The Manitoba Bisons men's ice hockey team is an ice hockey team representing the Manitoba Bisons athletics program of University of Manitoba. The team is a member of the Canada West Universities Athletic Association conference and compete in U Sports. The Bisons play their home games at the Wayne Fleming Arena in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Manitoba iced its first varsity ice hockey team in 1908, roughly around the same time that other schools in Western Canada were laying the foundation for college hockey in the region. For the first few years, the team played out of the provincial senior league, winning the Pattison Cup in 1910. The club issued a challenge for the Allan Cup, the national amateur championship, but administrative delays and financial problems eventually forced the team to withdraw their bid. The Bisons continued with senior hockey for a few years before withdrawing from the provincial league in 1912.
After World War I, Manitoba began to sponsor a junior and senior team. The junior squad played out of the Winnipeg and District Junior Hockey League and won the Memorial Cup in 1923 as national junior champions. The program continued until 1937. Meanwhile, the senior club became founding members of the Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WCIAU) in 1919. Unfortunately, due to travel expenses, the league was reduced to just a few games between Manitoba and Saskatchewan after the first year. The team played intermittently over the next 20 years but still managed to capture the 1928 Allan Cup, becoming the only university to win both a senior and junior national championship.
Due to budgetary issues, travel costs and World War II, Manitoba played only two seasons of varsity hockey from 1937 to 1956. When the program finally found some stability in the late 50s, they remained with the WCIAU until 1961. A year later, the league was rebranded as the Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Association for the inception of a national collegiate tournament in 1963 and Manitoba resurfaced. The Bisons made their first appearance for the third series and won two lopsided games to capture a third different national title for the program. Unfortunately, success was fleeting for Manitoba and the team was unable to secure a second WCIAA championship.
In 1972, citing travel expenses as the primary reason, the WCIAA was split into two separate leagues. Manitoba found itself in the Great Plains Athletic Association (soon to be called Great Plains Athletic Conference) and found it road back to the tournament had become much easier. Over the succeeding 13 years, the Bisons won the league title four times, however, they were only able to win one out of eight University Cup games and never advanced out of the opening round. Manitoba's final GPAC title came in 1985, the final year of conference play. That summer, the league was reduced to just three teams. With their automatic qualifier in jeopardy, the remaining programs were all absorbed into Canada West. As of 2024, Manitoba has yet to win a single Canada West championship, however, they have managed to secure two bids to the national tournament. In both 2005 and 2010, the Bisons finished second in their Round-robin pools.
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points
<small>â Manitoba cancelled its final four games due to poor ice conditions and travel problems.</small>
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, SOL = Shootout Losses, Pts = Points
<small>Totals include games since 1962âÂÂ63.</small><br> <small>Note: Games not counted towards University Cup appearances are not included.</small>