The history of ice hockey at Concordia predates the university by more than half a century. Loyola College opened its doors at the end of the 19th century but did not have the ability to confer degrees to graduated until it became affiliated with Université Laval in 1903. That year, the school fielded its first ice hockey team, playing in the Junior Amateur Hockey Association, a forerunner of the QMJHL.[3] Aside from World War I and 1927, Loyola iced a junior team every year until 1933. During this time, the school briefly fielded a senior team, playing in the Montreal City Hockey League (MCHL) from 1916 until 1923.
No hockey teams appears to have been active at Loyola from 1933 until 1945 when the school was a member of the short-lived Senior Intercollegiate League (SIL), winning the championship in the only season of play. That same year, the nearby Sir George Williams University joined Loyola on the ice for the first time, with both playing out of the SIL. The existence of either team over the next three years is uncertain as no formal organization for intermediate (second tier) teams existed, however, both schools were founding members of the Ottawa–St. Lawrence Conference (OSLC) in 1949. Loyola was the league's first powerhouse, winning the league championship in each of the first five seasons. The Warriors reeled off a second run of five titles from '56 until '60, (coincidentally mirroring the Montreal Canadiens).[4] The strong play from Loyola helped to raise the profile of the OSLC and by the time that the first University Cup was held, the league was one of four conferences to receive an invitation.
By the early-60s, Sir George Williams had surpassed Loyola as the dominant program in the conference. The Georgians won the league championship six times in eight years, making the University Cup five times by the end of the decade. Unfortunately, George Williams was unable to capture the title, finishing as runners-up on three separate occasions. Loyola was able to regain its footing by the late 60's and both schools fought furiously over the league championship. In fact, other than '55, '61 and '63, the OSLC championship went to either Loyola or Sir George Williams.
In 1971 the four extant conferences that shared teams in Quebec and Ontario were realigned into two provincial leagues with both schools being placed in the Quebec Universities Athletic Association (QUAA). In the first four seasons, the league championship alternated between the two teams. 1974 brought about a massive change for both teams; due to the policy of the Canadian government to secularize its college system nationwide, Loyola and Sir George Williams merged in August of 1974.[5] Despite being a singular institution, that season saw each campus field their ice hockey teams for the final time before uniting into one entity for the 1975–76 season. The newly-christened Concordia Stingers continued the dominance of their predecessors and won the QUAA championship every year from 1976 until 1984 and twice finished as national runners-up.
Unfortunately, the success of Concordia did the QUAA no favors. With most of the other league members unable to compete against the vaunted Stingers, the league hemorrhaged teams throughout its existence and by 1987, there were just four programs remaining. The league was discontinued when the parent conference stopped sponsoring ice hockey and all four teams were absorbed into the Ontario University Athletic Association (OUAA). Unfortunately for the Stingers, the team had trouble finding their way in their new league. Concordia has had some regular season success but playoff accolades have largely eluded the program. Concordia was finally able to earn a bid back to the national tournament in 2018, ending a 34-year drought. Since Marc-André Element took over as head coach in 2015, the team had performed much better in postseason play and was able to make its most recent University Cup appearance in 2023.
Season-by-season results
Loyola
Junior, senior and intermediate hockey
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points
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