Mount Allison Mounties

Overview
"Mounties" is the name of the sports teams of the  Mount Allison University located in Sackville, New Brunswick. They formerly competed in university and senior hockey. The team folded after the 1997-98 season. They remain members of the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) conference and U Sports (formerly known as CIS) in other sports.

History
Mount Allison started in an intercollegiate competition for the Hewson Cup in 1905-06, which was followed by the Sumner Cup for the winner of the Intercollegiate Hockey League in 1908-09.

Mount Allison was an original member of the Maritime Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) hockey league in 1919-20. The conference changed names in 1968-69 to the Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association (AIAA), in 1973-74 to the Atlantic Universities Athletic Association (AUAA), and finally in 1998-99 to the present AUS.

From 1929-30 to 1934-35 they also played in the Atlantic Central Section and, when they advanced, the Maritimes Senior Playoffs leading to the Allan Cup.

Early History
SOURCE: Mount Allison Site


 * Origins at Mount Allison
 * Until hockey emerged at Mount Allison, there were no competitive sports played in winter. Rugby football was played in the autumn, and baseball and track and field competitions were staged in the spring.
 * In autumn 1893, the circular shaped Tantramar Skating Rink was destroyed by fire, and two years later a new rink was built to replace it. On 6 January 1896, Copp’s Rink, a rectangular rink located near the northeast corner of Weldon and Bridge streets, officially opened. According to The Argosy (February 1896),
 * "With the opening of the rink in Sackville came the advent of hockey at Mt. Allison."
 * The male University students immediately put together a team and began practicing one hour per week. The first game played by Mount Allison against an outside hockey team occurred on 4 February 1896, and the Chignecto Post (6 February 1896) reported:
 * "A pretty lively game of hockey was played in Copp's rink Tuesday evening between the local and college teams resulting in a victory for the latter. The score stood 4 to 2. There was a large number of highly interested spectators present."

SOURCE: Mount Allison Site


 * Athletic Club Takes Over
 * In fall 1896, hockey was placed under the direction of the student-run Mount Allison Athletic Club. This helped increase practice time for the players at the new rink from one hour per week in 1896 to four hours by January 1897. All members of the Athletic Club were urged to play, because hockey was considered to be the only sport that ensured a vigorous workout in the winter. By February 1897, interclass competition at Mount Allison had also begun.
 * Placing hockey under the umbrella of the Athletic Club made it easier to schedule games against outside teams and colleges. In February 1897, Mount Allison’s first intercollegiate hockey match was played against Dalhousie, which saw Mount Allison fall 5-2. Another game of note occurred on 27 February 1897, when a team from Montreal played Mount Allison and won. The Montreal team, which was touted by The Argosy (March 1897) as being one of the best in Canada, had been on a tour of the region, playing games in Saint John, Halifax and Amherst.

SOURCE: Mount Allison Site


 * Emotions Run High
 * Until Mount Allison joined its first intercollegiate hockey league in December 1905, the varsity team played a wide assortment of one-off games against college and town teams. In 1903, for example, the Mount Allison team went on a tour of Nova Scotia, and played against Canning and Windsor town teams, and Acadia University. This was the first time Mount Allison met Acadia on the ice, and Mount Allison defeated its opponent 4-0. The president of Mount Allison, Dr. David Allison, was so happy upon hearing of his school’s victory over Acadia that he declared a school holiday.


 * The game against Acadia, however, was also noteworthy because it was the first time Mount Allison hockey players had been accosted by unruly collegiate spectators. An unidentified player from the Mount Allison squad commented on this in The Argosy (March 1903):
 * "We very much regret that a Mt. Allison man struck an Acadia player in the game, even though provocation was great. At the same time we take serious exception to the action of the spectators, most of whom were Acadia students, in hissing that man. We are not in the habit of hearing collegians hiss nor of being hissed ourselves and think such action at least somewhat unsportsmanlike."

SOURCE: Mount Allison Site


 * Intercollegiate League Formed
 * In December 1905, two years after the Sackville Hockey Club entered the New Brunswick Hockey League, Mount Allison joined a four-team intercollegiate hockey league, comprised of the University of New Brunswick (UNB), Acadia University and St. Francis Xavier (St. FX), all of whom vied for the Hewson Trophy. Membership fees to Mount Allison's Amateur Athletic Association jumped two-fold to two dollars, apparently to help offset travel costs in the new league. In 1908, the intercollegiate league disbanded, but returned the next year with Acadia, UNB, and Mount Allison competing for the new league trophy, the Sumner Cup.


 * In addition to intercollegiate competition, Mount Allison continued to wage competitions against town teams. The Sackville Club, which won the New Brunswick provincial league title in February 1905, defeated Mount Allison’s varsity team 10-0 in March of the same year.


 * The sport was very popular among athletes and fans. More than 500 people watched a home game against Acadia in March 1907, which Mount Allison won 10-8. On 23 February 1911, Mount Allison played in front of 900 spectators in Fredericton during a 6-4 loss to UNB.

SOURCE: Mount Allison Site


 * Hockey Banned
 * Faculty at Mount Allison University, and at other universities in the Maritime provinces, did not display as much enthusiasm toward hockey as the students. Mount Allison’s faculty, along with newly installed president Byron Crane Borden, singled out hockey for taking away too much study time from the students. On 12 December 1911, after discussion between the faculties of Mount Allison, Acadia and UNB, president Borden issued the following decree in a night telegram message [see bottom right] to president George Barton Cutten of Acadia University:
 * "Mount Allison Faculty approves rules and agrees to abolish Hockey this winter."
 * The president of Acadia followed Borden's message to the letter, banning not only intercollegiate and interclass hockey, but basketball as well. Mount Allison students, however, continued to participate in interclass hockey and games with outside teams, while UNB, after some deliberation, opted not to participate in the ban. This caused confusion among students and staff of the respective universities. On 19 January 1912, president Cutten of Acadia wrote a letter to president Borden of Mount Allison explaining the dilemma at his school:
 * "Our boys are coming to me with the complaint that both Mt. Allison and U.N.B. are playing games with other teams than college teams. If this is so, of course they might as well play Intercollegiate Hockey. Will you kindly let me know concerning the matter?"

SOURCE: Mount Allison Site


 * War Years
 * In 1915, intercollegiate hockey continued, making hockey the only varsity sport played at Mount Allison during that year. By 1916, however, intercollegiate hockey stopped, although a varsity team was formed and interclass competition continued. Mount Allison faculty also got onto the ice. A game on 21 March 1916, described by The Argosy as the “most interesting game of the season,” pitted the Seniors against the Science Faculty, which featured former Mount Allison star athlete Harold Eugene Bigelow on defense. The faculty won the game 5-3.
 * For the duration of the war, Mount Allison formed a varsity hockey team and played outside teams and colleges. These matches, however, were played for benefit and patriotic purposes only. Interclass hockey continued, too, and the Academy, which received its first coach in 1917, won the interclass cup in 1918.

MIAA/Senior 1896 to 1940-41
NOTES:
 * The Hewson Cup involved UNB, Acadia, St. Francis Xavier, and Mount Allison. St. F.X. won it 3 times and kept the trophy.
 * The Sumner Cup was awarded to the winner of the Intercollegiate Hockey League and then the West Division winner of the MIAA. Mount Allison therefore also won the cup in 1922 and 1927.
 * MIAA divided into East and West sections in most seasons.
 * 1921, 1923-28, 1938 divisional results not available
 * Did not operate from 1941-42 through 1945-46.
 * In 1933 the Saint Mary's University administration forbade the playing of hockey during Lent and they forfeited the final.

MIAA 1945-46 to 1967-68
NOTES:
 * The 1952-53 final was called after stands collapsed.
 * There were some 4 point games from 1962-63 to 1964-65.
 * The two divisions were called Nova Scotia (NS) and New Brunswick (NB) in 1958-59 and 1959-60.
 * A one division format started in 1962-63.

AIAA/AUAA years with ties 1968-69 to 1996-97
NOTES:
 * Two divisions in 1973-74, North and South.
 * Two divisions in 1979-80, East and West.
 * Two divisions in 1980-81 to 1981-82 and 1985-86 to 1996-97, Kelly and MacAdam.

AUAA years with ties and OT losses 1997-98
NOTES:
 * Two divisions in 1997-98 to 1999-00, Kelly and MacAdam.
 * One division format from 2000-01 onwards.
 * From 1997-98 to 2001-02 overtime losses were also included in the loss column.

University Cup Tournaments

 * None

Championships
SENIOR
 * MAO - 1931
 * Central - 1933, 1934

UNIVERSITY
 * IHL/Sumner Cup – 1914, 1915
 * MIAA - 1931, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1938, 1939

Mounties who played in the NHL

 * Bobby Copp
 * Bill Dickie
 * John LeBlanc
 * Bill Miller
 * Maynard Schurman
 * Ross Yates

Participating Universities

 * Acadia Axemen
 * Dalhousie Tigers
 * Moncton Aigles Bleus
 * New Brunswick Varsity Reds
 * Prince Edward Island Panthers
 * St. Francis Xavier X-Men
 * Saint Mary's Huskies

Formerly Participating Universities

 * St. Thomas Tommies
 * Cape Breton Capers
 * MUN Beothuks
 * Mount Allison Mounties

Formerly Participating Universities - no longer AUS members

 * Nova Scotia Technical College - now part of Dalhousie
 * Prince of Wales College - now part of UPEI
 * St. Dunstan's Saints - now part of UPEI
 * Collège Saint-Joseph aka St. Joseph's University - now part of Moncton
 * University of King's College Blue Devils

Also see
Senior links:
 * List of Eastern Canada Allan Cup Playoffs
 * Maritimes Senior Playoffs
 * Maritimes Senior Hockey Champions
 * Antigonish-Pictou-Colchester Senior Hockey League
 * List of APC Seasons
 * Halifax City League
 * Central Section
 * Valley Senior Hockey League
 * List of VSHL Seasons
 * Newfoundland Senior Hockey League
 * Boyle Trophy
 * Mount Allison-Oxford League
 * Atlantic Canadian Hockey History
 * VSHL page

National links:
 * U Sports (formerly CIS)
 * List of University Cup Playoffs (from 1962-63 to present)
 * List of University Cup Champions

Atlantic links:
 * Atlantic University Sport
 * List of AUS Seasons (from 1919-20 to present)
 * Atlantic History - AUS page
 * Wellner Trophy
 * Intercollegiate Hockey League and Sumner Cup
 * Hewson Cup
 * Mount Allison Site – Atlantic hockey early trophies - pdf
 * Mount Allison Site – Atlantic hockey early trophies