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The Queen's Gaels men's ice hockey team is an ice hockey team representing the Queen's Gaels athletics program of Queen's University at Kingston. The team is a member of the Ontario University Athletics conference and compete in U Sports. The Gaels play their home games at the Memorial Centre Arena in Kingston, Ontario.

History

19th century

The earliest recorded game for Queen's came in 1884 but its unclear if the match was officially sanctioned by the University or not. In 1886, a group of students from Queen's arranged a match against fellow undergraduates from the Royal Military College. The game took place on Kingston harbor and is typically regarded as the first game between two teams from Ontario. The two schools have been rivals ever since, the oldest such rivalry in the sport. The young program played when it was able to find the time and opposition but was stabilized when it became a founding member of the Ontario Hockey Association. Playing senior hockey at the time, Queen's won a league championship in 1895 and challenged the Montreal Hockey Club for the Stanley Cup. They were reportedly outmatched in the game and lost 1–5. Four years later the team had its second opportunity for the cup when they faced the Montreal Shamrocks in 1899. This match went about as well as the last with Queen's losing 2–6.

Allan Cup

At the beginning of the 20th century, Queen's joined with McGill and Toronto to form the first college conference in Canada. Queen's won two league championships in the first four years of play and leveraged their second intercollegiate title into a third challenge for the Stanley Cup. The Ottawa Hockey Club (later known as the 'Senators') easily dismissed the school boys with a pair of victories totaling 14–28. By 1909, the sport had become such a sensation in Canada that he various teams were separated into professional and amateur ranks. The Allan Cup was created as the amateur's version of the Stanley Cup and was initially awarded to the Ottawa Cliffsides. Queen's, by winning the intercollegiate title that season, earned the first challenge for the cup and defeated Ottawa 5–4, becoming the national amateur champions in the process. Queen's retained possession of the cup for a year and, after repeating as intercollegiate champs, they received their first challenge from the Cliffsides. Queen's cemented their place as the better of the two with a second win but were then beset by St. Michael's College and fell 4–5. Queen's returned to intercollegiate play afterwards and, though they were champions again in 1914, they did not challenge for the Allan Cup.

Interwar years

In 1915 the college schedule was cancelled due to World War I and Queen's rejoined the OHA for the duration. After the war, the Tricolour, as they were then known, returned to the intercollegiate conference but found they had been outpaced by Toronto. Over an 8-year span, Queen's would not post a winning record and eventually they withdrew from the league altogether. Queen's returned to the OHA in 1929, playing two seasons before suspending play due to financial constraints. Queen's was able to restart its program in the mid 30's and joined a new international intercollegiate league. Queen's played well in the four seasons of league play but the arrangement ended with the outbreak of World War II.

Transition period

Queen's returned to play after the war but had fallen even further behind their contemporaries. The newly christened 'Golden Gaels' posted dismal records for five years, routinely finishing last in the conference, and withdrew in 1950. After one season in the OHA, which was no better, the program was suspended for the remainder of the decade. The Gaels returned to play in 1960 and joined the Quebec-Ontario Athletic Association. They were a middle of the pack team for most of the next two decades and remained with the Ontario side when the conference was realigned in 1971. 1981 saw Queen's win its first conference championship in over 65 years and the Gaels made their first appearance in the national tournament.

Long recovery

After the title, Queen's had a few good years in the early 80s but slipped into the bottom half of the conference by the middle of the decade. After 1984, Queen's did not post a winning record for over 20 years and didn't fully regain their previous form until 2014. The Gaels finally returned to the national tournament in 2017 and won their second league championship two years later.

Season-by-season results

Senior and collegiate play

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points

† The International Intercollegiate League (IIL) was a joint venture between Canadian and American colleges.
‡ Ottawa refused to play in the championship due to a dispute of the site of the final game. Queen's assumed their place instead.

Collegiate only

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, SOL = Shootout Losses, Pts = Points

Note: Totals include results from 1959–60 onward except for the 1980 conference tournament.

See also

Queen's Gaels women's ice hockey

References

1. "Memorial Centre Arena". City of Kingston. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
2. "Hockey, First Game of". Queen's University. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
3. "Inside hockey's oldest rivalry: Two schools dropped the puck in 1886 — and the hate never went away". National Post. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
4. Coleman, Charles L. (1966). The Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 1, 1896–1926, inc. National Hockey League.

External links

• Queen's Gaels men's ice hockey official website

• Ice hockey teams in Ontario
• Queen's University at Kingston
• U Sports men's ice hockey teams
• Ice hockey clubs established in the 1880s
• 1880s establishments in Ontario