Columbia Lions men's ice hockey

The Columbia Lions men's ice hockey is an ice hockey team club in New York City, associated with Columbia University since its establishment in 1896. It went dormant following its 1937 season, but was eventually revived as a club team. It remains active in the 2020s.

Columbia Lions men's ice hockey
Columbia Lions athletic logo
UniversityColumbia University
ConferenceEmpire
Head coachBruce Baker
ArenaWorld Ice
New York City
ColorsColumbia blue and white[1]
   

History

1902 Varsity ice hockey team

Columbia was one of the first colleges in the United States to play ice hockey. The team benefitted from being virtually next door to the St. Nicholas Rink, one of the earliest artificial ice rinks in the country. Columbia played continually from 1896 through 1915, routinely competing against the best programs in the nation. They brought in experienced players to help improve the team like Tom Howard and Percy LeSueur but a disagreement between college administrations dealt a mortal wound to the program.

Early in the 20th century, the NCAA's precursor was formed to set down rules that all schools would abide by. At the time Ice Hockey was not governed by a national body (the NCAA would ignore the sport until after World War II) which left the few schools that fielded teams able to decide the rules for themselves. The major competitors, the teams that would later form the Ivy league, decided that they would prohibit freshmen from participating and limit players to 3 years of varsity play. Of the schools that were members of the Intercollegiate Hockey Association, only Columbia did not agree to the rules. As a result the Lions were expelled from the IHA.[2] The team's removal then caused the operators of the St. Nicholas Rink to close their door on the team, putting the program in dire straits in the middle of the 1912–13 season. While the IHA would collapse entirely after the season, Columbia had not been a big draw to the Rink over the previous few seasons and the St. Nicholas operators were hesitant to give the Lions any additional ice time. After playing an entire season on the road, Columbia managed to get a 'test' game at the Rink in order to prove that the ice hockey team was enough of an attraction. The Lions played what was described as an exciting game, but the audience was too small and the team was forced to find another home.[3]

Columbia struggled for several years, battling poor weather conditions and a lack of facilities. but were unable to play a single game between 1915 and 1921. The team finally returned when they were able to secure the 181st Street Ice Palace as a home. The rink was mostly used for speed skating and was smaller than most ice hockey rinks of the time. The team played well in spite of their circumstances but, just three years later, they were forced to halt playing once again.[4] The team remained dormant for most of the next decade but was revived in the mid-1930s. By that time the administration was no longer prepared to support the team and the Lions were compelled to perform as a club team and played under that distinction for three years. In 1937 the school decided to sponsor the program again and Columbia played a schedule composed mostly of amateur clubs but did perform well at times.[5] After the season the two players responsible for resurrecting the team, Chris McFadden and Jack McMahon, both graduated. Without their presence, or a head coach to keep the team alive, the program was allowed to wither away and vanish.

Several years later the team resurfaced as a club team once more but the university had not made any plans to promote the program to varsity status (as of 2022). In the 2021-2022 season, the Columbia Lions defeated Sacred Heart 9-3 to win the MCHC Championship. The club departed from the American Collegiate Hockey Association and was promoted to Division II status under the Amateur Athletic Union for the 2023-24 season, where it would compete in the Empire Collegiate Hockey Conference.


Season-by-season results

NCAA D-I Champions NCAA Frozen Four Conference Regular Season Champions Conference Playoff Champions
Season Conference Regular Season[lower-alpha 1] Conference Tournament Results National Tournament Results
Conference Overall
GP W L T Pts* Finish GP W L T %
No coach
1896–97 Independent 5 2 3 0 .400
1897–98 IHA 4 0 3 1 .125 3rd 13 3 8 2 .308
1898–99 IHA 3 0 3 0 .000 4th 5 2 3 0 .400
1899–1900 ¿ IHA 5 3 2 0 .600 2nd 5 3 2 0 .600
1900–01 IHA 4 1 3 0 .250 4th 4 1 3 0 .250
1901–02 IHA 4 0 4 0 .000 5th 8 2 4 2 .375
1902–03 IHA 4 2 2 0 .500 3rd 9 3 5 1 .389
1903–04 IHA 4 2 2 0 .500 3rd 12 5 6 1 .458
1904–05 IHA 4 2 2 0 .500 3rd 8 4 4 0 .500
Rudolph Von Bernuth (1905–1906)
1905–06 IHA 4 2 2 0 .500 3rd 12 4 7 1 .375
J. C. Coolican (1906–1907)
1906–07 IHA 4 0 4 0 .000 5th 5 0 5 0 .000
Rudolph Von Bernuth (1907–1910)
1907–08 IHA 4 1 3 0 .250 T–3rd 5 1 4 0 .200
1908–09 IHA 4 0 4 0 .000 5th 5 1 4 0 .200
1909–10 IHA 5 0 5 0 .000 6th 7 1 5 1 .214
Percy LeSueur (1910–1911)
1910–11 IHA 5 2 3 0 .400 T–3rd 7 4 3 0 .571
Tom Howard (1911–1913)
1911–12 IHA 4 3 1 0 .750 2nd 4 3 1 0 .750
1912–13 Independent 2 0 2 0 .000
Rudolph Von Bernuth / Rufus Trimble (1913–1915)
1913–14 Independent 5 1 4 0 .200
1914–15 Independent 5 2 3 0 .400
Program suspended due to lack of ice
Harrison (1920–1921)
1920–21 Independent 5 1 4 0 .200
Tom Howard (1921–1923)
1921–22 Independent 7 3 3 1 .500
1922–23 Independent 6 3 3 0 .500
Program suspended due to lack of ice
No coach
1937–38 Independent 11 2 8 1 .227
Program suspended
Totals GP W L T  % Championships
Regular Season 155 54 91 10 .381
Conference Post-season 0 0 0 0
NCAA Post-season 0 0 0 0
Regular Season and Post-season Record 155 54 91 10 .381

* Winning percentage is used when conference schedules are unbalanced.
¿ Information on the 1899-1900 season is incomplete.

Footnotes

    1. Code explanation; GP—Games Played, W—Wins, L—Losses, T—Tied games, Pts—Points*

    References

    1. Columbia University Brand Guide (PDF). December 1, 2017. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
    2. "Volume LVI, Number 68". Columbia Daily Spectator. December 17, 1912. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
    3. "Volume LVIII, Number 82". Columbia Daily Spectator. January 13, 1915. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
    4. "Volume XLVII, Number 46". Columbia Daily Spectator. November 19, 1923. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
    5. "Hockey Squad to Commence 1938 Practice". Columbia Daily Spectator. December 1, 1937. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
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