The Lafayette Leopards men's ice hockey team is a college ice hockey program that represents Lafayette College. The team currently operates an unofficial club team but the university previously sponsored varsity ice hockey between 1936 and 1941.
| Lafayette Leopards men's ice hockey | |
|---|---|
 | |
| University | Lafayette College |
| First season | 1936–37 |
| Arena | Easton, Pennsylvania |
| Colors | Maroon and white[1] |
History
editThe first attempt at forming an ice hockey team at Lafayette came in the 1920s. While nothing materialized at the time, the students did eventually put together the first unofficial hockey club in 1935.[2] Finding ice time was difficult without a local rink, however, there was enough interest from the student body that the school allowed a formal team to be formed two years later.[3] Arranged and coached by then-Athletic Director Henry W. Clark, who was aided by Religious Studies professor Dale H. Moore, Lafayette played its first official game in February 1937. A few weeks later, the team won its first game by defeating nearby rival Lehigh.[4]
After a second season, the school decided to discontinue its support for the team, which then continued in an unofficial capacity.[5] A successful campaign from the student body restored the team's varsity status in 1939 and was followed by the club's entry into a small conference. While Lafayette now had a little more stability with its schedule, the biggest impediment for the club remained; it did not possess a home rink. A lack of attention from the student body caused the number of prospective players to sharply decline after the team's first winning season and the program was mothballed in 1942.[6]
After World War II, the team was reformed, however, it only did so in an unofficial capacity.[7] The club continued for a few years before disappearing altogether. In the succeeding years it has resurfaced but there have been no attempts to return it to varsity status.
Season-by-season results
editVarsity
edit| NCAA D-I Champions | NCAA Frozen Four | Conference Regular Season Champions | Conference Playoff Champions |
| Season | Conference | Regular Season[a] | Conference Tournament Results | National Tournament Results | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conference | Overall | ||||||||||||||
| GP | W | L | T | Pts* | Finish | GP | W | L | T | % | |||||
| Henry W. Clark (1936–1941) / Dale H. Moore (1936–1939) | |||||||||||||||
| 1936–37 | Independent | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | |||
| 1937–38 | Independent | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | |||
| Program suspended | |||||||||||||||
| 1939–40 | Independent | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 | |||
| 1940–41 | Independent | – | – | – | – | – | – | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | .600 | |||
| Program suspended | |||||||||||||||
| Totals | GP | W | L | T | % | Championships | |||||||||
| Regular Season | 13 | 6 | 7 | 0 | .462 | ||||||||||
| Conference Post-season | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | ||||||||||
| NCAA Post-season | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | ||||||||||
| Regular Season and Post-season Record | 13 | 6 | 7 | 0 | .462 | ||||||||||
Source:[8]
Notes
edit- ^ Code explanation; GP—Games Played, W—Wins, L—Losses, T—Tied games, Pts—Points
References
edit- ^ Lafayette College Full-Color Representations (PDF). Retrieved June 30, 2016.
- ^ "Sporting Sparks". The Lafayette. January 18, 1935. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
- ^ "Hockey Team Announces First Lafayette Match". The Lafayette. January 22, 1937. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
- ^ "Marquis Pucksters Subdue Engineers". The Lafayette. March 2, 1937. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
- ^ "Puck Chasers Play Penn Sate, Army, Princeton, Lehigh". The Lafayette. January 10, 1939. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
- ^ "Side-Lines". The Lafayette. January 15, 1942. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
- ^ "Hockey Team Forms to Play Informal Games". The Lafayette. January 16, 1948. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
- ^ "The Lafayette Archive". Lafayette College. Retrieved February 17, 2023.