The Windsor Lancers men's hockey team began in the early 1960s as members of the Ontario Intercollegiate Athletics Association (as the Assumption College Lancers). The Lancers won their division in 1965, but lost the OIAA final to Laurentian University in a sudden-death 4–2 loss. In 1968, the Lancers were promoted to the QOAA. In 1971, the QOAA was dissolved and the Lancers joined the newly formed Ontario University Athletics Association, now known as the OUA.
The Windsor Lancers men's hockey team is currently led by Head Coach Kevin Hamlin. Coach Hamlin has led the Lancers to tremendous success including the 2013–14 OUA Queen's Cup Championship and two straight CIS national championship tournament appearances.
In 2008–09, Hamlin's first season, he was named the OUA Men's Hockey Coach of the Year after leading the Lancers to a 15-point turnaround in the standings from the previous year. In 2010–11, Hamlin's Lancers finished the regular season with a 12–12–4 record as he led Windsor back into the playoffs for the second straight season. His second year behind the Lancer bench came in 2009–10 where led the Lancers back to the playoffs as they advanced to the OUA West Semi-finals. In 2011–12, he led the Lancers to their best season in over a decade as they finished 15–12–1 and advanced the Western Conference finals. Coach Hamlin's squad finished the year ranked #11 in the country. In 2012–13, Coach Hamlin's squad finished 18–9–1 and in second place in the OUA Western conference. The Lancers finished as one of the top scoring teams in the nation including 8th in Canada in goals and 6th in the CIS in power-play goals.
In 2013–14, Coach Hamlin led his squad to the Queen's Cup Ontario Championship for only the second time in school history. They also finished the season ranked #5 in Canada – the program's highest ever finish in the national rankings. Hamlin was honoured with both the Windsor Essex Sports (WESPY) Coach of the Year award and the Gino Fracas Coach of the Year award for his outstanding work behind the bench.
En route to winning the Queen's Cup, the Lancers enjoyed a tremendous playoff run that included playoff series wins over Toronto, Western, Lakehead and McGill to earn the title. At the CIS National Championship tournament, Windsor also earned their first ever victory at Nationals as they knocked off the A.U.S. champion Acadia Axemen 4–2 in pool play.
In 2014–15, Hamlin was named the Ontario University Men's Hockey Coach of the Year for the second time in his career and was a finalist for the CIS National Coach of the Year after leading the Lancers to a program best 22–4–1 record and first place overall in the OUA. The Lancers were ranked in the CIS top ten for 17 straight weeks and captured an Ontario bronze medal while earning their second consecutive trip to the CIS national championships. Individually, the team received tremendous recognition for their outstanding season. Senior forward Spencer Pommells, a native of Grande Prairie, Alta., became the first Lancer to claim the Joseph A. Sullivan Trophy as CIS player of the year and only the third Windsor player to capture a CIS major award in men's hockey. Forwards Chris Gignac (1999) and Ken Minello (1989) had previously merited the R.W. Pugh Award presented annually to the most sportsmanlike player. The senior forward racked up 50 points in 27 league games, including 16 goals and a CIS-leading 34 assists, to win the national scoring race by eight points and the OUA crown by 11. Of his team-leading 16 goals, five were game-winners, leaving him one short of the nation's lead. Kenny Bradford was named the OUA Defenseman of the year and a CIS All-Canadian after he led the CIS in scoring by a defenceman with 28 points, scoring eight goals and adding 20 assists. He was a key cog in the Lancers third-ranked power play, scoring six of his eight goals on the man advantage. Senior netminder Parker Van Buskirk was named the OUA goaltender of the year after he led the conference with 20 wins and made the second most starts of any goaltender with 24. His 2.86 goals against average was the second-best of any western conference goalie, and his .904 save percentage was sixth best overall. Dylan Denomme was named the OUA West rookie of the year as he finished second on the Lancers in points with 31, scoring 13 goals and 18 assists, while appearing in all 27 games. He led all CIS rookies in scoring and tied Bradford for the team lead with six power play goals as well.
In recent years the Lancer's have continued their winning ways. Led by USports goaltender of the year, Nathan Torchia, the 2022-23 Lancers had an incredible season. Finishing 2nd in the OUA west after the regular season. They earned a first round bye which led to them playing the Brock Badgers in the second round. They won this series in 2 games which meant they were onto the OUA West conference finals. Were they met the Lakehead Thunderwolves and this series was very tight and a 3rd and deciding game was needed. The Lancers ultimately won this game which punched their ticket to USports Men's Hockey National Championship's held in PEI and gave them rights to hosting the Queens Cup in Windsor. The Queens Cup was a hard fought game and needed 6 total periods to decide a winner. Unfortunately the Lancer's surrendered a goal early on in the 3rd overtime to the UQTR Patriot's. After a 2nd place finish in the OUA playoffs, this still meant the Lancer's were heading to PEI for the Usports Championships. Where they met the Alberta Golden Bears in the first round, winner takes all game. Unfortunately the game didn't go as planned and the Golden Bears came out to a scorching hot start scoring multiple goals early on. The Lancers were unable to battle back and lost. Overall it was an incredible season for them, going on such a terrific run and falling a goal post short of being Queens Cup champions.
Season-by-season results
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, SOL = Shootout Losses, Pts = Points
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