On February 9th, 1974, the Cornell men’s ice hockey team defeated Dartmouth with a score of 6-5. This win gave the team a record of 7-5-1 in the ECAC and a 4-3 in the Ivy League. While the score may give the impression that this was a close game, in reality Cornell led by 5-2 at the start of the final period. Dartmouth was able to nearly tie the game but was unable to secure the win.
A major reason for this outcome has Big Red defenseman George Kuzmicz. In the game, he had a hat trick, stopped Dartmouth from gaining the lead, and did it all while wearing a modified football helmet to protect his broken jaw. Kuzmicz’ first two goals of the night came from power plays, with the final coming from a snapshot during the second period. He also assisted another goal made by Bob Murray. During the 1973-74 season, Kuzmicz scored a total of seven goals and 23 assists for a total of 30 points, even though he missed two games due to his jaw injury. Kucmicz was named to the NCAA East All-American team in 1974. He also was named to the All-Ivy League team and was an ECAC All-Star. After finishing at Cornell, Kuzmicz went on to play for the Toronto Toros. After two years in Toronto, he was drafted in the ninth round by the Detroit Red Wings.
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