The UIC Flames men's ice hockey was an NCAA Division I ice hockey team that played in the CCHA for most of their 15-year tenure.

History Illinois–Chicago began sponsoring men's ice hockey in 1966 and stayed with the lesser-classified teams when the NCAA created the tier system in the 1970s. After fifteen years in the second tier the Flames jumped to Division I, playing as an independent for one season before joining the CCHA for the 1982–83 season. With their new coach Val Belmonte the team had difficulty competing in a major conference in the early years, finishing dead last in the CCHA their first two seasons. By 1984–85 the Flames had climbed into the middle of the conference standings aided by top 10 scorer (and future NHLer) Ray Staszak, and their all-time leading defenseman Darin Banister. Two years later the Flames produced their first winning season, going 21–17–1 and winning their first postseason game (though they still couldn't get out of the conference quarterfinals). UIC finally managed to get into the CCHA semifinals in 1989 but after a dreadful season the following year Belmonte was out as coach.

Larry Pedrie was brought in as the next head coach and while the Flames saw a slight improvement in his first season UIC would remain a bottom-feeder for the duration of his tenure. The Flames had a sub-.400 record every season over the next six years and, though they would make the CCHA tournament every year from 1991 through '95, they went 1–10 in tournament play, never making it out of the opening round. When the 1995–96 season rolled around the Flames were seven years removed from a winning season and virtually irrelevant in college hockey circles. More importantly the program had lost the university around $600,000 the year before and UIC did not have another major program to balance out the books. With the administration believing basketball to be a better investment the ice hockey program was discontinued after the season.

UIC Hockey was broadcast from 1983-84 through the final season of 1995-96 with Les Grobstein handing play by play. Chris Madsen and John Kelley filled in when Grobstein had a conflict with UIC Basketball.

The Flames would return to the ice in 2004 as a club team, but as of 2025 the Chicago area and the entire state of Illinois has been left without a Division I program since the Flames program ended.

Season-by-season records Source: Season Conference Record Pct. Position ConferenceTournament Coach 1966–67 NCAA 1–6–0 — — John Kantarski 1967–68 NCAA 12–5–0 — — John Kantarski 1968–69 NCAA 12–4–0 — — John Kantarski 1969–70 NCAA 11–6–0 — — John Kantarski 1970–71 NCAA 10–12–1 — — John Kantarski 1971–72 NCAA 9–7–0 — — John Kantarski 1972–73 NCAA 11–11–0 — — John Kantarski 1973–74 NCAA 17–5–2 — — John Kantarski 1974–75 NCAA 12–10–0 — — John Kantarski 1975–76 NCAA 17–11–1 — — John Kantarski 1976–77 NCAA 14–12–0 — — John Kantarski 1977–78 NCAA 14–10–0 — — John Kantarski 1978–79 NCAA 17–12–1 — — John Kantarski 1979–80 NCAA 14–13–0 — — John Kantarski 1980–81 NCAA 9–17–0 — — John Kantarski 1981–82 Independent 7–24–0 — — John Kantarski 1982–83 CCHA 6–28–2 12th — Val Belmonte 1983–84 CCHA 5–29–1 11th — Val Belmonte 1984–85 CCHA 17–23–0 5th t-5th Val Belmonte 1985–86 CCHA 14–25–1 7th t-5th Val Belmonte 1986–87 CCHA 21–17–1 4th t-5th Val Belmonte 1987–88 CCHA 18–20–1 6th t-5th Val Belmonte 1988–89 CCHA 23–14–5 3rd 4th Val Belmonte 1989–90 CCHA 10–27–1 9th — Val Belmonte 1990–91 CCHA 13–23–2 8th t-5th Larry Pedrie 1991–92 CCHA 10–20–6 7th t-5th Larry Pedrie 1992–93 CCHA 10–25–2 9th t-7th Larry Pedrie 1993–94 CCHA 11–26–2 9th t-7th Larry Pedrie 1994–95 CCHA 11–22–4 8th t-6th Larry Pedrie 1995–96 CCHA 9–24–3 11th — Larry Pedrie 30 Seasons — 365–488–36 — — 3 Coaches

All-time coaching records Tenure Coach Years Record Pct. 1966–1982 John Kantarski 16 187–165–5 1982–1990 Val Belmonte 8 114–183–12 1990–1996 Larry Pedrie 6 64–140–19 Totals 3 coaches 30 seasons 365–488–36

Flames in the NHL

Player Position Team(s) Years Games Wade CampbellDefensemanWPG, BOS1982–19882130Shawn CroninDefensemanWSH, WPG, PHI, SJS1988–19952920Mike RucinskiCenterCHI1987–198910Ray StaszakForwardDET1985–198640 Source:

References

External links Year by year record