The Brandon Bobcats men's ice hockey team was an ice hockey team representing the Brandon University. The team was active in most seasons from 1909 until its permanent suspension in 2002.
History Brandon College began sponsoring ice hockey in 1909. Originally called the 'Brandon Caps', the team played at the intermediate (tier II) level of college hockey as well as in local junior leagues. They twice competed for the Turnbull Cup, the provincial amateur championship in the 1920s, however, they were eliminated before the championship rounds.
After World War II, Brandon joined the Big Six Intermediate Hockey League (BSIHL), playing in the league for five seasons. In 1954, the team joined the Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WCIAU), playing senior collegiate hockey for the first time. The Caps didn't have much success against the top level of competition so the program returned to the Intermediate level in 1958. The Caps then spent the next 12 seasons in the SouthWest Hockey League (SWHL), winning championships in 1961 and 1969.
Once the school had become a full university and renamed its athletic programs as 'Bobcats', the hockey program was ready to take their second chance at senior hockey. They joined the WCIAU's successor (Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Association) in 1969 and were a far more competitive team then they had been in the 50s. However, just three years later, the conference was split in two to cut down on travel expenses. Brandon was one of the founding members of the Great Plains Athletic Association (soon to be called Great Plains Athletic Conference) along with two schools from Winnipeg and one from Thunder Bay. After finishing last in the inaugural season, the Bobcats jumped to the top of the standings and won consecutive league titles. The championships earned Brandon a pair of trips to the University Cup, however, the team was unable to win any of their games. The early 1980s saw Brandon win two more league titles, this time through a playoff, but they were still unable to make any headway in the national tournament. Brandon finished its time in the GPAC by being barred from the 1985 playoff for making illegal payments to student athletes.
In 1985, the GPAC was down to just three teams that sponsored varsity ice hockey. With the conference on the cusp of losing its qualifying bid for the University Cup, all three teams were accepted into Canada West. This move, while necessary, proved to be disastrous for the Bobcats. For more than a decade, Brandon finished in the bottom half of league standings (often in last place), and didn't play a single playoff game. Even after the conference postseason was expanded in 1998, Brandon had little chance at winning a title and by the early 21st century, the program was on its last legs. Without a single winning record during their time in Canada West, and after consecutive last-place finishes in 2001 and 2002, the school decided to end the program.
Season-by-season results Senior and collegiate play Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points Extra-League ChampionNational SemifinalistConference regular season championsConference Division ChampionsConference Playoff Champions SeasonConferenceRegular SeasonConference Tournament ResultsNational Tournament Results Conference OverallGPWLTPts*FinishGPWLT%1949–50BSIHL1019026th????? 1950–51BSIHL10460164th????? Lost Semifinal series, 0–3 (Dauphin Kings) 1951–52BSIHL196130125th????? 1952–53BSIHL20119026th????? 1953–54BSIHL10010006th????? 1954–55WCIAU826043rd????? 1955–56???????????? 1956–57WCIAU12111024th????? 1957–58WCIAU12210044th????? 1958–59SWHL12840162nd????? 1959–60SWHL9612142nd????? 1960–61SWHL16151030 1st????? Won Championship 1961–62SWHL201631332nd????? 1962–63SWHL161141232nd????? 1963–64SWHL14860165th????? 1964–65SWHL1459010T–7th????? 1965–66SWHL10460128th????? 1966–67SWHL81613T–11th????? 1967–68SWHL7610184th????? 1968–69SWHL??????????? Won Championship Program changed name to 'Brandon Bobcats'1969–70SWHL121020402nd????? Totals GP W L T %ChampionshipsRegular Season ? ? ? ? ? 1 SWHL ChampionshipConference Post-season ? ? ? ? ? 2 SWHL ChampionshipsRegular Season and Postseason Record ? ? ? ? ? Note: information prior to 1949 are incomplete or missing.
Collegiate only Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, SOL = Shootout Losses, Pts = Points U Sports Champion U Sports SemifinalistConference regular season championsConference Division ChampionsConference Playoff Champions SeasonConferenceRegular SeasonConference Tournament ResultsNational Tournament Results Conference OverallGPWLTOTLSOLPts*FinishGPWLT%1969–70WCIAA14770––145th14770 1970–71WCIAA204160––87th †204160 1971–72WCIAA208120––16T–5th228140 Lost Play-in series, 9–12 (Manitoba) 1972–73GPAA12390––64th12390 1973–74GPAC181170––22 1st201190 Lost West Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Calgary)1974–75GPAC221750––34 1st241770 Lost West Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Alberta)1975–76GPAC181080––202nd181080 1976–77GPAC248160––165th248160 1977–78GPAC242211––55th242211 1978–79GPAC248160––163rd248160 1979–80GPAC201361––25 1st231481 Lost Championship series, 1–2 (Regina) 1980–81GPAC242310––46 1st282530 Won Championship series, 2–0 (Manitoba) Lost Pool 1 Round-robin, 3–6 (Calgary), 3–10 (Moncton)1981–82GPAC241851––372nd282071 Won Semifinal, 5–4 (Manitoba)Lost Championship series, 1–2 (Regina) 1982–83GPAC241662––34 1st291892 Won Championship series, 2–1 (Manitoba) Lost Pool 1 Round-robin, 2–6 (Saskatchewan), 4–5 (Wilfrid Laurier)1983–84GPAC241860––362nd282080 Won Semifinal, 5–4 (Regina)Lost Championship series, 1–2 (Manitoba) 1984–85GPAC241293––273rd292054 Brandon was barred from postseason play for making illegal payments to players. 1985–86Canada West2813150––265th2813150 1986–87Canada West2810180––206th2810180 1987–88Canada West288182––186th288182 1988–89Canada West286211––137th286211 1989–90Canada West2812160––246th2812160 1990–91Canada West287165––198th287165 1991–92Canada West281252––48th281252 1992–93Canada West283214––108th283214 1993–94Canada West285185––158th285185 1994–95Canada West288182––187th288182 1995–96Canada West286211––138th286211 1996–97Canada West265192––128th265192 1997–98Canada West2810171––216th3010191 Lost Division Semifinal series, 0–2 (Manitoba) 1998–99Canada West2812133––276th3012153 Lost Division Semifinal series, 0–2 (Manitoba) 1999–00Canada West2811170––226th3213190 Won Division Semifinal series, 2–0 (Manitoba)Lost Division Final series, 0–2 (Saskatchewan) 2000–01Canada West284213––118th284213 2001–02Canada West285203––138th285203 Program SuspendedTotals GP W L T/SOL %ChampionshipsRegular Season 815 312 460 43 5 GPAC ChampionshipsConference Post-season 26 11 15 0 2 GPAC ChampionshipsU Sports Postseason 8 0 8 0 4 National tournament appearancesRegular Season and Postseason Record 849 323 483 43 † Brandon was forced to forfeit 4 games during the season for using an ineligible player. Totals include only games at senior collegiate level. Note: Games not counted towards University Cup appearances are not included.
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