Brandon Bobcats men's ice hockey

Brandon Bobcats men's ice hockey
University	Brandon University
Arena	Brandon, Manitoba
Colors	Blue and Gold
U Sports Tournament appearances
1974, 1975, 1981, 1983
Conference Tournament championships
1981, 1983
Conference regular season championships
1974, 1975, 1980, 1981, 1983

The Brandon Bobcats men's ice hockey team was an ice hockey team representing the Brandon University. The team was active in most seasons from 1909 until its permanent suspension in 2002. ^[1]

History

Brandon College began sponsoring ice hockey in 1909. Originally called the 'Brandon Caps', the team played at the intermediate (tier II) level of college hockey as well as in local junior leagues. They twice competed for the Turnbull Cup, the provincial amateur championship in the 1920s, however, they were eliminated before the championship rounds.

After World War II, Brandon joined the Big Six Intermediate Hockey League (BSIHL), playing in the league for five seasons. In 1954, the team joined the Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WCIAU), playing senior collegiate hockey for the first time. The Caps didn't have much success against the top level of competition so the program returned to the Intermediate level in 1958. The Caps then spent the next 12 seasons in the SouthWest Hockey League (SWHL), winning championships in 1961 and 1969.

Once the school had become a full university and renamed its athletic programs as 'Bobcats', the hockey program was ready to take their second chance at senior hockey. They joined the WCIAU's successor (Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Association) in 1969 and were a far more competitive team then they had been in the 50s. However, just three years later, the conference was split in two to cut down on travel expenses. Brandon was one of the founding members of the Great Plains Athletic Association (soon to be called Great Plains Athletic Conference) along with two schools from Winnipeg and one from Thunder Bay. After finishing last in the inaugural season, the Bobcats jumped to the top of the standings and won consecutive league titles. The championships earned Brandon a pair of trips to the University Cup, however, the team was unable to win any of their games. The early 1980s saw Brandon win two more league titles, this time through a playoff, but they were still unable to make any headway in the national tournament. Brandon finished its time in the GPAC by being barred from the 1985 playoff for making illegal payments to student athletes.

In 1985, the GPAC was down to just three teams that sponsored varsity ice hockey. With the conference on the cusp of losing its qualifying bid for the University Cup, all three teams were accepted into Canada West. This move, while necessary, proved to be disastrous for the Bobcats. For more than a decade, Brandon finished in the bottom half of league standings (often in last place), and didn't play a single playoff game. Even after the conference postseason was expanded in 1998, Brandon had little chance at winning a title and by the early 21st century, the program was on its last legs. Without a single winning record during their time in Canada West, and after consecutive last-place finishes in 2001 and 2002, the school decided to end the program. ^[2]

Season-by-season results

Senior and collegiate play

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

Extra-League Champion

National Semifinalist

Conference regular season champions

Conference Division Champions

Conference Playoff Champions

Season	Conference	Regular Season											Conference Tournament Results	National Tournament Results
		Conference						Overall
		GP	W	L	T	Pts*	Finish	GP	W	L	T	%
1949–50	BSIHL	10	1	9	0	2	6th	?	?	?	?	?
1950–51	BSIHL	10	4	6	0	16	4th	?	?	?	?	?	Lost Semifinal series, 0–3 (Dauphin Kings)
1951–52	BSIHL	19	6	13	0	12	5th	?	?	?	?	?
1952–53	BSIHL	20	1	19	0	2	6th	?	?	?	?	?
1953–54	BSIHL	10	0	10	0	0	6th	?	?	?	?	?
1954–55	WCIAU	8	2	6	0	4	3rd	?	?	?	?	?
1955–56	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
1956–57	WCIAU	12	1	11	0	2	4th	?	?	?	?	?
1957–58	WCIAU	12	2	10	0	4	4th	?	?	?	?	?
1958–59	SWHL	12	8	4	0	16	2nd	?	?	?	?	?
1959–60	SWHL	9	6	1	2	14	2nd	?	?	?	?	?
1960–61	SWHL	16	15	1	0	30	1st	?	?	?	?	?	Won Championship
1961–62	SWHL	20	16	3	1	33	2nd	?	?	?	?	?
1962–63	SWHL	16	11	4	1	23	2nd	?	?	?	?	?
1963–64	SWHL	14	8	6	0	16	5th	?	?	?	?	?
1964–65	SWHL	14	5	9	0	10	T–7th	?	?	?	?	?
1965–66	SWHL	10	4	6	0	12	8th	?	?	?	?	?
1966–67	SWHL	8	1	6	1	3	T–11th	?	?	?	?	?
1967–68	SWHL	7	6	1	0	18	4th	?	?	?	?	?
1968–69	SWHL	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	Won Championship
Program changed name to 'Brandon Bobcats'
1969–70	SWHL	12	10	2	0	40	2nd	?	?	?	?	?
Totals								GP	W	L	T	%	Championships
Regular Season								?	?	?	?	?	1 SWHL Championship
Conference Post-season								?	?	?	?	?	2 SWHL Championships
Regular Season and Postseason Record								?	?	?	?	?

Note: information prior to 1949 are incomplete or missing.

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 Semifinalist

Conference regular season champions

Conference Division Champions

Conference Playoff Champions

Season	Conference	Regular Season													Conference Tournament Results	National Tournament Results
		Conference								Overall
		GP	W	L	T	OTL	SOL	Pts*	Finish	GP	W	L	T	%
1969–70	WCIAA	14	7	7	0	–	–	14	5th	14	7	7	0	.500
1970–71	WCIAA	20	4	16	0	–	–	8	7th †	20	4	16	0	.200
1971–72	WCIAA	20	8	12	0	–	–	16	T–5th	22	8	14	0	.364	Lost Play-in series, 9–12 (Manitoba)
1972–73	GPAA	12	3	9	0	–	–	6	4th	12	3	9	0	.250
1973–74	GPAC	18	11	7	0	–	–	22	1st	20	11	9	0	.550		Lost West Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Calgary)
1974–75	GPAC	22	17	5	0	–	–	34	1st	24	17	7	0	.708		Lost West Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Alberta)
1975–76	GPAC	18	10	8	0	–	–	20	2nd	18	10	8	0	.556
1976–77	GPAC	24	8	16	0	–	–	16	5th	24	8	16	0	.333
1977–78	GPAC	24	8	16	0	–	–	16	5th	24	8	16	0	.333
1978–79	GPAC	24	8	16	0	–	–	16	3rd	24	8	16	0	.333
1979–80	GPAC	20	13	6	1	–	–	25	1st	23	14	8	1	.630	Lost Championship series, 1–2 (Regina)
1980–81	GPAC	24	23	1	0	–	–	46	1st	28	25	3	0	.893	Won Championship series , 2–0 (Manitoba)	Lost Pool 1 Round-robin, 3–6 (Calgary), 3–10 (Moncton)
1981–82	GPAC	24	18	5	1	–	–	37	2nd	28	20	7	1	.732	Won Semifinal, 5–4 (Manitoba) Lost Championship series, 1–2 (Regina)
1982–83	GPAC	24	16	6	2	–	–	34	1st	29	18	9	2	.655	Won Championship series , 2–1 (Manitoba)	Lost Pool 1 Round-robin, 2–6 (Saskatchewan), 4–5 (Wilfrid Laurier)
1983–84	GPAC	24	18	6	0	–	–	36	2nd	28	20	8	0	.714	Won Semifinal, 5–4 (Regina) Lost Championship series, 1–2 (Manitoba)
1984–85	GPAC	24	12	9	3	–	–	27	3rd	29	20	5	4	.759	Brandon was barred from postseason play for making illegal payments to players.
1985–86	Canada West	28	13	15	0	–	–	26	5th	28	13	15	0	.464
1986–87	Canada West	28	10	18	0	–	–	20	6th	28	10	18	0	.357
1987–88	Canada West	28	8	18	2	–	–	18	6th	28	8	18	2	.321
1988–89	Canada West	28	6	21	1	–	–	13	7th	28	6	21	1	.232
1989–90	Canada West	28	12	16	0	–	–	24	6th	28	12	16	0	.429
1990–91	Canada West	28	7	16	5	–	–	19	8th	28	7	16	5	.339
1991–92	Canada West	28	1	25	2	–	–	4	8th	28	1	25	2	.071
1992–93	Canada West	28	3	21	4	–	–	10	8th	28	3	21	4	.179
1993–94	Canada West	28	5	18	5	–	–	15	8th	28	5	18	5	.268
1994–95	Canada West	28	8	18	2	–	–	18	7th	28	8	18	2	.321
1995–96	Canada West	28	6	21	1	–	–	13	8th	28	6	21	1	.232
1996–97	Canada West	26	5	19	2	–	–	12	8th	26	5	19	2	.231
1997–98	Canada West	28	10	17	1	–	–	21	6th	30	10	19	1	.350	Lost Division Semifinal series, 0–2 (Manitoba)
1998–99	Canada West	28	12	13	3	–	–	27	6th	30	12	15	3	.450	Lost Division Semifinal series, 0–2 (Manitoba)
1999–00	Canada West	28	11	17	0	–	–	22	6th	32	13	19	0	.406	Won Division Semifinal series, 2–0 (Manitoba) Lost Division Final series, 0–2 (Saskatchewan)
2000–01	Canada West	28	4	21	3	–	–	11	8th	28	4	21	3	.196
2001–02	Canada West	28	5	20	3	–	–	13	8th	28	5	20	3	.232
Program Suspended
Totals										GP	W	L	T/SOL	%	Championships
Regular Season										815	318	455	42	.416	5 GPAC Championships
Conference Post-season										26	11	15	0	.423	2 GPAC Championships
U Sports Postseason										8	0	8	0	.000	4 National tournament appearances
Regular Season and Postseason Record										849	329	478	42	.412

† Brandon was forced to forfeit 4 games during the season for using an ineligible player.
Totals include only games at senior collegiate level. ^[3]
Note: Games not counted towards University Cup appearances are not included.

References

1. "Hundreds returning for Bobcat hockey reunion". Brandon Bobcats. October 19, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
2. "Brandon University: History of Bobcats". The Quill. September 5, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
3. "Canada West Men's Hockey History". Canada West. Retrieved October 24, 2024.