The McMaster Marauders men's ice hockey team (formerly the McMaster Marlins) was 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

McMaster Marauders The McMaster Marauders are the athletic teams that represent McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Athletics at McMaster is currently managed by the university's student affairs, under their athletics & recreation d ...

athletics program of

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

. McMaster previous fielded a team off-and-on for over 80 years, winning the inaugural University Cup in 1963.

History

McMaster began its ice hockey program in 1902, playing first at the intermediate level. The team remained in the second tier of Canadian college hockey for several years but saw little success. After returning following the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, McMaster found itself mired at the bottom of the standings and decided to change tack. In 1920, the school decided to field a junior team in the

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the province of Ontario. Founded in 1890, the OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern ...

. After the 20-and-under team went winless, the school abandoned the idea and then left the IIS for the Intermediate Groups. Again, the team went winless and the administration decided to suspend all of its hockey programs afterwards. The Marlins remained dormant for a few years but made a triumphant return in 1925, winning their IIS group in 1926. After taking the following year off, the school decided to support the program once more. McMaster jointly played both Intermediate and Senior hockey for a few years but then began to switch between the two in the early 30s. The club went dormant for a few years after 1935 in part due to financial problems brought about by the

great depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. The Marlins returned in 1937 but were once again forced off of the ice after the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the second world war, McMaster returned to the Intermediate level but found that the state of Canadian college hockey had changed. The IIS was not restarted following the war and the schools were left to fend for themselves. McMaster was active at the time but few records of their time in the 40s and 50s persist. In 1958, several of the Intermediate programs took matters into their own hands and formed a new ice hockey league. The Marlins quickly became on the better teams and won the league championship in 1961. The following season, McMaster was one of three clubs who were invited to join the Quebec–Ontario Athletic Association and they all played concurrently in both conferences. McMaster was league champion in both but lost their playoff match in the QOAA. The following season, the CIAU announced the inaugural University Cup and would invite the league champion of the four major conferences across the country. Because the OIAA was not to be included, McMaster played solely out of the QOAA and repeated as regular season champions. This time, however, they won the postseason championship and advanced to the national tournament. McMaster won a pair of 1-goal games to claim the title as the first national champion in Canadian college history. After winning the title, McMaster quickly tumbled down the league standings and became a bottom-feeder by the end of the decade. After they were placed in the Ontario University Athletic Association (OUAA) during the great realignment in 1971, McMaster recovered some of their former glory. The team made the conference postseason many times between '72 and '83 with their best performance coming in 1979. Unfortunately, as the 80s wore on, the team experienced another lull and sagged towards the bottom of the standings. 1988 was the worst season the program had ever seen, with the Marauders finishing last in the standings. After an even worse campaign the year after, the school decided that it was too costly to support an expensive losing program and suspended the program for good.

Season-by-season results

Senior and collegiate play

''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points'' † The Western section of IIS play was also used for the standings of the OHA Senior B Group 2.

Collegiate only

''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, SOL = Shootout Losses, Pts = Points'' Note: Totals include results from 1962–63 onward except for the 1979 and 1980 conference tournaments.

References

{{U Sports men's ice hockey Ice hockey teams in Ontario McMaster Marauders Defunct U Sports men's ice hockey teams Ice hockey clubs established in 1902 1902 establishments in Ontario Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1989 1989 disestablishments in Ontario Former education in Ontario