Connie Pleban

John E. "Connie" Pleban was an ice hockey player and head coach who led Team USA to three medal finishes at international competitions.

Connie Pleban

Biographical details
Born	(1914-04-24)April 24, 1914 Eveleth, Minnesota
Died	October 24, 2001(2001-10-24) (aged 87) Duluth, Minnesota
Alma mater	Eveleth Junior College
Playing career
1932–1934	Eveleth Junior College
1934–1938	Eagle River Falcons
1938–1941	Eveleth Rangers
1941–1942	Marquette Sentinels
1947–1948	Eveleth Rangers
1950	Team USA
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1934–1938	Eagle River Falcons
1938–1941	Eveleth Rangers
1941–1942	Marquette Sentinels
1947–1948	Eveleth Rangers
1950	Team USA
1952	Team USA
1955–1959	Minnesota–Duluth
1961–1962	Team USA
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1950	Team USA (Manager)
Head coaching record
Overall	56–25–5 (.680)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
1956 MIAC Champion 1957 MIAC Champion 1958 MIAC Champion 1959 MIAC Champion
Awards
1990 United States Hockey Hall of Fame 1992 Hobey Baker Legends of College Hockey Award
Medal record Men's ice hockey Representing the United States Olympic Games 1952 Oslo World Championships 1950 London 1962 Colorado Springs

Career

Pleban was a graduate of Eveleth High School in 1932 and continued his education at Eveleth Junior College. While there, Pleban was a member of the 1934 team that won an intercollegiate championship. After graduating, he became the player/coach for several teams and continued working in that capacity until 1942. After the United States entered World War II, Pleban entered the military and served until the end of the war.

In 1950, Pleban joined the US National Team as a player, coach and manager for the 1950 World Championships, and led the team to a silver medal. He retired as a player following the tournament but repeated the coaching feat two years later at the 1952 Winter Olympics. In 1955, Pleban was named head coach at Minnesota–Duluth and helped the program begin to transition to the top level of college hockey. He led the Bulldogs to the MIAC championship in each of his 4 years with the program, never losing a single conference game.

Pleban returned to Team USA in 1961 but couldn't get the defending Olympic gold medalists to find much success. Finishing with a 1–5–1 record, it was one of the program's poorest records, but Pleban was allowed to remain as coach and produced a far better result the following year. The US went 5–2 and ended up with the bronze medal. Afterwards, Pleban continued to work in the Duluth area, organizing amateur hockey throughout the 1960s and 70's.

He was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990 and was the recipient of the Hobey Baker Legends of College Hockey Award in 1992.

Head coaching record

International

Note: GC = Games coached, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against

Year	Team	Competition	Finish	GC	W	L	T	GF	GA
1950	US National Team	WC	Silver	5	4	1	0	29	20
1952	US National Team	OG	Silver	8	6	1	1	43	21
1961	US National Team	WC	6th	7	1	5	1	24	43
1962	US National Team	WC	Bronze	7	5	2	0	54	23

College

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs (MIAC) (1955–1959)
1955–56	Minnesota–Duluth	17–6–0	12–0–0	1st
1956–57	Minnesota–Duluth	16–4–3	12–0–0	1st
1957–58	Minnesota–Duluth	13–6–1	10–0–0	1st
1958–59	Minnesota–Duluth	10–9–1	7–0–0	1st
Total:		56–25–5
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from