Alberta Golden Bears

Overview
"Golden Bears" is the name of the male sports teams of the University of Alberta, located in Edmonton, Alberta. Their female teams are known as the "Pandas". Their home ice is the Clare Drake Arena. They are members of the Canada West Universities Athletic Association (CWUAA) and U Sports (formerly known as CIS).

Missing
1920 and 1922 seasons.

History
The U of A started play in the senior and intermediate series of Alberta. They did not win any provincial or national titles in that era.

In 1918-19 the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Alberta played in an exhibition series which led to the formation of the Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WCIAU) the following season.

In 1962-63 the WCIAU changed its name to the Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Association (WCIAA or WIAA). The Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (as it then was) started the University Cup in 1963. Alberta has won more titles than any other team.

When the WCIAA split in two following the 1971-72 season, the University of Alberta became a founding member of the CWUAA, along with the University of British Columbia, University of Victoria, University of Calgary, and University of Saskatchewan. A GPAC merger and new programs added new opponents at the University of Manitoba, University of Regina, University of Lethbridge, Mount Royal University, Grant MacEwan University, and Trinity Western University. Victoria and Lethbridge have since departed.

In addition, from 1950 to 1968, the Alberta Golden Bears and UBC Thunderbirds played an annual series for the Hamber Trophy. The two teams were in the same conference for five of those seasons.


 * Official Team Site

Senior/Intermediate Seasons
The University of Alberta did not enjoy the level of success as their prairie cohorts at the senior level. They made it as far as the provincial final just the once (in 1921) and the semi-finals just one other time (1924). In fact, they wound up in the 1930s playing at the intermediate level instead.

However, the 1920-21 Alberta Senior Playoffs, and other events that year, are worth a peak. The University of Alberta did not enter the WCIAU that season. (The University of Saskatchewan beat the University of Manitoba in the 1920-21 WCIAU Season and got a berth in the 1920-21 Western Canada Allan Cup Playoffs for that victory.) The University of Alberta did win the Edmonton league title to advance to the provincials. In the semi-final they beat the Vermilion Farmers 9-3 on aggregate, with each side winning once. In the final they lost to Calgary Alberta Pacific 8-6 on aggregate, after a replay of a game they lost and then protested. The Calgary team won their title too late to compete in the 1920-21 Western Canada Allan Cup Playoffs. The same thing happened to the UBC Thunderbirds. They defeated the Vancouver Towers and Victoria Senators to win the 1920-21 British Columbia Senior Playoffs but could go no further. It would have been ironic to have seen one, or possibly two all-U matchups in those Allan Cup playoffs. As it was, bad timing prevented the UBC Thunderbirds from meeting the Saskatchewan Huskies for the first time. Meanwhile, in the 1920-21 Eastern Canada Allan Cup Playoffs the University of Toronto defeated McGill University in the final.

In the 1923-24 Alberta Senior Playoffs the Alberta Golden Bears again won the Edmonton league and advanced to the provincials. They were, however, beaten 15-8 on aggregate by Canmore in the semi-finals. While the team continued at the intermediate level through 1940, this was pretty much it for success at the senior level.

Note: All seasons available on Wikia have been added to the table.

CWUAA Unified Era: 1985-86 to present
∞ indicates Hamber Trophy played as part of regular season

Notes:
 * the WCIAA played a two division format in 1971-72: West (W) and East (E)
 * the CWUAA played a two division format from 1996-97 to 2006-07: Mountain (M) and Great Plains (GP)

Junior B Team
The Junior Bears, aka Bearcats, also operated for at least the 1972-73 season, in which they won the league and provincial titles.

SOURCES:
 * Capital Junior Hockey League
 * List of Alberta Junior B Champions
 * 1972-73 Alberta Junior B Playoffs

Championships
SENIOR
 * Edmonton League - 1921, 1924

UNIVERSITY
 * WCIAU - 1934, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962
 * WCIAA - 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972
 * CWUAA - 1973, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019
 * University Cup - 1964, 1968, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1986, 1992, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2014, 2015, 2018
 * FISU (Universiade) - 1981
 * Canada Games - 1967

Hamber Trophy
From 1949-50 to 1967-68, the Alberta Golden Bears and the UBC Thunderbirds played an annual series for the Hamber Trophy. From 1961-62 onwards, UBC was often in the WCIAU or the WCIAA and in those seasons the teams' conference games counted towards this Trophy.

International Exhibitions

 * Jan. 28, 1966: Canada National Team 4, Edmonton All-Stars 3


 * Dec. 15, 2011: Alberta Golden Bears 5, Team Denmark Juniors 0


 * CIS Story Sun Story Summary


 * Dec. 16, 2011: Alberta Golden Bears 8, Team Denmark Juniors 3


 * Sun Story Summary


 * Dec. 12, 2012: Alberta Golden Bears 4, Team Canada Juniors 1


 * TSN Story Sportsnet Story

Pictures


























































Alternate Logos








Golden Bears v Oilers




[[File:2015-09-16-Alberta-Oilers.jpg|thumb|center|400px|2015-09-16 Connor McDavid

Oilers v Golden Bears]]



Current CW Teams

 * Alberta Golden Bears ¶ Official Site
 * Calgary Dinosaurs ¶ Official Site
 * MacEwan Griffins ¶ Official Site
 * Manitoba Bisons ¶ Official Site
 * Mount Royal Cougars ¶ Official Site
 * Regina Cougars ¶ Official Site
 * Saskatchewan Huskies ¶ Official Site
 * Trinity Western Spartans ¶ Official Site
 * UBC Thunderbirds ¶ Official Site

Former CW Teams

 * Brandon Bobcats ¶ Official Site
 * Lakehead Norwesters (in OUA) ¶ Official Site
 * Lethbridge Pronghorns ¶ Official Site
 * Victoria Vikings (in BCIHL) ¶ Official Site
 * Winnipeg Wesmen ¶ Official Site

Also see
National links:
 * U Sports
 * List of University Cup Playoffs (from 1962-63 to present)

Western links:
 * Canada West Universities Athletic Association
 * Great Plains Athletic Conference
 * List of CWUAA Seasons (from 1972-73 to present)
 * List of GPAC Seasons (from 1972-73 to 1984-85)
 * List of WCIAA Seasons (from 1962-63 to 1971-72)
 * List of WCIAU Seasons (from 1918-19 to 1961-62)

Atlantic links:
 * Atlantic University Sport
 * List of AUS Seasons (from 1919-20 to present)

Ontario-Quebec links:
 * Ontario University Athletics
 * RSEQ (formerly Quebec Student Sports Federation)
 * Quebec-Ontario Athletic Association (with seasons from 1954 to 1971)
 * List of OUA Seasons (includes CIAU, QOAA & OUAA)
 * List of QOAA Seasons (from 1954 to 1971)
 * Ontario Intercollegiate Athletic Association (with seasons from 1965 to 1971)
 * Ottawa St. Lawrence Conference (with seasons from 1951 to 1971)
 * List of QUAA Seasons (from 1971-72 to 1986-87)
 * List of Intermediate Intercollegiate Seasons (from 1902-03 to 1938-39)
 * Ontario-Quebec Intermediate Intercollegiate series (from 1902-03 to 1934-35)
 * Senior Intercollegiate League (1945-46)
 * International Intercollegiate League (from 1936-37 to 1939-40)
 * West Point Weekend

College links:
 * Canadian Colleges Athletic Association
 * 4-West Championship
 * British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League
 * Pacific West Athletic Association
 * Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference
 * Prairie Athletic Conference (Saskatchewan)
 * Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference
 * Ontario Colleges Athletic Association
 * RSEQ College League
 * Atlantic Collegiate Athletic AssociationOther links:

Other links:
 * List of Alberta Intermediate Playoffs
 * List of Alberta Senior Playoffs