Rick Best
| Rick Best | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
June 28, 1944 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada | |||||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) | |||||
| Weight | 170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb) | |||||
| Position | Goaltender | |||||
| Played for |
NHL Draft | Undrafted | ||||
| Playing career | 1964–1968 | |||||
Richard W. Best is a Canadian retired ice hockey goaltender who was an All-American for Michigan Tech.[1]
Career
Best was recruited to
NCAA Tournament and, with MacInnes continuing to rotate his goaltenders, Rick Best started the semifinal game against Brown. Best rewarded MacInnes' trust by not allowing a single goal in the game, producing the first shutout in tournament history.[2] After blanking the Bears, some were surprised when Best was not in goal for the championship game, but when Michigan Tech won 8–2 there was little reason to criticize the move.[3]
Best continued to share the MTU net with Esposito for the next two seasons, helping the team earn the top seed in the conference tournament the following year, only to see the Huskies stymied in the second round by an upstart
All-WCHA Second Team
and was an All-American. He shared the later honor with Esposito, and the two became the only goaltenders on the same team to both be named All-Americans in the same year (as of 2020).
After graduating, best played one season of professional hockey for the Dayton Gems before retiring. He was inducted into the Michigan Tech Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994.[4]
Statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Regular season
|
Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | T | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | GP | W | L | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | ||
| 1961–62 | Winnipeg Braves | MJHL | 39 | 9 | 22 | 8 | 2350 | 168 | 0 | 4.30 | .837 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1962–63 | Winnipeg Braves | MJHL | 37 | 14 | 20 | 3 | 2245 | 142 | 1 | 3.83 | .880 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 180 | 18 | 0 | 6.00 | — | ||
| 1964–65 | Michigan Tech | WCHA | 14 | — | — | — | 840 | 42 | 1 | 3.00 | .893 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1965–66 | Michigan Tech | WCHA | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 2.62 | .901 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1966–67 | Michigan Tech | WCHA | 15 | — | — | — | 900 | 45 | 1 | 3.00 | .895 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1967–68 | Dayton Gems | IHL | 31 | — | — | — | 1750 | 123 | 0 | 4.22 | — | 7 | — | — | 442 | 24 | 0 | 3.24 | — | ||
| MJHL totals | 76 | 23 | 42 | 11 | 4595 | 310 | 1 | 4.05 | .860 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| NCAA totals | 42 | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 2.88 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
Awards and honors
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| All- Second Team
|
1966–67 | [5] |
| AHCA West All-American | 1966–67 | [1] |
References
- ^ a b "1966-1967 All-American Team". The American Hockey Coaches Association. Retrieved 2017-06-21.
- ^ "Best, Esposito were formidable Tech duo". The Dailt Mining Gazette. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
- ^ "Class Ring Answers, Hockey Memories, and More!". Tech Alum Newsletter. March 20, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
- ^ "Richard W. Best". Michigan Tech Huskies. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
- ^ "WCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or The Internet Hockey Database