The Calgary Dinos men's ice hockey team is an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team representing the

Calgary Dinos The Calgary Dinos are the athletic teams that represent the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. They were known as the "Dinosaurs" but usually referred to as the "Dinos" until 1999, when the name was officially shortened. Some of its venues ...

athletics program of

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

. The team is a member of the

Canada West Universities Athletic Association Canada West (formally the Canada West Universities Athletic Association or CWUAA) is a regional membership association for universities in Western Canada which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs ...

conference and compete in

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body for universities in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country and four regional conferences: Ontario University Athletics (OUA), Résea ...

. The Dinos play their home games at the

Father David Bauer Olympic Arena The Father David Bauer Arena is an ice hockey arena in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It seats about 1,750 for hockey with a standing room capacity of over 2,000. It is named after Father David Bauer. Canada's defunct national touring team, the brai ...

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

History

Shortly before it was renamed as the 'University of Calgary', the Dinos ice hockey team hit the ice for the first time. For their inaugural season in 1964–65, the team joined the Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Association (WCIAA), alongside its parent institution,

. They did so in part due to the temporary loss of

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

as a league member in order to keep the conference as a viable outfit. As may be expected for a program who had never before fielded a team, the Dinos got off to a slow start; Calgary went winless in its first three seasons, however,

Al Rollins Elwin Ira Rollins (October 9, 1926 – July 27, 1996) was a professional Canadian ice hockey goaltender who played for the Chicago Black Hawks, New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Rollins was born in Kincaid, Saskatchewan, but grew up ...

was finally able to lead the club to its first wins in year four. The arrival of George Kingston in 1968 was the turning point for the program. In his first season, Calgary posted a winning record and then finished in a tie for first the very next year. Despite a few near-misses, Calgary was unable to make any appearances in the University Cup tournament until the mid 1970s. By then, the team had become a founding member of

and would remain one of the top teams while Kingston was in charge. Kingston left in 1988 for the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

, turning the team over to Willie Desjardins. Despite the team posing winning records in each season, they made just one trip to the national tournament over a 6-year span. Desjardins left for professional opportunities, leaving Tim Bothwell to take over in 1994. He promptly led the Dinos to back-to-back Canada West championships, as well as a third trip to the University Cup in 2000, before accepting an assistant coaching position in the NHL. The program saw less success under Scott Atkinson's 9-year run with no league titles and the first losing records since the mid-80s. In 2009, Calgary appointed Mark Howell as the 8th head coach and it didn't take long before the team was able to recapture its former glory. The Dinos promptly returned to their winning ways and ended their University Cup drought in 2011. Several additional trips followed, however, the team had a bit of a setback in 2018 when they were forced to forfeit 6 games for using an ineligible player. However, since the team was proactive in reporting the violation, no additional sanctions were imposed. After the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

forced the cancellation of the 2020–21 season, Calgary returned to the top of the conference, winning the league championship in 2023, its first in 27 years. Despite all of the team's success in Canada West, Calgary has had a very difficult time winning at the national level. Calgary had some success in the 70s, but the team had lost 13 consecutive University Cup games, dating back to 1986 (as of 2024).

Senior hockey

Calgary played senior hockey in various leagues from 1967 until 1970. They did so concurrently with their college schedule.

Season-by-season results

''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, SOL = Shootout Losses, Pts = Points'' ¿ Calgary forfeited 6 games during the season for use of ineligible player.
Note: Games not counted towards University Cup appearances are not included.

References

External links

official website
{{U Sports men's ice hockey Ice hockey teams in Alberta U Sports men's ice hockey teams Calgary Dinos Ice hockey clubs established in 1964 1964 establishments in Alberta

History

Senior hockey

Season-by-season results

See also

References

External links