On 11/15/2013 9:21 AM, charlie shub wrote:
> Vic was the face of Air Force hockey and John was its engine

What the article doesn't mention are the roles the face and engine of 
Air Force hockey played in putting Michigan's count of national 
championships ahead of the rest of the country.  In the first ten years 
in which the NCAA held a championship game, which were Vic Heyliger's 
final ten years as Michigan's coach, his teams reached the Frozen Four 
every season and he took home six national championships, including the 
first-ever NCAA title.  Had it not been for the fact that respiratory 
problems forced him to move to Colorado, he probably would have put the 
title count out of reach. As is was, his "family influence" added at 
least one more championship to Michigan's list when his former player 
and son-in-law, Al Renfrew, coached Michigan to its seventh in 1964.

John Matchefts was an All-American center on Heyliger's Michigan teams 
that won the championship three consecutive years.  He was MVP in his 
final NCAA tournament before joining the Marines.  He eventually coached 
Colorado College for six years until moving on to Air Force following a 
salary dispute.  His string of three consecutive national championships 
with Michigan followed his string of three consecutive Minnesota high 
school state championships as a player at Eveleth.

Bob Griebel