Connie Pleban
Biographical details
Born(1914-04-24)April 24, 1914
Eveleth, Minnesota
DiedOctober 24, 2001(2001-10-24) (aged 87)
Duluth, Minnesota
Alma materEveleth Junior College
Playing career
1932–1934Eveleth Junior College
1934–1938Eagle River Falcons
1938–1941Eveleth Rangers
1941–1942Marquette Sentinels
1947–1948Eveleth Rangers
1950Team USA
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1934–1938Eagle River Falcons
1938–1941Eveleth Rangers
1941–1942Marquette Sentinels
1947–1948Eveleth Rangers
1950Team USA
1952Team USA
1955–1959Minnesota–Duluth
1961–1962Team USA
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1950Team USA (Manager)
Head coaching record
Overall56–25–5 (.680)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
1956 MIAC Champion
1957 MIAC Champion
1958 MIAC Champion
1959 MIAC Champion
Awards
1990 United States Hockey Hall of Fame
1992 Hobey Baker Legends of College Hockey Award
Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place1952 Oslo
World Championships
Silver medal – second place1950 London
Bronze medal – third place1962 Colorado Springs

John E. "Connie" Pleban was an ice hockey player and head coach who led Team USA to three medal finishes at international competitions.[1]

Career

Pleban was a graduate of Eveleth High School in 1932 and continued his education at Eveleth Junior College. While there, Pleban was a member of the 1934 team that won an intercollegiate championship.[2] After graduating, he became the player/coach for several teams and continued working in that capacity until 1942. After the United States entered World War II, Pleban entered the military and served until the end of the war.[3]

In 1950, Pleban joined the US National Team as a player, coach and manager for the 1950 World Championships, and led the team to a silver medal. He retired as a player following the tournament but repeated the coaching feat two years later at the 1952 Winter Olympics. In 1955, Pleban was named head coach at Minnesota–Duluth and helped the program begin to transition to the top level of college hockey. He led the Bulldogs to the MIAC championship in each of his 4 years with the program, never losing a single conference game.[4]

Pleban returned to Team USA in 1961 but couldn't get the defending Olympic gold medalists to find much success. Finishing with a 1–5–1 record, it was one of the program's poorest records, but Pleban was allowed to remain as coach and produced a far better result the following year. The US went 5–2 and ended up with the bronze medal. Afterwards, Pleban continued to work in the Duluth area, organizing amateur hockey throughout the 1960s and 70's.

He was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990 and was the recipient of the Hobey Baker Legends of College Hockey Award in 1992.

Head coaching record

International

Note: GC = Games coached, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against

YearTeamCompetitionFinishGCWLTGFGA
1950United States US National TeamWC Silver54102920
1952United States US National TeamOG Silver86114321
1961United States US National TeamWC6th71512443
1962United States US National TeamWC Bronze75205423

College

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs (MIAC) (1955–1959)
1955–56 Minnesota–Duluth 17–6–012–0–01st
1956–57 Minnesota–Duluth 16–4–312–0–01st
1957–58 Minnesota–Duluth 13–6–110–0–01st
1958–59 Minnesota–Duluth 10–9–17–0–01st
Total:56–25–5

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

[5]

References

  1. ↑ "John "Connie" Pleban". US Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Eveleth Junior College". Vintage Minnesota Hockey. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  3. ↑ "John E. "Connie" Pleban". Hobey Baker Awards. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Minnesota–Duluth Hockey 2018-19 Media Guide". Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  5. ↑ "2015-16 Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs Hockey Media Guide". Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs. Retrieved 2017-06-03.
  • Biographical information and career statistics from
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.