The Gonzaga Bulldogs men's ice hockey team is a

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the g ...

program that represents

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) () is a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Founded in 1887 by Joseph Cataldo, an Italian-born priest and Jesuit missionary, the univ ...

. They are a member of the

American Collegiate Hockey Association The American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) is a college ice hockey association. The ACHA's purpose is to be an organization of collegiate affiliated non-varsity programs, which provides structure, regulates operations, and promotes qualit ...

at the Division II level and are former members of the

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including a ...

. The university sponsored varsity ice hockey from 1936 to 1940.

History

Rev. Paul Corkery S.J. wanted to attract more

Canadians Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

to Gonzaga so in 1936 the University began sponsoring

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

as a varsity sport. After a year the team was established enough to join the

(PCC) along with other west-coast clubs like

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. Gonzaga also played jointly in the West Kootenai Hockey Association along with semi-professional teams from Canada. Gonzaga swiftly became one of the top teams in the PCC, winning the conference championship in each of its first two years. Gonzaga lore has the team defeating a visiting

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

squad by an 18–2 score, however no mention of such a result exists in Minnesota's records. In 1940, Gonzaga was one of the top collegiate team in the country, going undefeated against all other colleges until losing to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

in the final game of the International Collegiate Championships. Gonzaga ended their program after the 1939–40 season, citing the financial drain of the program. Costs would likely have increased as most of the other PCC teams ended their programs within two years. Gonzaga's legacy, however, continued after the team was shuttered; starting goaltender Frank McCool played briefly in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

, winning the

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

Calder Memorial Trophy The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League (NHL)." It is named after Frank Calder, the first president of the NHL. Serving as ...

and helping the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

capture the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

the same year. Another alumnus, Cheddy Thompson, would have a spectacular career as a coach with

Colorado College Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory. The college enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduates at its campus. The college offer ...

, leading the team to a

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

and winning the

National Coach of the Year The AFCA Coach of the Year Award is given annually to a college football coach by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). The award has had several different sponsors over the years, including Eastman Kodak Corporation, and thus also ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

. Gonzaga attempted to revive the team as a varsity sport in the 1960s, but after two years the effort was abandoned and the team remained a club sport.

Season-by-season results

Varsity

Source: Note:

Denny Edge Dennis Douglas Edge (January 10, 1903 – February 18, 1954) was a Canadian-born American player and coach of ice hockey. He served as head coach of the college ice hockey team at Gonzaga University prior to World War II. Biography Edge was born ...

became the team's coach in late December 1937.

Bulldogs in the NHL

Source:

Notes

References

External links

Official site
{{Gonzaga Bulldogs men's ice hockey navbox College ice hockey teams in Washington (state) 1936 establishments in Washington (state) Ice hockey clubs established in 1936