October 1, 2020

THE PRESSURE TO REPEAT AT HOME

In the history of the CCAA National Hockey Championships, five teams had the opportunity to retain a national title at home.

The 1975-76 Camrose Lutheran College Vikings set their sights on participating in the 1976 CCAA National Hockey Championship at the Camrose Recreation Centre.  The successors to the inaugural CCAA hockey champions were eliminated from post season action in the conference semi finals.

After winning the national championship as a wild card entry a season earlier, the 1979-80 Red Deer College Kings captured ACAC & 4-West titles prior to posting a 14-1 triumph over the SAIT Trojans in the finale of the 1980 CCAA National Hockey Championship at the Red Deer Arena.

The immediate predecessors of the 1981-82 SAIT Trojans brought home two silver medals prior to capturing gold. The Calgary based team won the ACAC championship and the Alberta-Saskatchewan qualifier before placing fourth in the 1982 CCAA National Hockey Championship at the SAIT Arena.

The 1983-84 Les Lauréats du Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe thumped the FASCQ champion Les Condors du Cégep de Saint-Georges 10-2 in the gold medal game of the 1984 CCAA National Hockey Championship at Stade Louis-Philippe-Gaucher to repeat as national champions.

The 1997-98 Cambrian Golden Shield entered the campaign as defending conference and national champions, placed third in the OCAA playoffs and dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to the Mount Royal College Cougars in the 1998 CCAA National Hockey Championship final at Countryside Arena in Sudbury.

Like the 1979-80 Red Deer College Kings and the 1983-84 Les Lauréats du Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe, the 1988-89 NAIT Ooks were a part of a back-to-back national championship run with only one conference title. Unlike the Kings and the Lauréats, the Edmonton based team began their run as a tournament host. The Ooks rallied for a come from behind win over the ACAC champion Red Deer College Kings to conclude the 1989 CCAA National Hockey Championship at the NAIT Arena.

Ironically, the two teams that repeated as conference and national champions – the 1984-85 and 1985-86 NAIT Ooks as well as the 1997-98 and 1998-99 Mount Royal College Cougars – brought CCAA National Hockey Championship banners back to Alberta following consecutive triumphs out of the province.


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