| Team Name: | York Lions |
| Team Link: | |
| Athletics Name: | York Lions |
| University: | York University |
| Sex: | men |
| Conference: | Ontario University Athletics |
| Conference Short: | OUA |
| Division: | OUA East |
| Location: | Toronto, Ontario |
| Coach: | Russ Herrington |
| Assistant Coaches: | Dan Poliziani Jessica Turi Stefano Mallocci |
| Coach Year: | Since 2017–18 |
| Arena: | Canlan Ice Sports |
| Color1: | Red |
| Color2: | White |
| Color3: | Black |
| Hex1: | E31837 |
| Hex2: | FFFFFF |
| Hex3: | 000000 |
| Usportschampion: | 1985, 1988, 1989 |
| Usportstourneys: | 1970, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2017 |
| Conference Tournament: | 1970, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 2004, 2017 |
| Conference Season: | 1970, 1972, 1977, 1988 |
The York Lions men's ice hockey team (formerly the York Yeomen) is an active ice hockey program representing the York Lions athletic department of York University. The team has been continually active since the early 1960s and is currently a member of the Ontario University Athletics conference under the authority of U Sports. The Lions play at the Canlan Ice Sports in Toronto, Ontario.[1]
York University, established in 1959, iced its first varsity hockey team in 1962, joining the Ontario Intermediate Athletic Association (OIAA), as an Intermediate (2nd tier) program. The Yeomen joined just as the league was preparing to elevate itself to the senior level of Canadian college hockey, however, its plans hit a snag. The OIAA petitioned CIAU for a bid into the University Cup in 1964 but were denied. In response, the entire league cancelled their schedules midway through the year. That summer, the CIAU reversed their decision and conferred an automatic bid for the conference champion. York resumed play the next year at the top level and slowly built itself into a contender. In 1970, the program won its first league title, earning a trip to the national tournament for the first time. The team followed up their bronze medal-finish with a runner-up spot in the conference final before the college landscape was upended.
In 1971, the four conferences that shared programs across Ontario and Quebec were realigned into two provincial leagues. York didn't appear to be bothered in the slightest by this development, posting winning records in seven consecutive seasons in their new league, the Ontario University Athletic Association (OUAA). Unfortunately, the Yeomen were unable to win a league championship and were prevented from returning to the University Cup.
After a lull in the early 80s, York returned in force in the middle of the decade, winning its first conference championship in 15 years. They won three close games in the University Cup series and captured the program's first national championship.[2] York won the next three OUAA titles as well but it wasn't until 1988 that they were able too win their second University Cup. The program slumped a bit in 1989 but still earned an automatic bit to the tournament thanks to a runner-up finish in the OUAA playoffs. The defending champions then went on a tear and upset two heavily favored squads to win back-to-back championships.[3]
York declined and spent most of the 90s as a middling team, though they did make two trips to the national tournament in 1997 and '99. In the early 21st century, the program recovered and ended a 16-year drought with a league championship in 2004. However, once again, the renamed-Lions slipped into the middle of the pack for much of the succeeding two decades. Other than 2017 and '18, the Lions have seen no success in the postseason.
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points
| Extra-League 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 | Pts* | Finish | GP | W | L | T | % | |||||
| 1962–63 | OIAA | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |||
| 1963–64 | OIAA | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | N/A † | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |||
| Totals | GP | W | L | T | % | Championships | |||||||||
| Regular Season | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||||||||||
| Conference Post-season | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||||||||||
| Regular Season and Postseason Record | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||||||||||
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 | % | ||||||
| 1964–65 | OIAA | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | – | – | T–4th | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | ||||||
| 1965–66 | OIAA | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | – | – | 11 | 3rd | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | |||||
| 1966–67 | OIAA | 12 | 6 | 6 | 0 | – | – | 12 | 4th | 12 | 6 | 6 | 0 | |||||
| 1967–68 | OIAA | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | – | – | 16 | 2nd | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | |||||
| 1968–69 | OIAA | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | – | – | 10 | 4th | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | |||||
| 1969–70 | OIAA | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 20 | 1st | 14 | 13 | 1 | 0 | bgcolor=ddffdd align="left" | Won Championship, 8–2 (Laurentian) | bgcolor=D0E7FF align="left" | Lost Quarterfinal, 1–4 (Saint Mary's) Won Consolation Semifinal, 12–3 (Alberta) Won Consolation Final, 7–3 (Loyola) | |
| 1970–71 | OIAA | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 16 | 2nd | 12 | 9 | 3 | 0 | Won Semifinal, 8–1 (Waterloo Lutheran) Lost Championship, 3–5 (Laurentian) | ||||
| 1971–72 | OUAA | 19 | 16 | 1 | 2 | – | – | 34 | 1st | 22 | 18 | 2 | 2 | Won Quarterfinal, 6–1 (Laurentian) Won Semifinal, 6–2 (Guelph) Lost Championship, 2–5 (Toronto) | ||||
| 1972–73 | OUAA | 17 | 10 | 6 | 1 | – | – | 6 | T–6th | 18 | 10 | 7 | 1 | Lost Quarterfinal, 2–8 (Toronto) | ||||
| 1973–74 | OUAA | 19 | 16 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 33 | 2nd | 21 | 17 | 3 | 1 | Won Quarterfinal, 8–2 (Laurentian) Lost Semifinal, 4–8 (Guelph) | ||||
| 1974–75 | OUAA | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | – | – | 21 | 2nd | 17 | 11 | 3 | 3 | Won Quarterfinal, 9–2 (Ottawa) Won Semifinal, 9–3 (Western Ontario) Lost Championship, 3–4 (Toronto) | ||||
| 1975–76 | OUAA | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | – | – | 20 | 3rd | 17 | 12 | 5 | 0 | Won Quarterfinal, 14–0 (Ryerson) Won Semifinal, 5–2 (Western Ontario) Lost Championship, 4–5 (Guelph) | ||||
| 1976–77 | OUAA | 19 | 16 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 33 | 1st | 22 | 18 | 3 | 1 | Won Quarterfinal, 11–1 (Ryerson) Won Semifinal, 5–4 (Guelph) Lost Championship, 4–5 (Toronto) | ||||
| 1977–78 | OUAA | 20 | 10 | 8 | 2 | – | – | 22 | 6th | 22 | 11 | 9 | 2 | Won Quarterfinal, 8–1 (Laurentian) Lost Semifinal, 6–8 (Toronto) | ||||
| 1978–79 | OUAA | 16 | 5 | 7 | 4 | – | – | 14 | 8th | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Lost results unavailable | |||
| 1979–80 | OUAA | 22 | 8 | 11 | 3 | – | – | 19 | 8th | 22 | 8 | 11 | 3 | |||||
| 1980–81 | OUAA | 22 | 12 | 7 | 3 | – | – | 28 | T–5th | 24 | 13 | 8 | 3 | Won Quarterfinal, 5–4 (Guelph) Lost Semifinal series, 0–2 (Queen's) | ||||
| 1981–82 | OUAA | 22 | 13 | 8 | 1 | – | – | 27 | T–5th | 23 | 13 | 9 | 1 | Lost Quarterfinal, 5–6 (McMaster) | ||||
| 1982–83 | OUAA | 24 | 13 | 11 | 0 | – | – | 26 | 6th | 25 | 13 | 12 | 0 | Lost Quarterfinal, 4–5 (Wilfrid Laurier) | ||||
| 1983–84 | OUAA | 24 | 10 | 13 | 1 | – | – | 16 † | T–11th | 24 | 10 | 13 | 1 | |||||
| 1984–85 | OUAA | 24 | 15 | 9 | 0 | – | – | 30 | 5th | 27 | 19 | 4 | 4 | bgcolor=ddffdd align="left" | Won Quarterfinal, 4–1 (Laurentian) Won Semifinal series, 2–0 (Toronto) Won Championship series, 2–1 (Western Ontario) | bgcolor=FFF3BF align="left" | Won Semifinal series, 2–0 (Ottawa) Won Championship, 3–2 (Alberta) | |
| 1985–86 | OUAA | 24 | 18 | 5 | 1 | – | – | 36 | 3rd | 34 | 25 | 8 | 1 | bgcolor=ddffdd align="left" | Won Quarterfinal, 4–3 (Waterloo) Won Semifinal series, 2–1 (Toronto) Won Championship series, 2–0 (Wilfrid Laurier) | bgcolor=D0E7FF align="left" | Won Quarterfinal series, 2–1 (Dalhousie) Lost Semifinal, 2–5 (Quebec–Trois-Rivières) | |
| 1986–87 | OUAA | 24 | 19 | 2 | 3 | – | – | 2nd | 34 | 25 | 6 | 3 | bgcolor=ddffdd align="left" | Won Quarterfinal series, 2–0 (McMaster) Won Semifinal series, 2–1 (Windsor) Won Championship series, 2–1 (Western Ontario) | Lost Pool 2 Round-Robin, 1–2 (Alberta), 2–4 (Quebec–Trois-Rivières) | |||
| 1987–88 | OUAA | 26 | 20 | 1 | 5 | – | – | 45 | 1st | 34 | 28 | 1 | 5 | bgcolor=ddffdd align="left" | Won Division Semifinal series, 2–0 (Wilfrid Laurier) Won Division Final series, 2–0 (Western Ontario) Won Semifinal, 5–2 (Windsor) Won Championship, 5–1 (Western Ontario) | bgcolor=FFF3BF align="left" | Won Semifinal, 4–3 (Calgary) Won Championship, 5–3 (Western Ontario) | |
| 1988–89 | OUAA | 26 | 14 | 9 | 3 | – | – | 29 | 6th | 35 | 19 | 13 | 3 | Won Division Semifinal series, 2–1 (Waterloo) Lost Division Final series, 0–2 (Wilfrid Laurier) Won Semifinal, 5–4 (Quebec–Trois-Rivières) Lost Championship, 0–3 (Wilfrid Laurier) | bgcolor=FFF3BF align="left" | Won Semifinal, 4–3 (Alberta) Won Championship, 5–2 (Wilfrid Laurier) | ||
| 1989–90 | OUAA | 22 | 13 | 8 | 1 | – | – | 27 | T–4th | 28 | 16 | 11 | 1 | Won Quarterfinal series, 2–1 (Ottawa) Lost Semifinal series, 1–2 (Quebec–Trois-Rivières) | ||||
| 1990–91 | OUAA | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0 | – | – | 28 | 5th | 23 | 14 | 9 | 0 | Lost First Round, 4–5 (McGill) | ||||
| 1991–92 | OUAA | 22 | 11 | 8 | 3 | – | – | 25 | 8th | 24 | 11 | 10 | 3 | Lost Division Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Quebec–Trois-Rivières) | ||||
| 1992–93 | OUAA | 22 | 7 | 13 | 2 | – | – | 16 | T–13th | 22 | 7 | 13 | 2 | |||||
| 1993–94 | OUAA | 26 | 10 | 15 | 1 | – | – | 21 | 10th | 31 | 13 | 17 | 1 | Won Division Semifinal, 4–3 (Laurentian) Won Division Final series, 2–1 (Brock) Lost Semifinal, 1–2 (Western Ontario) | ||||
| 1994–95 | OUAA | 26 | 12 | 12 | 2 | – | – | 26 | 10th | 31 | 15 | 14 | 2 | Won Division Semifinal, 5–3 (Laurentian) Won Division Final series, 2–1 (Brock) Lost Semifinal, 2–7 (Western Ontario) | ||||
| 1995–96 | OUAA | 26 | 13 | 9 | 4 | – | – | 30 | 8th | 27 | 13 | 10 | 4 | Lost Division Semifinal, 3–4 (OT) (Brock) | ||||
| 1996–97 | OUAA | 26 | 14 | 9 | 3 | – | – | 31 | 5th | 31 | 17 | 11 | 3 | Won Division Final series, 2–0 (Laurentian) Won Semifinal, 5–4 (Western Ontario) Lost Championship, 0–3 (Guelph) | bgcolor=D0E7FF align="left" | Lost Semifinal, 2–4 (Guelph) | ||
| 1997–98 | OUA | 26 | 13 | 11 | 2 | – | – | 28 | T–7th | 30 | 16 | 12 | 2 | Won Division Final series, 3–0 (Brock) Lost Semifinal, 2–6 (Windsor) | ||||
| 1998–99 | OUA | 25 | 8 | 10 | 7 | – | – | 33 | 10th | 32 | 12 | 13 | 7 | Won Division Final series, 2–1 (Brock) Won Semifinal, 3–1 (Windsor) Lost Championship, 0–7 (Quebec–Trois-Rivières) | Lost Pool A Round-Robin, 5–2 (Quebec–Trois-Rivières), 0–4 (Alberta) | |||
| 1999–00 | OUA | 26 | 9 | 14 | 3 | – | – | 21 | T–10th | 32 | 13 | 16 | 3 | Won Division Semifinal, 2–0 (Laurentian) Won Division Final series, 2–1 (Brock) Lost Semifinal, 1–5 (Western Ontario) | ||||
| 2000–01 | OUA | 24 | 15 | 6 | 3 | – | – | 33 | 3rd | 27 | 17 | 7 | 3 | Won Division Final series, 2–0 (Guelph) Lost Semifinal, 3–7 (Western Ontario) | ||||
| 2001–02 | OUA | 24 | 17 | 4 | 3 | – | – | 37 | 2nd | 27 | 19 | 5 | 3 | Won Division Final series, 2–0 (Brock) Lost Semifinal, 3–5 (Western Ontario) | ||||
| 2002–03 | OUA | 24 | 17 | 6 | 1 | – | – | 35 | 4th | 31 | 20 | 10 | 1 | Won Division Final series, 2–1 (Wilfrid Laurier) Won Semifinal, 3–1 (Lakehead) Lost Championship, 4–7 (Quebec–Trois-Rivières) | Lost Pool A Round-Robin, 0–4 (Alberta), 4–5 (St. Francis Xavier) | |||
| 2003–04 | OUA | 24 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 0 | – | 34 | 3rd | 30 | 19 | 7 | 4 | bgcolor=ddffdd align="left" | Won Division Final series, 2–0 (Wilfrid Laurier) Won Semifinal, 3–2 (Lakehead) Won Championship, 3–2 (Ottawa) | Lost Pool B Round-Robin, 2–4 (Dalhousie), 0–4 (St. Francis Xavier) | ||
| 2004–05 | OUA | 24 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 1 | – | 30 | 6th | 26 | 12 | 9 | 5 | Lost Division Semifinal series, 0–2 (Lakehead) | ||||
| 2005–06 | OUA | 24 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 2 | – | 23 | 8th | 26 | 10 | 15 | 1 | Lost Division Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Lakehead) | ||||
| 2006–07 | OUA | 28 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 2 | – | 31 | T–7th | 30 | 13 | 14 | 3 | Lost Division Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Lakehead) | ||||
| 2007–08 | OUA | 28 | 14 | 11 | – | 2 | 1 | 31 | 8th | 30 | 14 | 15 | 1 | Lost Division Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Western Ontario) | ||||
| 2008–09 | OUA | 28 | 14 | 11 | – | 0 | 3 | 31 | T–7th | 30 | 14 | 13 | 3 | Lost Division Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Western Ontario) | ||||
| 2009–10 | OUA | 28 | 12 | 13 | – | 3 | 0 | 27 | T–11th | 31 | 13 | 18 | 0 | Lost Division Quarterfinal series, 1–2 (Lakehead) | ||||
| 2010–11 | OUA | 28 | 10 | 16 | – | 1 | 1 | 22 | 17th | 28 | 10 | 17 | 1 | |||||
| 2011–12 | OUA | 28 | 14 | 10 | – | 1 | 3 | 31 | 9th | 30 | 14 | 13 | 3 | Lost Division Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Windsor) | ||||
| 2012–13 | OUA | 28 | 14 | 14 | – | 0 | 0 | 28 | 13th | 30 | 14 | 16 | 0 | Lost Division Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Windsor) | ||||
| 2013–14 | OUA | 28 | 13 | 13 | – | 1 | 1 | 28 | T–12th | 30 | 13 | 16 | 1 | Lost Division Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Lakehead) | ||||
| 2014–15 | OUA | 27 | 9 | 15 | – | 2 | 1 | 21 | T–16th | 27 | 9 | 17 | 1 | |||||
| 2015–16 | OUA | 28 | 16 | 7 | – | 4 | 1 | 37 | 6th | 30 | 16 | 13 | 1 | Lost Division Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Toronto) | ||||
| 2016–17 | OUA | 28 | 18 | 6 | – | 3 | 1 | 40 | 4th | 37 | 25 | 11 | 1 | bgcolor=ddffdd align="left" | Won Division Quarterfinal series, 2–0 (Lakehead) Won Division Semifinal series, 2–0 (Guelph) Won Division Final series, 2–1 (Windsor) Won Championship, 4–3 (Queen's) | Lost Quarterfinal, 0–1 (OT) (Saskatchewan) | ||
| 2017–18 | OUA | 28 | 17 | 10 | – | 0 | 1 | 35 | 7th | 35 | 21 | 13 | 1 | Won Division Quarterfinal series, 2–1 (Lakehead) Won Division Semifinal series, 2–0 (Ryerson) Lost Division Final series, 1–2 (Brock) Lost Bronze Medal Game, 2–3 (Concordia) | ||||
| 2018–19 | OUA | 28 | 12 | 14 | – | 2 | 0 | 26 | T–14th | 30 | 12 | 18 | 0 | Lost Division Quarterfinal series, 0–2 (Brock) | ||||
| 2019–20 | OUA | 28 | 9 | 17 | – | 2 | 0 | 20 | 17th | 28 | 9 | 19 | 0 | |||||
| 2020–21 | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | |||||||||||||||||
| 2021–22 | OUA | 16 | 6 | 8 | – | 2 | 0 | 15th | 17 | 6 | 11 | 0 | Lost Division Quarterfinal, 2–4 (Windsor) | |||||
| 2022–23 | OUA | 27 | 12 | 13 | – | 2 | 0 | 26 | 16th | 27 | 12 | 15 | 0 | |||||
| 2023–24 | OUA | 28 | 3 | 22 | – | 2 | 1 | 9 | 19th | 28 | 3 | 24 | 1 | |||||
| Totals | GP | W | L | T/SOL | % | Championships | ||||||||||||
| Regular Season | 1301 | 688 | 516 | 97 | 1 OIAA Championship, 3 OUAA Championships, 3 East Division Title, 1 Central Division Title, 9 Mid-West Division Titles, 1 West Division Title | |||||||||||||
| Conference Post-season | 151 | 83 | 68 | 0 | 1 OIAA Championships, 4 OUAA Championships, 2 OUAA Championships | |||||||||||||
| U Sports Postseason | 21 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 11 National Tournament appearances | |||||||||||||
| Regular Season and Postseason Record | 1473 | 781 | 595 | 97 | 3 National Championships | |||||||||||||