Steve Colp

Summary

Stephen Colp is a Canadian retired ice hockey center who was an All-American for Michigan State.[1]

Steve Colp
Born (1954-07-27) July 27, 1954 (age 69)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 160 lb (73 kg; 11 st 6 lb)
Position Center
Played for Michigan State
Sioux City Musketeers
NHL Draft 158th, 1974
Chicago Blackhawks
WHA Draft 115th, 1974
Cleveland Crusaders
Playing career 1972–1977

Career edit

Colp played junior hockey for the Richmond Hill Rams, scoring 80 points in 42 games in 1972. He came to attention of Amo Bessone and was brought in to Michigan State with the 1972 recruiting class. Colp debuted for the Spartans as a freshman and promptly led MSU in both goals and points in his first season. For his second year, Colp teamed up with fellow sophomore Tom Ross and the two formed one of the most dynamic duos in college hockey history. Colp's numbers shot up more than half again as much and he led the nation in scoring with 97 points, setting a new program record. Colp was named an All-American for the year but despite the huge offensive numbers he and Ross produced, Michigan State was stuck in the middle of the WCHA standings. In the conference tournament that year, MSU narrowly missed an upset of top-seeded Michigan Tech but ultimately fell in the second round. After his stellar season, Colp was drafted in the later round of both the NHL and WHA Drafts.[2]

Colp missed a significant number of games during his junior season due to injury and ended up seeing his point total nearly cut in half. He rebounded sharply in his senior season, finishing with 94 points but finished behind Ross for the team lead (105). That season, Ross and Colp combined for 91 goals, nearly half of the MSU offense, and helped the Spartans to a second-place finish in their conference. The team made the second round of the WCHA tournament and found themselves in a battle with Minnesota. After tying the first game 2–2 they ended regulation of the second match knotted at 6 each and it took three overtime periods to decide the winner. Despite firing 78 shots on goal, the Spartans ended up on the losing side.[3] At the end of his college career, Colp had an astounding 300 points in 138 games. He is one of only 5 players to score 300 points at the top level of college hockey (as of 2021) but he is second for Michigan State behind his long-time teammate Tom Ross.[4] Colp is also tied for second all-time with 53 power play goals, again with only Ross ahead of him.[5]

After graduating, Colp played one season of senior hockey before retiring.

Career statistics edit

Regular season and playoffs edit

    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1971–72 Richmond Hill Rams MTJHL 42 35 45 80 43
1972–73 Michigan State WCHA 36 35 25 60 31
1973–74 Michigan State WCHA 38 43 54 97 48
1974–75 Michigan State WCHA 25 14 35 49 23
1975–76 Michigan State WCHA 39 40 54 94 56
1976–77 Sioux City Musketeers USHL 42 37 40 77 14
NCAA Totals 138 132 168 300 158

Awards and honors edit

Award Year
All-WCHA First Team 1973–74 [6]
AHCA West All-American 1973–74 [1]
All-WCHA Second Team 1975–76 [6]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "1973-1974 All-American Team". The American Hockey Coaches Association. Retrieved 2017-06-21.
  2. ^ "Steve Colp". Hockey Draft Central. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  3. ^ "1976 NCAA Champions". Minnesota Golden Gophers. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  4. ^ "NCAA - All-time totals". Elite prospects. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  5. ^ "NCAA Hockey Offensive Records". Inside College Hockey. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  6. ^ a b "WCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.

External links edit

  • Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
Awards and achievements
Preceded by NCAA Ice Hockey Scoring Champion
1973–74
Succeeded by