More than a century of tradition will be on display this week as Western takes to the ice Thursday against the Guelph Gryphons for the inaugural Faceoff at the Forks under the Budweiser Gardens lights.
The event brings Mustangs hockey downtown the first time in more than a decade. In 2005, Western set a Canadian Interuniversity Sport attendance record when 5,230 fans packed the lower bowl of the arena.
“This will be one of our preeminent events this winter,” said Christine Stapleton, Director (Sports and Recreation Services). “It’s a tremendous facility and we’re excited to see Western students, alumni and the community in attendance to show their support and cheer on the Mustangs.”
In a way, the event marks a century celebration of the sport at Western – depending on where one anchors the ‘start’ of hockey at Western, explained Kinesiology professor emeritus Bob Barney, author of Mustangs 100: A Century of Western Athletics.
Hockey has its roots in within early interfaculty competitions.
By 1911-12, both Medicine and Arts had organized ‘Athletic Associations’ to govern the on-campus sports activities of their students. In 1911, Arts asked the university’s Board of Governors, without success, for financial support to carry on their activities. At the time, Meds students paid athletic association fees of $3 per year, contrasted to 50 cents paid by Arts students.
In February 1914, the first meeting of an amalgamation of the Arts and Meds Athletic Associations was held, and the Western University Athletic Association was born to promote, finance and control athletics. Each Western student paid $3 annually as an athletic fee.
In 1916, the Board authorized and implemented an annual ice hockey championship cup. The record of ‘Inter-Faculty Championship’ competition in hockey begins in 1919-20. That interfaculty competition continues today and is better known as intramurals.
Mustang hockey debuted in intermediate intercollegiate play in 1923-24, claiming its first Canadian Intermediate intercollegiate championship a decade later, beating the University of Ottawa 6-1.
In 1938, a women’s team first took to the ice for Western.
Starting in 1955-56, there would be no hockey for seven years at Western, due to lack of funding and difficulty obtaining ice time for practice and games, since there were still no rinks on campus
Showing their desire to once again hit the ice, players on the 1963-64 Mustangs knew they had to be self-supporting if they wanted to play, so each player paid a $25 bond to ensure against the team not covering their season expenses. They joined the Quebec-Ontario Athletic Association, and would remain there until becoming part of the Ontario Universities Athletic Association for the 1971-72 season.
“That really grew out of that vigorous, vibrant interfaculty play, in particular with the dominance of the Business faculty at the time, that we ended up getting a varsity team,” Barney said. “If you want to look at it, historically the three sports that have been big here are football, basketball and, of course, hockey. They (hockey team) have done and even like this before it’s been great.”
Since becoming a varsity squad, the men’s team has won three Ontario University Athletics championships (1994-95, 2004-05 and 2008-09). In 2002, Western took home the national championship with a thrilling 4-3 triple overtime game against the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivieres, capping off an undefeated 22-0-2 season and 11 weeks at the top of the national rankings.
Seven Mustangs have gone on to play or coach in the National Hockey League including Brian Conacher (Toronto, Detroit, Ottawa), Robbie Moore (Philadelphia, Washington), Reg Higgs (assistant coach New York Rangers), Ian McKegney (Chicago), Brent Imlack (Toronto), Mike Tomlak (Hartford) and Steve Rucchin (Anaheim, Rangers, Atlanta).
Both Guelph and Western have rich athletic histories, said Mustangs coach Clark Singer, and it should be a great atmosphere for both schools to gather to cheer on their teams in what is sure to be a hard-fought battle.
“The team is looking forward to playing in front of a big crowd downtown at Bud Gardens,” Singer said. “Holding these types of events in CHL arenas across the country is becoming increasingly popular in U Sports men’s hockey. It will be a great showcase for our program and brand.”