |
1939–1941 | Gonzaga |
Position(s) | Forward |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
1945–1955 | Colorado College |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 149-72-5 |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
1950 NCAA National Championship 1952 MCHL Regular Season Championship 1955 WIHL Regular Season Championship |
|
Awards | |
1952 Spencer Penrose Award 1998 Colorado College Athletic Hall of Fame (Team) 2000 Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame 2013 Colorado College Athletic Hall of Fame (Individual) |
|
Records | |
Most goals scored in NCAA tournament: 1 period (10) Most goals scored in NCAA tournament: 1 game (13-tied) |
Cyril L. "Cheddy" Thompson (July 4, 1915 – August 26, 1972) was a Canadian ice hockey coach. He was the head coach of Colorado College after World War II during their most successful era and led the team to their first national title in 1950.
Cheddy Thompson attended Gonzaga University during the period when the Bulldogs supported an ice hockey program, playing for the team from 1939-1941. After graduating Thompson joined the Military during the second world war and was assigned to 2nd Air Force HQ in Colorado Springs. With the war winding down Colorado College was among a number of schools who restarted (or began) Division I programs with theirs rekindling in the 1944-45 season. With the war over by the start of the next season, and Colorado College in need of a full-time coach, Thompson was chosen to head the program.
Thompson's first season finished disappointingly with a 3-8 mark, but he soon got the Tigers on track with a then-school record 14 wins the next season. The following year (1947–48) the NCAA began holding a tournament to determine the ice hockey National Champion. With a 19-7 record, Thompson's Tigers were one of four teams invited to participate, facing off against Dartmouth and losing the semifinal 8-4. With a 14-6-1 mark the next season Colorado College returned to the national tournament (along with all three others from the previous year) and were defeated twice, first by Boston College in the semifinal (7-3) and then by Michigan in the first consolation game (10-4).