Jeremiah Recipient of 2008 Legends of Hockey Award

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- ­The Hobey Baker Memorial Award Foundation recently announced the 2008 Legends of Hockey recipient will be Eddie Jeremiah. Coaching Dartmouth College for 29 seasons from 1937 to 1967, "Jerry" guided the Big Green to NCAA finals in 1948 and 1949 and captured Ivy League titles in 1959 and 1960.

One of Jeremiah's many crowning achievements is a still-standing, the all-time college hockey winning streak of 46 straight games between 1942 and 1946. Back before there was an NCAA national championship, Jeremiah guided the Big Green to the "mythical" national title when Dartmouth rolled up a 21-2 record in the 1941-42 season.

"I played for him in 1942 then went to war for three years," commented Whitey Campbell, "that's just what you did back in World War II. I came back from serving in India and Burma with malaria, but two days later I was back in school and played for Eddie from 1945-48. Eddie made it a smooth transition ­ he was more of a friend than a coach."

Following the war years, a national championship was established for the top four college hockey teams and was played at the Broadmoor Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo. Dartmouth finished runner-up to Michigan in the first ever NCAA championship game in 1948, then lost to eastern rival Boston College in the 1949 title game.

Jeremiah, the son of Armenian refugees, was born in Worcester, Mass., and graduated from Dartmouth in 1930 having earned seven letters in three sports football, hockey and baseball including All America honors in hockey. He went on to play five years of pro hockey in the early 1930s, mostly in the Canadian-American Hockey League as well as stints in the NHL with the New York Americans and Boston Bruins.

Jeremiah was honored in 1951 as the very first recipient of the College Hockey Coach-of-the-Year Award. Retiring from three decades of coaching in 1967, Jeremiah died three months later from cancer. He was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1973.

During Jeremiah's final season and after coaching his final game against him, longtime Boston College coach Snooks Kelley commented, "When they made him, they threw the mold away. He's to college hockey what Ted Williams was to baseball."

Eddie Jeremiah will be honored along with this years' Hobey Baker Award winner at the Hobey Baker Award banquet May 2, 2008 in St. Paul. Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet will be accepting on Jeremiah's behalf. Banquet tickets are available by visiting the Hobey website at hobeybaker.com.