Dick Burg

For persons of a similar name, see Richard Berg (disambiguation).
Dick Burg
Born (1936-03-24) March 24, 1936 (age 88)
Edina, Minnesota, U.S.
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 181 lb (82 kg; 12 st 13 lb)
Position Wing
Played for Minnesota
National team  United States
Playing career 1955–1963

Richard Burg (born March 24, 1936) is an American retired ice hockey winger who was an All-American for Minnesota.[1]

Career

After a stellar junior career where he was an "All-City" in baseball, football and hockey, Burg began attending the University of Minnesota in 1954.[2] While he initially planned to play all three sports in college, Burg suffered a shoulder injury while playing freshman football that forced him to stop playing both football and baseball. He focused solely on hockey and, when he made the varsity team as a sophomore, he played well. He finished 4th in team scoring in 1956 but both Burg and the team flagged the following year.

As a senior Burg had a resurgence, leading the Gophers with 19 goals and 35 points and was named an All-American. After graduating Burg joined the US National Team, scoring 20 goals in 50 games during the season. He was also a member of the squad at the 1959 World Championships, but has the unfortunate distinction of being the only forward on the team to not score a goal during the tournament.[3] The team could have used a goal from Burg since they finished in a tie with Czechoslovakia for third place and were beaten on the third tie-breaker for the bronze medal (the second tie-breaker was goal-differential).[4]

Burg was not selected for the national team the following year, spending the season with the Minneapolis Millers of the USCHL. After Team USA won goal at the 1960 Winter Olympics, Burg was offered a second stint with the team at the 1961 World Championships. Both Burg and the team performed worse than the last time with the team managing to win just a single game while Burg was limited to one assist in seven games.[5] After that debacle Burg returned to semi-pro hockey in Minnesota, playing two seasons in the USHL before retiring.

Burg was later inducted into the Minneapolis Hockey Hall of Fame.

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1955–56 Minnesota WIHL 29 10 10 20 17 — — — — —
1956–57 Minnesota WIHL 20 8 4 12 16 — — — — —
1957–58 Minnesota WIHL 28 19 16 35 30 — — — — —
1958–59 US National Team International 50 20 12 32 20 — — — — —
1959–60 Minneapolis Millers USCHL — — — — — — — — — —
1961–62 Minneapolis Rebels USHL — — — — — — — — — —
1962–63 St. Paul Steers USHL — — — — — — — — — —
NCAA totals 77 37 30 67 63 — — — — —

International

Year Team   GP G A Pts PIM
1959 United States 8 0 4 4 4
1961 United States 7 0 1 1 6
Totals 15 0 5 5 10

Awards and honors

Award Year
All-WIHL Second Team 1957–58 [6]
AHCA West All-American 1957–58 [1]

References

  1. ^ a b "1957-1958 All-American Team". The American Hockey Coaches Association. Retrieved 2017-06-21.
  2. ^ "Dick Burg - Minneapolis Hockey Hall of Fame!". Minneapolis Hockey. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  3. ^ "Team USA - Ice Hockey World Championships 1959 - Player Stats". Quant Hockey. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  4. ^ Ottawa Citizen March 16, 1959, page 13.
  5. ^ "Team USA - Ice Hockey World Championships 1961 - Player Stats". Quant Hockey. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  6. ^ "WCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.