Anthony J. Frasca (1927–1999) was an American

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

player and coach for the varsity programs at

Colorado College Colorado College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory. The college enrolls approxi ...

. He helped CC win its first

national title A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

Career

Player

Tony Frasca began attending

in the fall of 1948, joining a team that had made the first

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

the year before. Frasca began playing with the Tigers after sitting out his freshman year (as was common) and for the third consecutive year

made the tournament. In the first game Frasca and Tigers knocked off defending champion

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifi ...

10–3, moving onto their first national title game. Against

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original c ...

the Tigers got down early before rebounding in the second period to take a 3–1 lead into the third. Once in the final frame CC produced the greatest offensive period the championship match has ever seen, scoring 10 times (2 by Frasca) to demolish the Terriers 13–4 and claim the school's first national title. One of his two goals in the third came 8 seconds after BU had scored, setting a team record for the fastest response goal that still stands. (as of 2014) The next year the tigers returned to the tournament but couldn't overcome

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model use ...

in the semifinals. The following year the Tigers became a founding member of the MCHL (a predecessor to the WCHA) and in Frasca's senior season won the inaugural conference title. The Tigers were invited to their fifth straight NCAA tournament and defeated

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

4–3 to make the 1952 title game, but couldn't top defending champion

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. Frasca was an inaugural member of the All-MCHL First Team and finished his playing career as the third leading scorer in CC history (#5 in career goals, #1 in career assists) and third in points-per-game (as of 2014 Frasca is still 5th all-time in PPG).

Coaching

In 1958 Frasca returned to his alma mater as an assistant professor and the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other Coach (sport), coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manage ...

of the Tigers who were a year removed from their second national title. Taking over after the sudden resignation of

Tom Bedecki Thomas George Bedecki (May 4, 1929 – December 15, 1993) was a Canadian ice hockey player, and college ice hockey head coach at University of Ottawa, Colorado College, and Ohio State University. Education Bedecki attended St. Francis Xavie ...

as well as the dissolution of the WIHL, the Tigers struggled to a 6-14-3 record in his first season, their worst in 13 years. CC's situation got a little better the following season when the WCHA was officially founded with the Tigers as a charter member but the record did not improve much. The next two seasons saw a sharp decline in the team's performance, hitting rock bottom in 1961–62 when the Tigers posted an all-time NCAA worst 0–23 record. Colorado College rebounded sharply the next season, posting a winning season at 12–11 and earning Frasca the 1963

Spencer Penrose Award The Spencer Penrose Award is awarded yearly to the top coach in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey by the American Hockey Coaches Association. The finalists for each year's award comprise the conference Coach of the Year winners from each Divisi ...

, but after the season Frasca stepped down from his position in favor of Bob Johnson. Frasca remained at Colorado College, serving as the head coach for the baseball team for 24 years as well as director of intramural sports and manager of the ice rink before retiring as an emeritus associate professor in 1990.

Death

Tony Frasca died on April 1, 1999, from

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a cancer that develops from the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes, including gastric adenoca ...

at the age of 71.

Awards and honors

Frasca was awarded the 1963 Spencer Penrose Award by the

American Hockey Coaches Association The American Hockey Coaches Association was formed in 1947 in Boston. The founding members coached college ice hockey but membership has grown to include coaches at every level of the sport from youth hockey to professional ice hockey, althoug ...

for being voted as the best coach that season. He was inducted into the Colorado Springs Sports Hall of fame in 2000 as part of the 1950 national title team and in 2001 Colorado College began awarding a team award to the top playoff performer in his honor.

Career statistics

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frasca, Tony 1927 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American people American men's ice hockey forwards Colorado College Tigers men's ice hockey coaches Colorado College Tigers men's ice hockey players Sportspeople from Cambridge, Massachusetts Ice hockey people from Middlesex County, Massachusetts Ice hockey coaches from Massachusetts NCAA men's ice hockey national champions AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Ice hockey players from Massachusetts Deaths from stomach cancer Deaths from cancer in Colorado