The Queen's Gaels 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

Queen's Gaels The Queen's Gaels (also known as the Queen's Golden Gaels) is the athletics program representing Queen's University at Kingston, Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The main athletics facilities include Richardson Stadium (Kingston) ...

athletics program of

Queen's University at Kingston Queen's University at Kingston, commonly known as Queen's University or simply Queen's, is a public university, public research university in Kingston, Ontario, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Queen's holds more than of land throughout Ontario and ...

. The team is a member of the

Ontario University Athletics Ontario University Athletics (OUA; ) is a regional membership association for Canadian universities which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providing contact information, schedules, results, ...

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 Gaels play their home games at the Memorial Centre Arena in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

History

19th century

The earliest recorded game for Queen's came in 1884 but its unclear if the match was officially sanctioned by the University or not. In 1886, a group of students from Queen's arranged a match against fellow undergraduates from the

Royal Military College Royal Military College may refer to: ;Australia * Royal Military College, Duntroon, Campbell, Australian Capital Territory ;Canada * Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario * Royal Military College Saint-Jean, Saint-Jean, Quebec ;Indi ...

. The game took place on Kingston harbor and is typically regarded as the first game between two teams from

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. The two schools have been rivals ever since, the oldest such rivalry in the sport. The young program played when it was able to find the time and opposition but was stabilized when it became a founding member of 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 ...

. In 1886, Queen's challenged the

Royal Military College of Canada The Royal Military College of Canada (), abbreviated in English as RMC and in French as CMR, is a Military academy#Canada, military academy and, since 1959, a List of universities in Canada#Ontario, degree-granting university of the Canadian ...

to a game played on the frozen Kingston harbour; the two schools play annually for the Carr-Harris Cup, to continue the world's oldest hockey rivalry. Queen's hockey is one of the oldest hockey clubs in the world; only

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

's team, started in 1875, is older among Canadian university teams. Queen's played its first season in 1883–84, with the first game for which records exist played against a team from

Petawawa Petawawa ( ) is a town located in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, Canada. Situated in the Ottawa Valley, with a population of 18,160 (2021 Census), Petawawa is the most populous municipality in Renfrew County. History The earliest se ...

. left, Queen's team of 1895 In the 1890s, Queen's played in the

(OHA), winning its championship three times consecutively, taking the Cosby Cup into its permanent possession. Queen's won the inaugural

J. Ross Robertson Cup The J. Ross Robertson Cup is a Canadian ice hockey trophy. It is awarded annually in junior ice hockey to the champion of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. It was donated by John Ross Robertson to the Ontario Hockey Association in 1910, an ...

during the 1898–99 season, as the

senior ice hockey Senior hockey refers to amateur or semi-professional ice hockey competition. There are no age restrictions for Senior players, who typically consist of those whose junior ice hockey, Junior eligibility has expired. Senior hockey leagues operate un ...

champion of the OHA. As Ontario champion, the Queen's hockey team was a regular in Stanley Cup Challenge Games by challenging in 1895, 1899 and 1906. Playing senior hockey at the time, Queen's won a league championship in 1895 and challenged the

Montreal Hockey Club The Montreal Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was a senior-level men's amateur ice hockey club, organized in 1884. They were affiliated with the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association (MAAA) and used the MAAA 'winged wheel' logo. The team ...

for the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () 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, and the International Ic ...

. They were reportedly outmatched in the game and lost 1–5. Four years later the team had its second opportunity for the cup when they faced the

Montreal Shamrocks The Montreal Shamrocks were an amateur, later professional, and then amateur again men's ice hockey club in existence from 1886 to 1924, based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They were spun off from the Montreal Shamrocks lacrosse club. Starting off ...

in 1899. This match went about as well as the last with Queen's losing 2–6.

Allan Cup

At the beginning of the 20th century, Queen's joined with

McGill McGill is a surname of Scottish and Irish origin, from which the names of many places and organizations are derived. It may refer to: People * McGill (surname) (including a list of individuals with the surname) * McGill family (Monrovia), a promin ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

to form the first college conference in Canada. Queen's won two league championships in the first four years of play and leveraged their second intercollegiate title into a third challenge for the Stanley Cup. The

Ottawa Hockey Club Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core of the Ottawa–Gatinea ...

(later known as the 'Senators') easily dismissed the school boys with a pair of victories totaling 14–28. By 1909, the sport had become such a sensation in Canada that he various teams were separated into professional and amateur ranks. The

Allan Cup The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the senior ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. It was most recently won by the Wentworth Gryphins ...

was created as the amateur's version of the Stanley Cup and was initially awarded to the Ottawa Cliffsides. Queen's, by winning the intercollegiate title that season, earned the first challenge for the cup and defeated Ottawa 5–4, becoming the national amateur champions in the process. Queen's retained possession of the cup for a year and, after repeating as intercollegiate champs, they received their first challenge from the Cliffsides. Queen's cemented their place as the better of the two with a second win but were then beset by St. Michael's College and fell 4–5. Queen's returned to intercollegiate play afterwards and, though they were champions again in 1914, they did not challenge for the Allan Cup.

Interwar years

In 1915 the college schedule was cancelled due to

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 ...

and Queen's rejoined the OHA for the duration. After the war, the Tricolour, as they were then known, returned to the intercollegiate conference but found they had been outpaced by Toronto. Over an 8-year span, Queen's would not post a winning record and eventually they withdrew from the league altogether. Queen's returned to the OHA in 1929, playing two seasons before suspending play due to financial constraints. Queen's was able to restart its program in the mid 30's and joined a new international intercollegiate league. Queen's played well in the four seasons of league play but the arrangement ended with 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 ...

. Queen's operated a

junior ice hockey Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from ...

team during the 1920s in the OHA. The junior team won the

as the provincial champions in 1926, and had been finalists in 1921. Queen's reached the

1926 Memorial Cup The 1926 Memorial Cup final was the eighth junior ice hockey championship of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. The George Richardson Memorial Trophy champions Queen's University of Eastern Canada competed against the Abbott Cup champion ...

finals, but lost to the

Calgary Canadians The Calgary Canadians were a junior ice hockey team that played in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. In 1924, they became the first team from Alberta to play for the Memorial Cup, and in 1926, the first to win it. In 1924, the Canadians won the Western C ...

for the national championship.

Transition period

Queen's returned to play after the war but had fallen even further behind their contemporaries. The newly christened 'Golden Gaels' posted dismal records for five years, routinely finishing last in the conference, and withdrew in 1950. After one season in the OHA, which was no better, the program was suspended for the remainder of the decade. The Gaels returned to play in 1960 and joined the Quebec-Ontario Athletic Association. They were a middle of the pack team for most of the next two decades and remained with the Ontario side when the conference was realigned in 1971. 1981 saw Queen's win its first conference championship in over 65 years and the Gaels made their first appearance in the national tournament.

Long recovery

After the title, Queen's had a few good years in the early 80s but slipped into the bottom half of the conference by the middle of the decade. After 1984, Queen's did not post a winning record for over 20 years and didn't fully regain their previous form until 2014. The Gaels finally returned to the national tournament in 2017 and won their second league championship two years later. In 2018–19, the Gaels won their first

Queen's Cup Queen's Cup may refer to: * Queen's Cup (football), a former annual football competition in Thailand (1970-2010) * Cartier Queen's Cup, an annual polo tournament in England * Queen's Cup (golf), an annual golf tournament in Thailand * Queen's Cup ...

in 38 years, 4–1 over

Guelph Gryphons The Guelph Gryphons are the athletic teams that represent the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The university's varsity teams compete in the Ontario University Athletics conference of the U Sports (OUA's), and, where applicable, i ...

in front of a 2,900 people at the

Kingston Memorial Centre The Kingston Memorial Centre is a 3,300-seat multi-purpose arena located at 303 York Street in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1951, the ''Kingston Community Memorial Health and Recreation Centre'' was designed as a community sports and en ...

Season-by-season results

Senior and collegiate play

''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points'' † The International Intercollegiate League (IIL) was a joint venture between Canadian and American colleges.
‡ Ottawa refused to play in the championship due to a dispute of the site of the final game. Queen's assumed their place instead.

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 1959–60 onward except for the 1980 conference tournament.

Playoff results

*1999–00 Defeated Toronto Varsity Blues in first round, 2 games to 1. ** Down 4-1 heading into the 3rd period of game 3. Scored 3 goals in 82 seconds to tie the game and another 74 secs later to take the lead. Won the game 6–4 with an empty net goal. ** Defeated Guelph Gryphons in quarter-final, 2 games to 0. ** Lost to UQTR in OUA Final Four, semi-final, 3–2. *2000–01 Lost to RMC Paladins in first round 2 games to 0 *2001–02 Out of playoffs *2002–03 Defeated RMC Paladins in first round 2 games to 0 **Lost to Toronto Varsity Blues in quarter-final 2 games to 1 *2003–04 Defeated RMC Paladins in first round 2 games to 0 **Lost to Toronto Varsity Blues in quarter-final 2 games to 0 *2004–05 Out of playoffs *2005–06 Out of playoffs *2006–07 Lost to Ottawa Gee-Gees in quarter-final 2 games to 0 *2007–08 Gained first round bye **Lost to McGill Redmen in semi-final 2 games to 0 *2008–09 Did not qualify for playoffs *2009–10 Lost to Carleton in OUA first round 2 games to 1 *2010–11 Lost to Nipissing in OUA first round 2 games to 0 *2013–14 Lost to Carleton in OUA East semi-final 2 games to 1 *2014–15 Lost to McGill in OUA East semi-final 2 games to 0 *2015–16 Lost to UOIT in OUA first round 2 games to 1 *2016–17 Lost to York in OUA final *2017–18 Lost to Concordia in OUA East semi-final 2 games to 1 *2018–19 Defeated Concordia 2–0 ** Defeated Ottawa 2–1 ** Defeated Carleton 2–0 ** Defeated Guelph 4–1 (Won OUA Championship) ** Lost to St. FX X-Men 5–3 (USports quarterfinals)

References

External links

* {{U Sports men's ice hockey Ice hockey teams in Ontario Queen's University at Kingston U Sports men's ice hockey teams Ice hockey clubs established in the 1880s 1880s establishments in Ontario