The Simon Fraser Red Leafs men's ice hockey team is the

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 go ...

team that represents

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

Burnaby, British Columbia Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard ...

. The Red Leafs play at the Bill Copeland Arena and are coached by Mark Coletta. The Red Leafs ice hockey team competes in the BCIHL, as well as playing

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

competition every year. After announcing their intent to explore full-time NCAA Division 1 status in 2016, the SFU Men's hockey program would play NCAA Div.1 games under probationary status for the 2016/17 and 2017/18 seasons. The Red Leafs have won Four BCIHL titles. They regularly host and travel to play

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

programs, as well as an ongoing cross town rivalry with the

UBC Thunderbirds The UBC Thunderbirds are the athletic teams that represent the University of British Columbia. In Canadian intercollegiate competition, the Thunderbirds are the most successful athletic program both regionally in the Canada West Universities Athl ...

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 ...

. SFU was a founding member of the BCIHL in 2006. In the summer of 2016 the university announced its intent to move the program entirely to the

level.

History

The current incarnation of SFU hockey began in 2006 with the formation of the

British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League The British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL) is a university ice hockey league based in British Columbia. The BCIHL was created with the purpose of offering a venue for competitive, high-calibre hockey for players beyond their juni ...

. SFU did field a team in the '70s however not much is known or documented about the team. SFU made their first league final and won their first BCIHL title in 2008, following it up with another finals appearance in 2009 eventually losing to the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay, British Columbia, Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 1903 as Victoria College, British Columbia, Victoria Col ...

. In 2010 and 2011 the Clan would win back-to-back BCIHL championships, 2011 being their most recent title. From 2008 to 2014 SFU would make the league final seven straight seasons. SFU would once again finish first in the 2016–17 BCIHL regular season.

NCAA

Since 2012-13 Simon Fraser University has been playing

Division 1 programs with increased frequency. 2012–13 saw the Clan face off against the

Air Force Falcons The Air Force Falcons are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the United States Air Force Academy, located in El Paso County, Colorado north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. Th ...

Atlantic Hockey The Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) was an NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey conference which operates primarily in the northeastern United States. It participated in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference. Unlike several other ...

. It would also see them play host to the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the sport, athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's Varsity team, varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Divisi ...

and

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the college athletics in the United States , athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to ...

. 2013-14 saw the Clan travel to college hockey hotbed

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and take on the

Sacred Heart Pioneers The Sacred Heart Pioneers are the 32 sports teams (14 men, 18 women) representing Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut in intercollegiate athletics. The Pioneers compete in the NCAA Division I and are members of the Metro Atlantic A ...

and College of the Holy Cross Crusaders. That year they would also host two major historical college hockey programs in the 8 time NCAA Champion University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks, and two time ECAC champion

Princeton Tigers The Princeton Tigers are the athletic teams of Princeton University. The school sponsors 35 varsity teams in 20 sports. The school has won several NCAA national championships, including one in men's fencing, three in women's lacrosse, six in me ...

. 2014-15 would take the Clan to

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

to take on the perennial powerhouse

Miami RedHawks The Miami RedHawks are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Miami is a member of the Mid-American Conference ...

who would go on to capture the NCHC championship that year, as well as the former national champion

Bowling Green Falcons The Bowling Green Falcons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Bowling Green State University (BGSU), in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The Falcons compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Divi ...

. 2015-16 would once again take the Clan back to Boston to play the defending national champion Providence College Friars, as well as former national champions in the Northeastern University Huskies. 2016-17 would be the first season played by the Clan under probationary NCAA Division 1 status. The season saw the Clan travel to

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

to take on the

Alaska Anchorage Seawolves The Alaska Anchorage Seawolves are the 13 varsity athletic teams that represent the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), in Anchorage, Alaska, United States, in NCAA intercollegiate sports. The vast majority of UAA's athletic teams are in NCAA D ...

and the Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks, then in February they would travel to

Tempe, Arizona Tempe ( ; ''Oidbaḍ'' in O'odham language, O'odham) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2020 population of 180,587. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in t ...

to take on the

for the second time in their history.

University Hockey Classic

Each September, SFU Hockey meets

UBC The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

in the annual University Hockey Classic pre-season matchup. The event takes aim at building on the historic cross-town rivalry between the two schools, a rivalry that extends from hockey into other sports such as football and even academic programs. The University Hockey Classic began in 2011 with over 1600 passionate fans on hand to witness SFU defeat UBC in a two-game series and has continued yearly ever since.

Great Northwest Showcase

The Great Northwest Showcase is a bi-annual men's ice hockey tournament hosted by Simon Fraser University. The Great Northwest Showcase is meant to showcase collegiate hockey in the Vancouver area, and create a platform to showcase SFU and

players to a variety of professional scouts.

References

External links

* {{Simon Fraser University

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 ...