UIC Flames men's ice hockey explained

Team Name:UIC Flames
Team Link:
University:University of Illinois at Chicago
Sex:men's
Conference:Central Collegiate Hockey Association
Conference Short:CCHA
Location:Chicago, Illinois
Coach:N/A
Arena:UIC Pavilion
Capacity:6,958

The UIC Flames men's ice hockey was an NCAA Division I ice hockey team that played in the CCHA for most of their 15-year tenure.

History

Illinois–Chicago began sponsoring men's ice hockey in 1966 and stayed with the lesser-classified teams when the NCAA created the tier system in the 1970s.[1] After fifteen years in the second tier the Flames jumped to Division I, playing as an independent for one season before joining the CCHA for the 1982–83 season.[2] With their new coach Val Belmonte[3] the team had difficulty competing in a major conference in the early years, finishing dead last in the CCHA their first two seasons. By 1984–85 the Flames had climbed into the middle of the conference standings aided by top 10 scorer (and future NHLer) Ray Staszak, and their all-time leading defenseman Darin Banister.[4] Two years later the Flames produced their first winning season, going 21–17–1 and winning their first postseason game (though they still couldn't get out of the conference quarterfinals). UIC finally managed to get into the CCHA semifinals in 1989 but after a dreadful season the following year Belmonte was out as coach.[5]

Larry Pedrie was brought in as the head coach[6] and while the Flames saw a slight improvement in his first season UIC would remain a bottom-feeder for the duration of his tenure. The Flames had a sub-.400 record every season over the next six years and, though they would make the CCHA tournament every year from 1991 through '95, they went 1–10 in tournament play, never making it out of the opening round. When the 1995–96 season rolled around the Flames were seven years removed from a winning season and virtually irrelevant in college hockey circles. More importantly the program had lost the university around $600,000 the year before and UIC did not have another major program to balance out the books.[7] With the administration believing basketball to be a better investment the ice hockey program was discontinued after the season.

UIC Hockey was broadcast from 1983-84 through the final season of 1995-96 with Les Grobstein handing play by play. Chris Madsen and John Kelley filled in when Grobstein had a conflict with UIC Basketball.

The Flames would return to the ice in 2004 as a club team, but as of 2017 the Chicago area and the entire state of Illinois has been left without a Division I program since the Flames program ended.[8]

Season-by-season records

Source:[9]

SeasonConferenceRecordPct.PositionConference
Tournament
Coach
NCAA 1–6–0 John Kantarski
NCAA 12–5–0 John Kantarski
NCAA 12–4–0 John Kantarski
NCAA 11–6–0 John Kantarski
NCAA 10–12–1 John Kantarski
NCAA 9–7–0 John Kantarski
NCAA 11–11–0 John Kantarski
NCAA 17–5–2 John Kantarski
NCAA 12–10–0 John Kantarski
NCAA 17–11–1 John Kantarski
NCAA 14–12–0 John Kantarski
NCAA 14–10–0 John Kantarski
NCAA 17–12–1 John Kantarski
NCAA 14–13–0 John Kantarski
NCAA 9–17–0 John Kantarski
7–24–0 John Kantarski
6–28–2 12th Val Belmonte
CCHA 5–29–1 11th Val Belmonte
CCHA 17–23–0 5th t-5th Val Belmonte
CCHA 14–25–1 7th t-5th Val Belmonte
CCHA 21–17–1 4th t-5th Val Belmonte
CCHA 18–20–1 6th t-5th Val Belmonte
CCHA 23–14–5 3rd 4th Val Belmonte
CCHA 10–27–1 9th Val Belmonte
CCHA 13–23–2 8th t-5th Larry Pedrie
CCHA 10–20–6 7th t-5th Larry Pedrie
CCHA 10–25–2 9th t-7th Larry Pedrie
CCHA 11–26–2 9th t-7th Larry Pedrie
CCHA 11–22–4 8th t-6th Larry Pedrie
CCHA 9–24–3 11th Larry Pedrie
30 Seasons365–488–363 Coaches

All-time coaching records

TenureCoachYearsRecordPct.
1966–1982 16 187–165–5
1982–1990 8 114–183–12
1990–1996 6 64–140–19
Totals3 coaches30 seasons365–488–36

Flames in the NHL

PlayerPositionTeam(s)YearsGames
Wade CampbellDefensemanWPG, BOS1982–19882130
Shawn CroninDefensemanWSH, WPG, PHI, SJS1988–19952920
Mike RucinskiCenterCHI1987–198910
Ray StaszakForwardDET1985–198640
Source:[10]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Hockey returns to UIC as student-organized club. UIC News. 2004-04-21. 2017-01-29.
  2. News: 2012–13 CCHA Media Guide. CCHA. 2014-06-29.
  3. News: Val Belmonte Year-by-Year Coaching Record. USCHO.com. 2017-01-29.
  4. Web site: U. of Illinois-Chicago all-time player list . hockeydb.com.
  5. News: Belmonte quits UIC hockey job. https://web.archive.org/web/20170202054544/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3993484.html. dead. 2017-02-02. Chicago Sun Times. 1990-04-12. 2017-01-29.
  6. News: Larry Pedrie Year-by-Year Coaching Record. USCHO.com. 2017-01-29.
  7. News: Hockey Appears Finished At Uic. Chicago Tribune. 1996-03-26. 2017-01-29.
  8. News: Despite surge in talent, Illinois lacking college hockey . Chicago Tribune. 2014-10-04. 2017-01-29.
  9. News: John Kantarski Year-by-Year Coaching Record. USCHO.com. 2017-01-29.
  10. Web site: Hockey DB . U. of Illinois-Chicago . March 14, 2019.