Gordon Wilkie

Gordon Wilkie (born May 3, 1940) is a Canadian ice hockey player (center) who played three seasons for the University of Michigan from 1961 to 1964. As a senior and team captain in 1964, Wilkie led the Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey team to the NCAA ice hockey championship. Wilkie also played two seasons of junior hockey with the Regina Pats, and five years of professional hockey with the Cleveland Barons, San Diego Gulls and Seattle Totems. He was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1989.

University of Michigan A native of Regina, Saskatchewan, Wilkie played two seasons of junior hockey with the Regina Pats from 1957 to 1959. In 1960, Coach Al Renfrew recruited Wilkie and other players from Regina to play for him at the University of Michigan. Wilkie later recalled, "My dad ran a meat market in Regina. He simply couldn't afford to send me here. Michigan hockey was my chance at an education. I spent a lot of Saturday nights in the library." He added, "I owe Red (Berenson) and Coach (Al) Renfrew for the opportunity to be part of this great tradition. As a junior in the 1962-63 season, Wilkie scored 34 points on 24 goals and 10 assists. At the end of the season, in March 1963, Wilkie was elected by his teammates to be the captain of the 1963-64 team. The 1964 team had a record of 24-4-1 and defeated the University of Denver 6-3 in their home arena to win the NCAA title.

Wilkie credited the success of the 1964 team to chemistry: "We had 20 guys who fit together as a team. Any night any line could take it, not just a few guys. And we had six good defensemen. We got along as well on the ice as off it, and that's big in college hockey. The Regina guys used to joke with the Toronto guys who produced the best players, but we had good harmony, even with the American kids." Wilkie and Gary Butler were Michigan's leading scorers, combining for a 135 points in just 29 games. In one memorable game in the 1963–1964 season, Michigan beat Ohio State 21–0, still a Michigan team record. The team scored all 21 goals in the first two periods, and Wilkie recalled Coach Renfrew telling the team after the second period, "Anyone who scores this period is benched." In April 1966, Wilkie scored the winning goal for Cleveland in the semi-finals of the Calder Cup Playoffs in the AHL.

Wilkie returned to the WHL in 1966, playing for 111 games and scoring 42 points for the San Diego Gulls in the first two seasons of professional hockey in San Diego, from 1966 to 1968. In 2003, the members of the 1964 NCAA championship team returned to Yost Arena for a 40th-anniversary reunion. The 1964 team was brought onto the ice during the first intermission of a Michigan hockey game, and was given a standing ovation, as the hockey pep band played "The Victors." Wilkie told a reporter for the Michigan Daily that watching the action brought back "fond memories."

Awards and honours Award Year All-WCHA Second Team 1961–62 All-WCHA First Team 1963–64 AHCA West All-American 1963–64 All-NCAA All-Tournament First Team 1964