Tony Buffa mentioned recently that RPI won the National Championship in
1954 using about 12 players.  The following is excerpted from the
program of February 17, 1973, RPI vs BU.  (BU won 3-2, by the way, on
an unassisted goal by Ken Kuzyk at 4:32 of overtime :-(   .)  It states
that RPI used only 10 players in 1954!  Elsewhere, I found a team
picture showing 14 players, but probably not all actually played.  So,
about 12 is certainly correct.
 
Everything in square brackets is mine.  Typos are mine also. I can't
vouch for the truth in this as this was before I had any idea what an
RPI was.
 
(Editor's note:  Former RPI hockey coach Ned Harkness, now the general
manager of the National Hockey League's Detroit Red Wings, was in Troy
recently to speak at the testimonial given for retiring Troy Record
Sports Editor "Peerless" McGrath.  He spoke about the 1953-54 NCAA
champion RPI team that he coached.)
 
We had just two lines, three defensemen and a goaltender and got beat
by Minnesota, 3-2, and then the next game we knocked off Boston
University, 7-4.  That win over Boston University, at that point in
time, was my greatest thrill ever.  [That was 1952-53.]
 
The next year, we had most of the same group of players -- Abbie Moore,
Bobby Fox, and so on -- and now Boston College is the number one team
in the East.  Michigan, the five time national champion, plays Boston
College the first night and we draw Michigan for the next night.  Well,
Boston College got beat, 14-1, and I say to myself, "Oh, my God, what
is Michigan going to do to my team from Rensselaer.  [Clearly, a
visionary, calling us Rensselaer, and not RPI.]
 
Well, before the game, Rabbit McKay, [apparently a ref] I had heard
that Rabbit didn't get along with the University of Michigan.  As a
matter of fact, they had a great feud going and so I cornered him in
the hotel and told him I didn't care about winning, my main concern was
that we not get hurt.
 
"We're small and there are only 10 of us," I told him.  "I heard
through the grapevine that Michigan was going out to kick the devil out
of us."  He said for me not to worry and if anything got out of hand
that he would take care of it.
 
Well, when the team came to the ice, I saw Rabbit skating around
warming up for the game and so I called him over.  I said: "I hate to
disturb you again, but on the way over here I heard again that the game
may be a bit on the rough side."
 
He told me: "Ned, don't worry about a thing I'll take care of
everything.  Believe me, there won't be any problems."
 
So the game starts and the puck goes into our end and we come out with
it and Abbie Moore has the puck and comes across the blue line.
Michigan had these two brothers, who weighed about 200 pounds each.  As
a matter of fact, the two brothers played for the Detroit Red Wings and
then were sent to Michigan.  [I guess that eligibility requirements
have changed a bit.]
 
Well one of the brothers hits Moore, who weighs 132 pounds soaking wet,
and Rabbit is right there.  He blows the whistle and gets one of the
brothers in the penalty box and we score to go in front 1-0.
 
We come right back and one of our players was belted by one of the
Michigan players -- and I mean really belted, too.  But Rabbit is right
there on the play and puts the guy in the penalty box for two minutes
and we score to make it 2-0.
 
You know they had never heard of RPI out there before.  They thought it
was fruit salad or something like that.
 
We have the faceoff after the second goal and a guy throws a hip check
that was really a trip.  Rabbit is really working for us now and puts
them down a man for the next two minutes, we score and go ahead, 3-0.
 
I called Rabbit over to the bench after the third goal and said:
"You're doing a hell of a job.  I think,though, that we take it
ourselves from here."  And we went on to whip those guys, 7-4, and I
thought it was one of the seven wonders of the world.
 
The next night -- here we go -- we have to play the University of
Minnesota.  They had an off-night and we had to play back-to-back with
10 guys, so I called a meeting of the guys with the hope that maybe we
could rig up something.
 
I took suggestions from the guys and Gordie Peterkin says: "Ned, we're
playing in 7,000 foot height above sea level, I think that we should go
out and get some oxygen.  [The game was at Broadmoor.  Is the 7,000
accurate?]
 
On the way back from the training meal, I called my manager aside and
tell him to go into some drug store and get some empty oxygen tank and
a mask.  And I told the manager: "When you go out of the locker room,
make sure the players see the tank, especially Gordie."
 
We put the tank behind the bench and the guys are taking a real good
look at it and so I say to the players: "Now look guys. You can't taste
or smell oxygen, but you can get sick of it if you have too much of it.
We're only going to use it when we really need it."
 
So we put it on the bench and as we're warming up a priest walks up and
says: "Coach, I'm from the Quarterback Club and I've been assigned your
bench."
 
I told him: "Let me ask you one thing, sir.  How much influence do you
have with the Kid upstairs?  I had a kid named Jim Pope on the team and
so he said: "Well, coach, with a Pope on your team and a priest on your
bench, you can't lose."
 
We start the game and get Minnesota down 2-0 real quick.  Then we
started running out of gas, so I had my players pull dives. Whenever
they would try to get up, I would step on them to tell them: "stay
down, we need another rest period."
 
Minnesota goes ahead, 3-2, and Gordie Peterkin looks to me and says:
"Ned, when are we going to use that oxygen?" I answered: "There is no
time like the present."
 
He takes a lung full of the oxygen and then goes out to tie the score
3-3 to put us into overtime.
 
Just at the start of the overtime, I told the players: "Here, take a
lung full of this oxygen before you go out on the ice.  Abbie Moore
dumps the puck in the corner -- we're changing our men every 30 seconds
now -- and the puck is centered and Gordie Peterkin puts the puck into
the net to make us the national champs.
 
Everybody's going ape after the game and Gordie comes over and says:
"Coach, I told you we could do it if you got that oxygen."