Cyril L. "Cheddy" Thompson was a Canadian ice hockey coach.
Education
Cheddy Thompson attended Gonzaga University during the period when the Bulldogs supported an ice hockey program, playing for the team from 1939-1941. Thompson"s first season finished disappointingly with a 3-8 mark, but he soon got the Tigers on track with a then-school record 14 wins the next season.
Career
He was the head coach of Colorado College after World World War II during their most successful era and led the team to their first national title in 1950. After graduating Thompson joined the Military during the second world war and was assigned to 2nd Air Force Headquarters in Colorado Springs. With the war winding down Colorado College was among a number of schools who restarted (or began) Division I programs with theirs rekindling in the 1944-1945 season.
With the war over by the start of the next season, and Colorado College in need of a full-time coach, Thompson was chosen to head the program
The following year (1947-1948) the National Collegiate Athletic Association began holding a tournament to determine the ice hockey National Champion. With a 19-7 record, Thompson"s Tigers were one of four teams invited to participate, facing off against Dartmouth and losing the semifinal 8-4.
With a 14-6-1 mark the next season Colorado College returned to the national tournament (along with all three others from the previous year) and were defeated twice, first by Boston College in the semifinal (7-3) and then by Michigan in the first consolation game (10-4). Despite the 23 goals scored in two games, Ralph Bevins of Boston University was chosen as the Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
The Tigers missed the tournament for two consecutive years before returning in 1955.
While the Tigers dropped the title tilt to rival Michigan, a bigger loss came after the season when Thompson resigned as head coach.
Membership
While a fan favorite in Colorado Springs, Thompson wouldn"t receive many accolades for his work until after his death in 1972, being inducted into the Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Colorado College Athletic Hall of Fame twice: first as a member of the 1950 championship team in 1998 and then for his coaching career in 2013.