Ken Manchurek, Class of 1985, has been elected to the Northeastern Hall of Fame for excellence in the sport of ice hockey.
Manchurek finished his career as the Huskies fifth highest scorer and with All-America accolades.
He came to NU from Assumption High School in Windsor, Ontario, where he was voted All-City for twice and, in his senior year, was voted MVP of the Assumption Purple Raiders.
His freshman year of 1980-81 proved to be the most schizophrenic in Northeastern hockey history. The Huskies started the season by winning 12 straight. They were the toast of college hockey, the darlings of Sports Illustrated stories. Then they lost two and won one. Then they slid through 12 straight losses to finish 13-13. Manchurek tallied nine goals and 14 assists for 23 points.
The next season everything went right for Northeastern. The Huskies finished the regular ECAC campaign with a 14-6-1 record but still entered the Boston Garden as an underdog since they had never won an ECAC title. A 5-4 victory over Harvard earned them the championship and a place in the NCAA Tournament. They defeated Bowling Green in the quarterfinals and moved on to the Frozen Four in Providence, R.I., where they lost to North Dakota but then beat UNH in the consolation game for third place. Their final overall record was 25-9-2. Despite missing five games to injury, Manchurek doubled his productivity with 21 goals and 25 assists for 46 points. He was voted the team's Unsung Hero.
There was little glory in 1982-83. The Huskies slumped to 13-14-1. However, Manchurek continued his scoring prowess with 19 goals and 23 assists for 42 points. He was voted the team's Most Valuable Player.
In his senior season the Huskies bounced back with a 16-12-1 record but just missed qualifying for the playoffs. The highlight of the year was a Beanpot championship. NU beat Harvard, 7-3, in the first round and Boston University 5-2 in the title game. Manchurek had two assists versus Harvard and scored unassisted against BU. He had his best scoring season ever with 27 goals and 24 assists for 51 points. His total of 76 goals stood him in third place in the Husky hierarchy, his 86 assists good for fifth place and his 162 points also for fifth place in the NU record book.
The senior captain mopped up the awards. Team MVP, All-New England and All-America. He also won the prestigious Tomasello Award as New England's Unsung Hero. He graduated dean's list as a Business major.
