Tom Vannelli
American ice hockey player and coach
Tom Vannelli is a retired American ice hockey player and coach. He helped Minnesota win its first two National Titles in 1974 and 1976 winning the Tournament MOP for the second.
Career
Vannelli was a high-scoring forward for St. Paul Academy in his home town, recording 105 points in just 20 games during his senior year. He was part of Herb Brooks' second recruiting class and though limited to just three points in 17 games in his freshman season, Vannelli helped Minnesota win its first national championship. Vannelli missed only 1 game in his sophomore season and saw his point total ascend to 52, finishing second on the team. Minnesota won the WCHA championship and recorded its first 30-win season but the Gophers were shut down in the championship by Jim Warden of Michigan Tech.
Vannelli was named as an alternate captain in his junior season and posted career highs in goals (26) assists (43) and points (69) en route to leading the team in scoring. Vannelli led Minnesota to their third consecutive championship appearance and, unsatisfied with the result in 1975, took matters into his own hands with a 5-point night, 1 away from the tournament record. Vannelli had a hand in 5 of the Gophers' six goals on the night, and was named as the Tournament MOP for his offensive outburst.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q65548627. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1974, 1976 and 1975.
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This entry incorporates text from “Tom Vannelli” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.