The Ice-Hockey Varsity Blues Tradition   (updated, 07-03-2012)

CIS National  Championships	OUA Championships	BLUES Captains	LEADING Scorer	BEST Defenseman	MOST Valuable Player	BEST ALL Around Forward	ROOKIE of the Year	COACHES of the Varsity Blues

The Hockey Blues, one of the University of Toronto's oldest and most successful teams, celebrated their 110th anniversary during the new millenium 2000-01 season. The Blues were formed on January 15, 1891, and played their first game (a 2-0 victory) one month later, on February 17. Some 11 years later (1902-03), the Blues joined Queen's and McGill in the country's first intercollegiate hockey league. The McGill University men's hockey team was one of the world’s first recorded, organized hockey clubs and played its first game on Jan. 31, 1877 against the Montreal Hockey Club, formed from the Montreal Football Club which is now acclaimed by the International Ice Hockey Federation for sponsoring the very first indoor hockey game on March 3rd, 1875.  .

Since the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union (CIAU) launched national hockey championships in 1963, the Blues have won 10 titles, including a record five straight from 1969 to 1973. Toronto's most recent national championship was in 1983-84, when the Blues defeated the Concordia Stingers 9-1 in the championship game. Only the Alberta Golden Bears have surpassed the Blues in CIS Championships first by tying them with their back to back victories of 1999 and 2000 then with their 11th, 12th and 13th  titles in 2005, 2006 and 2008. As well as the national titles, Toronto has won 20 Ontario league titles since 1955, and a total of 41 titles overall. [As of July 1st, 1997, a new organization, Ontario University Athletics (OUA), was formed from its two predecessors of Ontario university sports, the Ontario Universities Athletic Association (OUAA) and the Ontario Women's Interuniversity Athletic Association (OWIAA).  As of January 2002 the name of the CIAU has changed to CIS-SIC, Canadian Interuniversity Sport-Sport interuniversitaire canadien.]

The late Conn Smythe was a former captain of the Blues while studying Engineering in 1915. In fact, when Smythe founded the Toronto Maple Leafs, he "borrowed" the familiar Blue and White sweater design for his new team. Smythe was also a coach of the Blues from 1923 to 1926, the first in a number of well-known personalities who have stood behind the Varsity bench. These include former Prime Minister Lester Pearson (1926-28), Ace Bailey (1935-40, 1945-49), Judge Joseph Kane (1962-65) and Mike Keenan (1983-84), who was coach and General Manager of the St. Louis Blues.

Tom Watt, the man responsible for nine of the Blues 10 national titles, and considered to be a major influence in Canadian hockey, coached the Blues from 1965-1979 and again in 1984-85. Watt was a member of the Canadian Olympic team coaching staff in 1980 and 1988, and has been head coach of the NHL's Winnipeg Jets, Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Blues have also been prominent in international hockey circles. The Varsity Grads, a team of former Blues members, captured the Gold medal at the 1928 Olympic Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

The Varsity Blues participation in international hockey has taken the team to Poland, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and China. In 1990, Varsity competed in the Great Western Shootout tournament in Los Angeles and in 1993 the Blues travelled to the University of Wisconsin Christmas tournament. The following year, the Blues hosted the Can-Am Challenge Tournament in Varsity Arena, featuring NCAA favourites Cornell and Bowling Green, plus cross-town rival York Yeomen.

In 1968, the Blues earned the Bronze medal for Canada at the World Student Games. In February 1972, Blues thrilled a capacity crowd in Varsity Arena with a dramatic 5-1 victory over the USSR student national team. Goaltender Bruce Durno made a series of spectacular saves and centre John Wright collected three goals. Wright is one of Blues most decorated alumni, as he played on four consecutive CIS championship teams from 1969-72 and was named CIS tournament MVP three times. He received the U of T's Biggs Trophy in 1972 for "Leadership, Sportsmanship, and Performance" and after graduating played in the NHL with Vancouver, St. Louis and Kansas City.

At Varsity Arena, in November 1995, the Blues repeated a stunning victory in international hockey by defeating the Russian Junior team (5-2) in an exhibition game. Led by Scott McKinley and Jamie Coon, the Blues exerted so much continuous pressure in the opponents' zone that the Russians could not mount an effective attack for which they are so famous. At the Junior Championships, Russia would eventually take Bronze defeating the Czech Republic, with Canada taking its record-tying fourth consecutive Gold Medal defeating Sweden.

The Varsity presence in Olympic hockey continued during the 1980's. At Lake Placid in 1980, Tom Watt was a co-coach of Team Canada and the roster included no fewer than six Blues players: Warren Anderson, Dan D'Alvise, Cary Farelli, Joe Grant, Shane Pearsall and Stelio Zupancich. Anderson and current head coach Darren Lowe were Olympians four years later at Sarajevo and Lowe returned to the Blues, serving as captain in 1985-86 when he won the Biggs Trophy. Former Varsity players Dave MacLean and Ken Duggan were members of Team Canada which won the Gold medal at the 1987 Spengler Cup (Europe's most prestigious annual club tournament) played in Davos, Switzerland.

The Varsity Blues hockey tradition combines competitive excellence with a high rate of academic success. For example, Steve Monteith, whose U of T career scoring records set over 30 years ago have not been seriously challenged (Goals - 102, Assists - 147, Total Points - 249, 1962-67,69) holds Varsity degrees in Commerce and Law. Andre Hidi, MVP of the 1983-84 CIS tournament, went on to play for the Washington Capitals and then earned an MBA from Stanford.

Several Blues alumni were honoured as members of the U of T Sports Hall of Fame. Lester Pearson and Sandy Somerville were Charter Inductees in 1987. Dr. William A. Dafoe, Joseph Sullivan, Don Carrick and "Biddy" Barr joined in 1988. Former athletics director Warren Stevens, a 1989 inductee, coached the Blues from 1933-35. Conn Smythe was inducted in 1990, together with Wally Halder, who was Blues captain in 1945-46, coach from 1949-51 and leading scorer on Canada's 1948 Olympic champion team.

Tom Watt and Steve Monteith joined the Hall of Fame in October, 1991, and the late William "Bear" Kennedy was a 1993 inductee. Walter Bean, a defenseman on Varsity's OHA team in 1927-28, and John Wright joined the Hall of Fame in 1994. Donald Bark, who set a Varsity career scoring record between 1945-48, and Beattie Ramsay, captain of Blues 1921 Intercollegiate, OHA and Allan Cup champions and a member of Canada's 1924 Olympic Gold Medallists, were inducted on November 8, 1995. Ed Kryzanowski, captain of the Varsity Blues men’s hockey team in 1946-47 and 1947-48, helped the team win the Canadian Intercollegiate Hockey championships in both years. Kryzanowski played for NHL’s Boston Bruins in 1948 and played for both NHL and AHL teams until retiring in 1952; he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006 also for rugby.

Adapted from The Varsity Blues 1995-96 Men's Hockey Program, page 3; the following statistics have all been gathered from the Varsity Blues Men's Hockey Programs, the University of Toronto yearbook, Torontonensis, and from a fascinating book on early history of athletics at the University of Toronto, Thomas Arthur Reed, The Blue and White: A Record of Fifty Years of Athletic Endeavour at the University of Toronto, Toronto: The University of Toronto Press, 1944, pp. 187-210. M. Kolarcik T.A.REED, BLUE & WHITE 

CIS CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES

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BLUES RECORD OF OUA CHAMPIONSHIPS

Highlighted years indicate CIS Championship titles (which began with the 1962-63 season) in addition to the OUA Championship (which began with the 1902-03 season). In 1975-76, when the Blues did not capture the OUA Championship, they still went on to win the CIS Championship title.

CAPTAINS SINCE 1946

	2009-10 --- Brendan Sherrard	1999-00 --- Steve Richmond	1989-90 --- Tom Warden
	2008-09 --- Brendan Sherrard	1998-99 --- Joel Zinn	1988-89 --- Ben Shepherd
	2007-08 --- Brendan Sherrard	1997-98 --- Paul Handley	1987-88 --- Chris Callaghan
	2006-07 --- Simon Barg	1996-97 --- Jamie Coon	1986-87 --- Jim Byrne
	2005-06 --- Simon Barg	1995-96 --- Scott McKinley	1985-86 --- Darren Lowe
	2004-05 --- Ian Malcolm	1994-95 --- Scott McKinley	1984-85 --- Darren Boyko
	2003-04 --- Mark Hynes	1993-94 --- John Andersen	1983-84 --- Mike Todd
	2002-03 --- Steve Murphy	1992-93 --- Tom Diceman	1982-83 --- Stelio Zupancich
2011-12 ---Andrew Kizito	2001-02 --- Steve Murphy	1991-92 --- Mark Haarmann	1981-82 --- Stelio Zupancich
2010-11 ---Andrew Kizito	2000-01 --- Steve Murphy	1990-91 --- Chris Vickers	1980-81 ---
	1979-80 ---	1969-70 ---	1959-60 ---
	1978-79 ---	1968-69 ---	1958-59 ---
	1977-78 ---	1967-68 ---	1957-58 ---
	1976-77 ---	1966-67 ---	1956-57 ---
	1975-76 ---	1965-66 ---	1955-56 ---
	1974-75 ---	1964-65 ---	1954-55 ---
	1973-74 ---	1963-64 ---	1953-54 ---
	1972-73 ---	1962-63 ---	1952-53 ---
	1971-72 ---	1961-62 ---	1951-52 ---
	1970-71 ---	1960-61 ---	1950-51 ---
			1949-50 ---
			1948-49 ---
			1947-48 --- Ed Kryzanowski
			1946-47 --- Ed Kryzanowski

For a list of Blues captains from 1890 to 1940 go to T.A.REED, BLUE & WHITE 

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On record, the first coach of the Blues is Dr. W.E. Gallie. He was president of the club and "assisted" in coaching already in the 1908-09 season. T.A. Reed mentions Gallie as the coach for the 1909-10 season, but probably because the team withdrew from competition that year, he was listed as official coach starting only from the 1911-12 season. Prior to 1909 it seems that coaching was done by any of the club officers. Coaching would involve managers, presidents and perhaps even the captains. For a fascinating early account of the history of ice-hockey and specifically of the University of Toronto Varsity Blues see, Thomas Arthur Reed, The Blue and White: A Record of Fifty Years of Athletic Endeavour at the University of Toronto, Toronto: The University of Toronto Press, 1944, pp. 187-210. T.A.REED, BLUE & WHITE 

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