Hockey Team Takes On Michigan In Semi-Finals of NCAA Tourney

The Crimson's hockey squad of all Massachusetts players will be an unusual sight at Colorado Springs tonight. Approximately 80 per cent of the other three teams is Canadian-born and all have been to the Tournament at least one other year, with Michigan attending all seven previous championships and winning four times.

The Wolverines, termed by their coach, Vic Heyliger, as the most inexperienced sextet he has taken to the national tourney, will face the varsity tomorrow in the opener with an entire squad of Canadians--including ten sophomores.

Big (6-3) Mike Buchanan, who has reportedly played in three try-out games with the Chicago Blackhawks, teams with his twin brother Neil to boost the Michigan defense, while the sextet's offense is paced by Captain Bill MacFarlane and wing Tom Rendall.

Although they usually only use an average of nine players in their toughest games, the powerful Wolverines haven't shown any signs of their inexperience or the effects of a lack of depth, and they bring a streak of eight victories into the semi-final match with the crimson.

The Tigers of Colorado College, hosts for the three-day Tourney, took first place in the Western League with a record of 22-6-0 and has been rated as the outstanding defensive sextet in the nation.

NCAA Champions in 1950, the Tigers will again be predominantly Canadian, with only four out of 18 on the squad from the States. The team's blue-line unit will be led by Captain Phil Hilton, a strong candidate as All-American defenseman. Colorado's attack centers about forward Clare Smith, second in the League's scoring race.

With comparative scores at a minimum and sportswriters unfamiliar with the teams outside their region, the Tournament's favorite can only be the Tournament's winner.