Coach Heyliger scheduled 16 games for the Illini, including a showdown with eastern power Dartmouth, but was unable to come to terms with their Big Ten rival Minnesota.

[1] Illinois was set to begin their season on December 8 against the London Athletic Club and ended up played the game on the same day as the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

With just 30 second left in the extra session he scored his fourth of the night to tip the scales in favor of the green, leaving Illinois heartbroken over their lost sweep of the Indians.

Due to Minnesota's refusal to play Illinois, Big Ten bragging rights would be determined by how the two teams fared against Michigan.

[4] The Illini sent 13 men to Ann Arbor, losing Joe Brooks to a broken hand, but the Wolverines were missing 4 players due to academic ineligibility and were soundly defeated in both games.

The team almost lost Amo Bessone to the war but he was able to receive a deferment while "Bibbs" Miller had to return home to report to his draft board.

As the team was preparing for its rematch with Michigan Tech, they received more bad news as Aldo Palazzari's GPA had fallen below the required 2.75 and he was now ineligible for the remainder of the season.

The team ended up losing Russ Priestly and Lou Ferronti for academic reasons as well, leaving Vic Heyliger with just 8 players (2 of them goaltenders) by early February.

[8] Before their next game against the Paris Athletic Club, Illinois lost team captain Joe Lotzer when he had to return home after the sudden death of his mother.

With new add Twitchell and defensive convert Benson on the starting forward line, Illinois fought a hard-earned victory over the Canadian amateur club.