York Lions men's ice hockey

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.