Spike Schultz

Gerald "Spike" Schultz is a Canadian retired ice hockey goaltender who set the NCAA record for consecutive shutouts during his first season as the starter for North Dakota.[1]

Spike Schultz
BornEdmonton, Alberta, Canada
PositionGoaltender
Played forNorth Dakota
Playing career1953–1955

Career

Schultz was the Fighting Sioux's main goaltender for the 1953–54 season. While the team finished with a middling record (14–12–1) the highlight of the season was a 4-game stretch in January where Spike Schultz could not be beaten. A scheduling quirk had North Dakota play Michigan Tech in four consecutive games over a three-week period. Because Tech was the worst team in the WIHL that season the Sioux had a good chance to climb in the standings, but no one could have predicted that the Huskies wouldn't be able to score a single goal. Spike Schultz turned aside every puck that came his way for four games, setting a new NCAA record for consecutive shutouts (4). His shutout streak wasn't much longer than those four contests and ended at 249:41. While the NCAA had only officially recognized ice hockey as a sport for seven seasons at that point, Schultz' record stood for over 50 years until Blaine Lacher strung 5 straight goose-eggs together and shattered the shutout streak by over 125 minutes.

Schultz' astounding performance earned him a spot on the AHCA First Team All-American.[2] Outside that remarkable performance, however, Schultz had a rather pedestrian career in net for North Dakota; he allowed over 4 goals per game and had only one other shutout in two seasons.

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPWLTMINGASOGAASV%GPWLMINGASOGAASV%
1953–54North DakotaWIHL2743.54.898
1954–55North DakotaWIHL2313.50.888
NCAA totals5023232293919353.94.879

Awards and honors

AwardYear
All-WIHL Second Team1953–54[3]
AHCA First Team All-American1953–54[2]

References