The Lethbridge Pronghorns men's ice hockey team was an ice hockey team representing the Lethbridge Pronghorns athletics program of University of Lethbridge. The team competed in U Sports from 1985 until 2020.
History Lethbridge first sponsored varsity ice hockey at the intermediate (2nd tier) level in 1973. The Pronghorns played in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC), however, after two disappointing seasons the program was discontinued. About a decade later, the team was resurrected, this time at the senior level as a member of Canada West. Lethbridge floundered at or near the bottom of the conference for several years, however, the team finally began to show signs of life in the early 90s.
In 1993, the school was close to ending the program for a second time but instead decided to give it one more chance. The team brought in a young coach named Mike Babcock whose most recent experience had been getting fired after an unsuccessful two-year stint with the Moose Jaw Warriors. In his first season behind the bench, Babcock led the team to a regular season title as well as their first ever postseason appearance. Lethbridge then eked out several close wins to capture the league championship and their first berth in the University Cup. In their debut, the team was set against defending national champion Acadia and starting netminder Trevor Kruger had one of his worse performances of the season. Though the Pronghorns surrendered 6 goals in the game, the offense came through with 9 markers to send the team to the championship. Kruger recovered for the final and led the team to a 5–2 win for the national championship.
The stunning turnaround not only saved the program but helped resurrect Babcock's coaching career. Babcock was back in the Western Hockey League the following year and Lethbridge was forced to figure out how to build on their unexpected title without him. A few middling seasons followed but, as the years went on, the championship became a distant memory. By 2004, the program was back at the bottom of the conference and finished dead-last eight times over a 17-year stretch. Despite their lack of success, the Pronghorns were selected as the host for the 2019 University Cup. Unlike their first appearance, Lethbridge entered with a losing record and no expectation of success. They lived up to those predictions with a 1–7 loss in the quarterfinals.
After the end of the succeeding season, the university announced that, due to funding cuts from the provincial government, both the men's and women's ice hockey teams would be eliminated. The two programs were not the only sacrifices made by the school, who also indicated that future cuts would need to be made as further reductions were expected in the near future.
Season-by-season results 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%1973–74ACAC246180––126th246180 1974–75ACAC244200––86th244200 Program Suspended1984–85Canada West244200––85th244200 1985–86Canada West286220––128th286220 1986–87Canada West286220––128th286220 1987–88Canada West286211––137th286211 1988–89Canada West283250––68th283250 1989–90Canada West281252––48th281252 1990–91Canada West2810180––207th2810180 1991–92Canada West2812133––275th2812133 1992–93Canada West289163––216th289163 1993–94Canada West281972––40 1st362592 Won Semifinal series, 2–1 (Regina)Won Championship series, 2–1 (Calgary) Won Semifinal, 9–6 (Acadia)Won Championship, 5–2 (Guelph)1994–95Canada West2814131––294th3014151 Lost Semifinal series, 0–2 (Calgary) 1995–96Canada West2814113––314th3115133 Lost Division Semifinal series, 1–2 (Alberta) 1996–97Canada West268162––185th299182 Lost Division Semifinal series, 1–2 (Alberta) 1997–98Canada West288155––21T–6th288155 1998–99Canada West2813132––285th3114152 Lost Division Semifinal series, 1–2 (Calgary) 1999–00Canada West2812142––264th3012162 Lost Division Semifinal series, 0–2 (Calgary) 2000–01Canada West2811143––255th3112163 Lost Division Semifinal series, 0–2 (Calgary) 2001–02Canada West289145––236th309165 Lost Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Calgary) 2002–03Canada West2810162––226th3111182 Lost Division Semifinal series, 1–2 (Calgary) 2003–04Canada West284204––127th284204 2004–05Canada West283232––87th283232 2005–06Canada West284204––128th284204 2006–07Canada West28149–5–333rd3115160 Lost Division Semifinal series, 1–2 (British Columbia) 2007–08Canada West28918–1–197th289190 2008–09Canada West281413–01294th3115151 Lost Quarterfinal series, 1–2 (British Columbia) 2009–10Canada West281311–22305th2813132 2010–11Canada West281310–23315th2813123 2011–12Canada West28718–30177th287210 2012–13Canada West28222–4088th282260 2013–14Canada West28421–21118th284231 2014–15Canada West28523–00108th285230 2015–16Canada West281115–20247th2811170 2016–17Canada West281114–30257th2811170 2017–18Canada West28916–30217th289190 2018–19Canada West28917–20206th319220 Lost Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Calgary) Lost Quarterfinal, 1–7 (Alberta)2019–20Canada West28520–21138th285221 Program SuspendedTotals GP W L T/SOL %ChampionshipsRegular Season 1051 323 674 54 1 Canada West ChampionshipConference Post-season 34 10 24 0 1 Canada West ChampionshipU Sports Postseason 3 2 1 0 2 National tournament appearancesRegular Season and Postseason Record 1088 335 699 54 1 National Championship Totals include games since 1984. Note: Games not counted towards University Cup appearances are not included.
References
External links official website