MacInnes Selected for US Hockey Hall of Fame
MacInnes celebrates winning the WCHA Championship with the McNaughton Cup in 1974.
Legendary Michigan Tech hockey coach John MacInnes, who led the Huskies to three NCAA championships in twenty-six seasons, was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in October.
Recognized as one the greatest coaches in US college hockey history, MacInnes served as Michigan Tech’s head coach from 1956 to 1982. MacInnes led the Huskies to national championships in 1962, 1965, and 1975, while also winning seven Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) titles. A two-time NCAA Coach of the Year and six-time WCHA Coach of the Year, MacInnes compiled an outstanding record of 555-295-39 at Michigan Tech, making him the winningest coach in college hockey at the time of his retirement. MacInnes coached twenty-one All-Americans, and his teams recorded winning records in twenty-three of the twenty-six years he was behind the bench.
MacInnes, who died of complications from diabetes in 1983, was instrumental in forming the Great Lakes Invitational Tournament (GLI) in 1965 as a way of promoting the game of college hockey in the US. The annual tournament held in Detroit is still hosted by Michigan Tech and features Michigan, Michigan State, and an invitational team.
John MacInnes speaking at the 1965 GLI banquet.
MacInnes has already been enshrined into the Michigan Tech Sports Hall of Fame, the University of Michigan Hall of Honor, the State of Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, and the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame. MacInnes was honored by the National Hockey League with the prestigious Lester Patrick Award in 1986 and the Legend of College Hockey Award in 1999. The American Hockey Coaches Association created the John MacInnes Award in 1983, which recognizes people who have shown a great concern for amateur hockey and youth programs.
“Coach MacInnes was to college hockey what Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant was to college football,” said current Michigan Tech Head Coach Jamie Russell. “Not only was he extremely successful, he was a great ambassador for the sport of college hockey.”
Michigan Tech commemorated MacInnes’ name with the changing of the Student Ice Arena to the John J. MacInnes Student Ice Arena in August 1991. In addition, the John MacInnes Memorial Cup is given out during Michigan Tech’s annual Winter Carnival series every February to the winner of the two-game, total-goal series.
MacInnes’ wife, Jerry MacInnes, lives in Houghton and continues to be an avid supporter of Michigan Tech athletics. Their son, Scott MacInnes, serves as the city manager of Houghton.
The induction took place at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Aaron Broten, Bobby Carpenter, and John Vanbiesbrouck joined MacInnes as members of the Class of 2007.
Michigan Tech #1 in State for Women in Athletics
Student-athletes in the library Great room, from left to right: Angie Curtis, cross-country and track; Sarah Stream,
basketball;
Catie Cogger, cross-country, Nordic skiing, and track; Vernonica Armstrong, volleyball; Megan Drelles,
cross-country and track; Silvia Oliveras, tennis.
Michigan Tech has the highest proportion of women participating in athletics of any public college or university in Michigan, compared to the number of women in the student body as a whole.
In fact, according to a report issued recently by the National Women’s Law Center, Michigan Tech ranks fifth in the nation among NCAA Division II schools whose proportion of women athletes outstrips the proportion of women students overall.
There are 100 female student-athletes at Michigan Tech—27.2 percent of the University’s student athletes. Comparing all the public universities in the state of Michigan that compete at NCAA Division I or II, Michigan Tech ranks the best at providing athletic opportunities for women. The only other school with a higher proportion of female student-athletes than female students was the University of Michigan at 1.2 percent, a distant second to Michigan Tech’s 5.9 percent. The others all had a higher percentage of female students than female student-athletes.
“We want to go deeper than just giving females a chance to play,” said Michigan Tech’s director of athletics, Suzanne Sanregret. “We support them with equal facilities, travel, practice time, and other resources. And we’re not doing it at the expense of men’s athletics.”
Operating expenses for comparable sports (for example, women’s basketball vs. men’s basketball) are virtually identical.
And the women athletes see the difference. “I’ve had a great experience as a student-athlete at Tech,” said Sarah Stream, a junior on the women’s basketball team. “Everything the women’s basketball program has is right on par with our men’s program. The support from the administration has been outstanding.”
Why does Michigan Tech make such a commitment to women’s athletics?
“Athletics is an important part of our campus and greater community,” said Michigan Tech President Glenn Mroz. “Not only is it an important ingredient in the educational experience, athletics enriches our campus with diversity in females and ethnic minorities.”
The future may hold even more opportunities for female student-athletes at Michigan Tech. The University is considering adding women’s soccer to its current thirteen-sport intercollegiate athletic program.