The

Western Mustangs The Western Mustangs are the athletic teams that represent University of Western Ontario, Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. The school's athletic program supports 46 Varsity team, varsity teams. Their mascot is a Mustang named J.W. a ...

men's ice hockey team represents Western University (in full, The University of Western Ontario) in Canadian university competition. The Mustangs are members of

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, ...

, one of the four regional associations within the national governing body of

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 Mustangs play at Thompson Arena in

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

. The men's hockey team has won 3 OUA championships (1994–95, 2004–05, 2008–09) and 1

championship (2001–02)

Team history

Early history

In 1905, the first hockey club was established at the University of Western Ontario. The sporting teams were organized by the two faculties at Western during this time, the

Arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

Divinity Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a single ...

faculty and the

Medical Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

"Meds" faculty. The teams practiced on ice rinks around

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, as well as on the Thames river. By the 1913-14 season, hockey became the most popular sport on campus and a combined faculty team went on to represent Western in the Canadian Hockey Association championships, playing Berlin (now Kitchener, Ontario) in the final match. Western lost 6-4.

Start of intercollegiate hockey

Western entered the intercollegiate competition in the 1923-24 season. This league comprised St. Michael’s College of Toronto, the

Ontario Agricultural College The Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) originated at the agricultural laboratories of the Toronto Normal School, and was officially founded in 1874 as an associate agricultural college of the University of Toronto. Since 1964, it has become affil ...

and the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. The team also played some exhibition games during 1920s, including a game against

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in the 1926-27 season and one against the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in the 1928-29 season. In the 1932-33 season, Western won its first Canadian Intermediate Intercollegiate Championship by beating the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

in the finals 6-1. Hockey at Western proceeded into the 1930s but was suspended in 1941-44 due to

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 ...

. When the London Arena was not available for the 1936–37 season, J. Howard Crocker arranged to play home games in

Brantford Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully indep ...

, and have practices an outdoor rink on campus. After the war, the team kept competing in the Intermediate Intercollegiate league, as well as the senior London City League. The team continued until the mid 1950s. During this time, a lack of funding and ice time caused the team to be cancelled in 1955. The university did not have a rink at this time and there was little funding for intermediate teams.

Senior intercollegiate hockey and the OUA

In the 1964-65 season, Western joined the Ontario-Quebec Athletic Association. This was due to large support from Bill L’Heureux over the years prior. During this season, L'Heureux acted as the coach and the team placed third in a ten-team league, finishing 4th in the playoffs. While attending Western, Brian Conacher played with the Mustangs during their first season. Ron Watson took over as coach in 1965 and coached the Mustangs for 20 seasons, leading the team to the playoffs 18 years out of his 20 year reign.

1980s–2000s

After Ron Watson, Barry Martinelli took over in 1985. Mike Tomlak played for Western in the 1986-87 season. The team had medium success during this time, but it started to rise when

Steve Rucchin Steve Andrew Rucchin (; born July 4, 1971) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played for three teams in the National Hockey League, most notably for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Playing career Rucchin played high school hock ...

joined the Mustangs from 1990 to 1994. Rucchin scored 24 points in his first year, 62 points in his second, and 48 points in his third. On this rising success, Western won the first league OUA title in the 1994-95 season. Martinelli retired as coach in 1999, where the position was filled by the assistant coach at the time, Clarke Singer. Clarke Singer is the current coach of the Western Mustangs and has been coaching the team since 1999. He has brought the team to its only national championship in 2001.

Season-by-season results

Senior and collegiate play

''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points'' Note: In 1931 the OHA used the Intermediate results for its standings rather than holding a separate schedule.

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 1964–65 onward.

Notable players

Western has had multiple NHL and All-Canadian players over the years. These include: * Brian Conacher (NHL) * Robbie Moore (NHL) * Reg Higgs (NHL) * Ian McKegney (NHL) * Brent Imlach (NHL) * Mike Tomlak (NHL and All-Canadian) *

(NHL and All-Canadian) * Pete Fraser (All-Canadian) * Chris McCauley (All-Canadian) * Mark Guy (All-Canadian) * Sean Basilio (All-Canadian) * Jeff Petrie (All-Canadian)

References

External links

* {{University of Western Ontario University of Western Ontario Ice hockey teams in London, Ontario U Sports men's ice hockey teams Ice hockey clubs established in 1923 1923 establishments in Ontario