Michigan Tech goalie Tony Esposito holds the NCAA hockey championship trophy. Esposito was in goal for the championship game victory 8-2 over Boston College. (Daily Mining Gazette archive photo)

HOUGHTON — His name is just a footnote in Michigan Tech hockey history.

Yet, Rick Best was one of the key figures for the Huskies in their run to a NCAA championship in the 1964-65 season.

While future National Hockey League hall of famer Tony Esposito is remembered as Tech’s foremost hockey alumnus, Best was equally important in the success of the team.

The two formed a tandem that was nearly unbeatable for two seasons.

Rick Yeo, a key player on that team, said coach John MacInnes had confidence in both.

“John felt that they were equal in talent,” Yeo recalled in an interview a few years ago. “I know Tony (Esposito) would have preferred to have been the starter. But Rick (Best) posted almost identical stats.”

The figures bear that out. In his three years on the varsity (freshmen weren’t eligible back them) Esposito posted a goal against average of 2.55, while Best stood at 2.88.

Esposito, who would play 15 years for the Chicago Blackhawks, had a save percentage of .912 at MTU. Best registered a .895 mark.

MacInnes was always known for recognizing goaltending talent, having been part of a stellar netminding team at the University of Michigan in the early 1950s along with Al Renfrew.

He recruited All-American Gary Bauman and he handled the goalie duties between 1961 and 1964 in Houghton.

The late Bruce Riutta of Hancock was a member of the 1965 national champs, starring on defense. Riutta, in a 2005 interview, said MacInnes knew how to evaluate talent.

“John had a real knack for recognizing the strengths in a player,” Riutta said. “I think he saw that Tony and Rick had different qualities that made them good. So, he alternated them.”

The Huskies won a total of 79 games between 1964-67. They may have been even better the year after they won the 1965 crown, according to Yeo.

“I know John MacInnes felt the team after the year we won it all was even better,” Yeo said. “But we ended up playing MSU in the NCAA playoffs on their ice, even although we had the better record. We lost a 4-3 game.”

Ironically enough, Hancock native Mike Coppo was a key member of the Spartans that season.

When Tech won the national title in 1965, Best recorded a 4-0 semifinal blanking of Brown — the first shutout in the history of the event.

Esposito was the winning goalie in an 8-2 title victory over Boston College.

Esposito, a Sault Ste. Marie. Ont. native, gained the nickname of “Tony O” for recording a record 15 shutouts in his rookie year in Chicago.

He later went on to front office duties in Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay.

Best played one season with the Dayton Gems of the IHL before going into business for himself. He appeared in just seven games.

“We had a tremendous hockey team at that time,” Esposito recalled. “We were generally rated No. 1 in the nation in the polls when Rick and I played on the team.”

MacInnes won a then-record 555 games before retiring in 1982 with three NCAA championship titles.