The primary concern was the lack of players available for the squad; both academic ineligibility and the draft board had cut Illinois' roster down and the team only had a few alternates left.

There was hope that, due to the war, the Big Ten would alter its rules and permit freshman to play varsity sports.

[4] Despite firing more than 50 shots on goal, Illinois lost the first game of the season but the team did demonstrate that they had enough conditioning to last for an entire contest.

[5] Disaster stuck the team after the Gophers had arrived; Rolle was out with a mild concussion, Austin had come down with the flu and Prentiss' injury, which hadn't completely healed, was acting up.

[6] After a meeting between coach Vic Heyliger and AD Doug Mills, it was decided to cancel all games for the remainder of the semester but to resume after examinations.

When the team finally got to play their next game, they received good news as Bessone and Henry Coupe passed special examinations to remain eligible.

[8] The squad, which were tabbed 'Friday's Children' (in the nursery rhyme Monday's Child, the descriptors for Wednesday and Friday had been swapped), had already gone through a tumultuous season and had played just one game so far.

The team sent 9 men to Minneapolis, having added Coupe and Wes Tregoning in the interim while losing Prentiss to academic ineligibility.

Several players, particularly Tom Twitchell and George Balestri, turned in outstanding performances and held off the Gophers to earn a 2–1 win.

While there had been a good deal of animosity between Illinois and Minnesota over the past few seasons, the Illini credited the Gophers and Armstrong with not taking advantage of their misfortune earlier in the year.