McMaster Marauders men's ice hockey explained

Team Name:McMaster Marauders
Team Link:
Athletics Name:McMaster Marauders
University:McMaster University
Sex:men's
Color1:Maroon
Color2:Gray
Hex1:660033
Hex2:666666
Usportschampion:1963
Usportstourneys:1963
Conference Tournament:1961, 1962, 1963

The McMaster Marauders men's ice hockey team (formerly the McMaster Marlins) was an ice hockey team representing the McMaster Marauders athletics program of McMaster University. McMaster previous fielded a team off-and-on for over 80 years, winning the inaugural University Cup in 1963.[1]

History

McMaster began its ice hockey program in 1902, playing first at the intermediate level. The team remained in the second tier of Canadian college hockey for several years but saw little success. After returning following the end of World War I, McMaster found itself mired at the bottom of the standings and decided to change tack. In 1920, the school decided to field a junior team in the Ontario Hockey Association. After the 20-and-under team went winless, the school abandoned the idea and then left the IIS for the Intermediate Groups. Again, the team went winless and the administration decided to suspend all of its hockey programs afterwards. The Marlins remained dormant for a few years but made a triumphant return in 1925, winning their IIS group in 1926. After taking the following year off, the school decided to support the program once more. McMaster jointly played both Intermediate and Senior hockey for a few years but then began to switch between the two in the early 30s. The club went dormant for a few years after 1935 in part due to financial problems brought about by the great depression. The Marlins returned in 1937 but were once again forced off of the ice after the outbreak of World War II.

After the second world war, McMaster returned to the Intermediate level but found that the state of Canadian college hockey had changed. The IIS was not restarted following the war and the schools were left to fend for themselves. McMaster was active at the time but few records of their time in the 40s and 50s persist. In 1958, several of the Intermediate programs took matters into their own hands and formed a new ice hockey league.[2] The Marlins quickly became on the better teams and won the league championship in 1961. The following season, McMaster was one of three clubs who were invited to join the Quebec–Ontario Athletic Association and they all played concurrently in both conferences. McMaster was league champion in both but lost their playoff match in the QOAA. The following season, the CIAU announced the inaugural University Cup and would invite the league champion of the four major conferences across the country. Because the OIAA was not to be included, McMaster played solely out of the QOAA and repeated as regular season champions. This time, however, they won the postseason championship and advanced to the national tournament. McMaster won a pair of 1-goal games to claim the title as the first national champion in Canadian college history.

After winning the title, McMaster quickly tumbled down the league standings and became a bottom-feeder by the end of the decade. After they were placed in the Ontario University Athletic Association (OUAA) during the great realignment in 1971, McMaster recovered some of their former glory. The team made the conference postseason many times between '72 and '83 with their best performance coming in 1979.[3] Unfortunately, as the 80s wore on, the team experienced another lull and sagged towards the bottom of the standings. 1988 was the worst season the program had ever seen, with the Marauders finishing last in the standings. After an even worse campaign the year after, the school decided that it was too costly to support an expensive losing program and suspended the program for good.

Season-by-season results

Senior and collegiate play

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

Extra-League ChampionU Sports SemifinalistConference regular season championsConference Division ChampionsConference Playoff Champions
SeasonConferenceRegular SeasonConference Tournament ResultsNational Tournament Results
ConferenceOverall
GPWLTPts*FinishGPWLT%
1902–03IIS???????????Lost Western Round-Robin, 1–1 (Toronto II)
1903–04IIS???????????Won Western Semifinal series, 13–11 (Toronto II)
Lost Championship, 16–19 (Royal Military College)
1904–05IIS???????????Lost Semifinal series, ?–? (Toronto II)
1905–06IIS????????????
1906–07IIS???????????Lost Quarterfinal series, 7–16 (Toronto II)
1907–08IIS???????????Lost Semifinal series, 8–25 (Toronto II)
1908–09IIS???????????Lost Semifinal series, 9–16 (Toronto II)
bgcolor=cccccc colspan="18" Program suspended
1911–12IIS???????????Lost Championship series, 7–12 (Royal Military College)
1912–13IIS???????????Won Divisional Final, ?–? (Toronto II)
Lost Championship series, 7–17 (Royal Military College)
1913–14IIS???????????Lost Semifinal series, 5–14 (Toronto II)
1914–15IIS???????????Lost Semifinal Round-Robin, 1–1 (Toronto II)
bgcolor=cccccc colspan="18" Program suspended due to World War I
1918–19Intermediate404003rd?????
1919–20IIS505004th?????
1920–21IIS???????????
OHA Jr.404003rd
1921–22Intermediate606004th?????
bgcolor=cccccc colspan="18" Program suspended
1925–26IIS440001st?????Lost Championship series, 2–6 (Royal Military College)
bgcolor=cccccc colspan="18" Program suspended
1927–28IIS622262nd?????
1928–29IIS835064th?????
OHA Sr.64208T–1stLost Group Championship series, 2–6 (Georgetown)
1929–30IIS???????????
OHA Sr.624043rd
1930–31IIS / OHA Sr. B 404004th?????
1931–32IIS303004th?????
1932–33IIS61502T–3rd?????
1933–34OHA Intermediate61502T–3rd?????
1934–35OHA Intermediate22004T–1st?????Lost First Round series, 9–12 (Waterloo Hockey Club)
bgcolor=cccccc colspan="18" Program suspended
1937–38IIS605114th?????
1938–39IIS632172nd?????
bgcolor=cccccc colspan="18" Program suspended due to World War II
1945–46OHA Intermediate312043rd?????
1946–47Independent???????????
1947–48Independent???????????
1948–49Independent???????????
1949–50Independent???????????
1950–51Independent???????????
1951–52Independent???????????
1952–53Independent???????????
1953–54Independent???????????
1954–55Independent???????????
1955–56Independent???????????
1956–57Independent???????????
1957–58Independent???????????
TotalsGPWLT%Championships
Regular Season?????1 IIS Section Championship, 1 OHA Sr. Group Championship, 1 OHA Intermediate Group Championship
Conference Post-season?????
Regular Season and Postseason Record?????
† The Western section of IIS play was also used for the standings of the OHA Senior B Group 2.

Collegiate only

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

U Sports Champion U Sports SemifinalistConference regular season championsConference Division ChampionsConference Playoff Champions
SeasonConferenceRegular SeasonConference Tournament ResultsNational Tournament Results
ConferenceOverall
GPWLTOTLSOLPts*FinishGPWLT%
1958–59OIAA???????????
1959–60OIAA???????????
1960–61OIAA?????1st?????bgcolor=ddffdd align="left"Won Semifinal, ?
Won Championship, ? (Ontario Agricultural)
1961–62QOAA111010201st?????Lost Championship series, 10–13 (Toronto)
OIAA?????1stbgcolor=ddffdd align="left"Won Championship, forfeit (Ryerson)
1962–63QOAA121200241st161600bgcolor=ddffdd align="left"Won Championship series, 12–7 (Laval)bgcolor=FFF3BF align="left"Won Semifinal, 4–3 (St. Francis Xavier)
Won Championship, 3–2 (British Columbia)
1963–64QOAA12651133rd12651
1964–65QOAA16583136th16583
1965–66QOAA16610012T–5th166100
1966–67QOAA16790145th16790
1967–68QOAA16952203rd17962Lost Semifinal, 5–6 (Waterloo)
1968–69QOAA15510010T–9th155100
1969–70QOAA141113411th141113
1970–71QOAA153939T–10th15393
1971–72OUAA191081216th201091Lost Quarterfinal, 1–2 (Guelph)
1972–73OUAA178901610th17890
1973–74OUAA1961111310th196111
1974–75OUAA17953217th18963Lost Quarterfinal, 1–2 (Waterloo)
1975–76OUAA12921192nd13931Lost Quarterfinal, 1–2 (Guelph)
1976–77OUAA167901410th16790
1977–78OUAA161132244th171142Lost Quarterfinal, 4–5 (Wilfrid Laurier)
1978–79OUAA161321271st?????Won Quarterfinal, 4–3 (OT) (Toronto)
Won Semifinal, ?
Lost Championship series, ?–? (Guelph)
1979–80OUAA221525353rd?????results unavailable
1980–81OUAA22137228T–5th231382Lost Quarterfinal, 4–8 (Toronto)
1981–82OUAA22137228T–3rd251492Won Quarterfinal, 6–5 (York)
Lost Semifinal series, 0–2 (Guelph)
1982–83OUAA2414100285th2514110Lost Quarterfinal, 4–3 (Queen's)
1983–84OUAA24713418T–8th247134
1984–85OUAA2411121238th2411121
1985–86OUAA24517212T–11th245172
1986–87OUAA248133197th248133
1987–88OUAA262222617th262222
1988–89OUAA2622312617th262231
bgcolor=cccccc colspan="18" Program suspended
TotalsGPWLT/SOL%Championships
Regular Season503217243432 OIAA Championships, 2 QOAA Championships, 1 OUAA Championship, 3 Central Division Titles
Conference Post-season113802 OIAA Championships, 1 QOAA Championships
U Sports Postseason22001 National tournament appearance
Regular Season and Postseason Record516222251431 National Championship
Note: Totals include results from 1962–63 onward except for the 1979 and 1980 conference tournaments.

Notes and References

  1. https://usports.ca/en/championships/hockey/m University Cup Championships
  2. Web site: BOLD MEN’S HOCKEY GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS . TMU Bold . February 29, 2024.
  3. Web site: All-Time Game Results . Toronto Varsity Blues . January 30, 2024.