MacEwan Griffins men's ice hockey

The MacEwan Griffins men's ice hockey team is an ice hockey team representing the MacEwan Griffins athletics program of MacEwan University. The team is a member of the Canada West Universities Athletic Association conference and compete in U Sports. The Griffins play their home games at the Downtown Community Arena in Edmonton, Alberta.[1]

MacEwan Griffins men's ice hockey
UniversityMacEwan University
ConferenceCanada West
First season1998–99
Head coachZack Dailey
Since 2022–23 season
Assistant coachesSean Ringrose
Ryan Benn
Nolan Yaremchuk
Cam Reagan
ArenaDowntown Community Arena
Edmonton, Alberta
ColorsMaroon and White
   

History

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Relative to other Canadian universities, MacEwan is a rather recent addition to ice hockey circles. The Griffins hit the ice for the first time in 1998 as members of the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference, a second-tier league outside U Sports. Rob Davis helmed the team for the first three seasons but saw little success. Immediately after Terry Ewasiuk took over, the team posted its first winning season and finished as league runners-up. After another second-place result, MacEwan won its first conference title in 2004, however, since the national CCAA championship had been discontinued by that point, the program had to settle for being the best team in their conference.[2] Ewasiuk remained with the club until 2007, never having a losing season.

After having professor Bryan Keller helm the team for a year, Jamie Langley was brought in as the fourth head coach. Langley's 4-year tenure saw the team finish at least 10 games below-.500 in each season. The club missed the postseason three years running, making the only time the Griffins had not played a playoff game outside of its time under Davis. Bram Stephen was hired in 2012 to rebuild the program and, after a slow start, he succeeded. MacEwan steadily climbed back to the top of the ACAC and, by 2017, the Griffins were able to win their second league title.

Michael Ringrose assumed the reins in 2017 and kept the good times rolling. MacEwan won the league championship in each of his first two seasons and the dominance of the program helped to convince Canada West to accept both the men's and women's ice hockey teams as members beginning in 2020.[3] In their final season with the ACAC, MacEwan was in contention for a fourth consecutive championship when the conference tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] The outbreak also caused the cancellation of the entire Canadian college season in 2020–21, delaying MacEwan's entry into senior hockey by a year.

MacEwan made its Canada West debut in the fall of 2021. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the team had trouble winning in its first campaign as it got up to speed with the higher level of hockey. Zack Dailey took over as coach in 2022, eventually leading the Griffins to their first postseason appearance in his second season.[5]

Nakehko Lamothe

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After a game against SAIT on January 25, 2019, 23-year-old Nakehko Lamothe went into cardiac arrest and collapsed in the visiting dressing room. The third-year player was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead just before midnight. Both his team and family were shocked, having no knowledge of any medical issues prior to Nakehko's death.[6] After the Griffins won the league title two months later, team captain Cam Gotaas presented the championship trophy to Lamothe's family.[7]

Season-by-season results

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Intermediate hockey

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Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, SOL = Shootout Losses, Pts = Points

U Sports Champion U Sports Semifinalist Conference regular season champions Conference Division Champions Conference Playoff Champions
Season Conference Regular Season Conference Tournament Results National Tournament Results
Conference Overall
GP W L T OTL SOW SOL Pts* Finish GP W L T %
Rob Davis (1998–2001)
1998–99 ACAC 28 3 24 1 7 8th 28 3 24 1 .125
1999–00 ACAC 28 10 13 2 3 27 5th 30 10 15 5 .417 Lost Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Red Deer)
2000–01 ACAC 28 7 17 3 1 18 7th 28 7 18 3 .304
Terry Ewasiuk (2001–2007)
2001–02 ACAC 28 19 6 2 1 41 2nd 34 21 11 2 .647 Won Semifinal series, 2–1 (NAIT)
Lost Championship series, 0–3 (SAIT)
2002–03 ACAC 28 14 8 4 2 34 T–3rd 40 21 15 4 .575 Won Quarterfinal series, 2–1 (Augustana)
Won Semifinal series, 3–1 (NAIT)
Lost Championship series, 2–3 (Concordia)
2003–04 ACAC 28 20 4 2 2 44 1st 34 26 6 2 .794 Won Semifinal series, 3–0 (Mount Royal)
Won Championship series, 3–0 (NAIT)
2004–05 ACAC 24 16 6 2 0 34 T–2nd 36 23 11 2 .667 Won Quarterfinal series, 2–0 (Concordia)
Won Semifinal series, 3–2 (NAIT)
Lost Championship series, 2–3 (SAIT)
2005–06 ACAC 24 11 8 4 1 27 T–3rd 26 11 11 4 .500 Lost Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Concordia)
2006–07 ACAC 24 14 9 1 0 29 4th 27 15 11 1 .574 Lost Quarterfinal series, 1–2 (Concordia)
Bryan Keller (2007–2008)
2007–08 ACAC 24 14 8 2 0 30 T–2nd 34 19 13 2 .588 Won Quarterfinal series, 2–1 (Briercrest)
Won Semifinal series, 3–1 (Concordia)
Lost Championship series, 0–3 (SAIT)
Jamie Langley (2008–2012)
2008–09 ACAC 28 8 19 1 17 8th 28 8 20 0 .286
2009–10 ACAC 28 4 23 0 1 9 8th 28 4 24 0 .143
2010–11 ACAC 28 3 23 2 0 8 8th 28 3 23 2 .143
2011–12 ACAC 28 8 18 1 1 18 6th 30 8 21 1 .283 Lost Quarterfinal series, 0–3 (SAIT)
Bram Stephen (2012–2017)
2012–13 ACAC 28 9 19 0 0 18 T–6th 30 9 21 0 .300 Lost Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Alberta Augustana)
2013–14 ACAC 32 15 14 3 0 33 5th 35 16 16 3 .500 Lost Quarterfinal series, 1–2 (Red Deer)
2014–15 ACAC 32 21 7 3 1 46 3rd 35 22 10 3 .671 Lost Quarterfinal series, 1–2 (Keyano)
2015–16 ACAC 32 14 14 1 3 32 6th 35 15 19 1 .443 Lost Quarterfinal series, 1–2 (Keyano)
2016–17 ACAC 28 21 6 0 1 43 2nd 33 25 8 0 .758 Won Semifinal series, 2–0 (SAIT)
Won Championship series, 2–1 (NAIT)
Michael Ringrose (2017–2022)
2017–18 ACAC 28 20 7 0 1 43 2nd 33 24 9 0 .727 Won Semifinal series, 2–0 (Red Deer)
Won Championship series, 2–1 (NAIT)
2018–19 ACAC 28 19 7 1 1 40 T–2nd 33 23 9 1 .712 Won Semifinal series, 2–1 (Red Deer)
Won Championship series, 2–0 (NAIT)
2019–20 ACAC 28 20 7 0 1 41 3rd 31 22 9 0 .710 Won Quarterfinal series, 2–1 (Concordia)
Remainder of postseason cancelled
Totals GP W L T/SOL % Championships
Regular Season 612 310 285 37 .520 1 ACAC Championship
Conference Post-season 84 45 39 0 .536 4 ACAC Championships
Regular Season and Postseason Record 696 355 324 37 .522

† Sean Ringrose served as interim head coach for 22 games while Michael Ringrose was on paternity leave.

Senior hockey

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Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, SOL = Shootout Losses, Pts = Points

U Sports Champion U Sports Semifinalist Conference regular season champions Conference Division Champions Conference Playoff Champions
Season Conference Regular Season Conference Tournament Results National Tournament Results
Conference Overall
GP W L T OTL SOL Pts* Finish GP W L T %
2020–21 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021–22 Canada West 20 3 17 0 0 6 8th 20 3 17 0 .150
Zack Dailey (2022–Present)
2022–23 Canada West 28 9 18 1 0 19 7th 28 9 19 0 .321
2023–24 Canada West 28 9 17 0 2 20 6th 30 9 19 2 .333 Lost Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Mount Royal)
Totals GP W L T/SOL % Championships
Regular Season 76 21 53 2 .289
Conference Post-season 2 0 2 0 .000
U Sports Postseason 0 0 0 0
Regular Season and Postseason Record 78 21 55 2 .282

Note: Games not counted towards University Cup appearances are not included.[5]

See also

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MacEwan Griffins women's ice hockey

References

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  1. ^ "Homes of the Griffins". MacEwan Griffins. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
  2. ^ "Men's Hockey". CCAA. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
  3. ^ "MacEwan hockey programs accepted into Canada West conference, starting in 2020-21". MacEwan Griffins. May 9, 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
  4. ^ "Hockey Cancelled". Red Deer Polytechnic. March 13, 2020. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "MacEwan Hockey Record Book" (PDF). MacEwan Griffins. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
  6. ^ "MacEwan hockey player died of heart attack, family says". CBC.ca. January 28, 2024. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
  7. ^ "MacEwan Griffins win championship to conclude difficult season". Edmonton Sun. March 24, 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
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