MU Hockey History

The Mizzou Ice Hockey team is in its sixth year of play as a member of the MACHA. The team was accepted into the league for the 2000-2001 season in the Silver Division. The young team had trouble recruiting players and because their home games were played in Wentzville (75 miles east of Columbia), they also had trouble drawing a crowd. Most importantly, they lacked the one key factor to building a good hockey program, a Coach. Funding was also short, making it very hard for the team to schedule any more than a 15-game season. The next two seasons were not much different for the Tigers. Funding was still limited, they were still playing in Wentzville, and word of the hockey program was not spreading as well as they had hoped. But during the 2002-2003 season, the Tigers recruited Head Coach John Lamond from Nova Scotia. John's dedication to the program almost led the Tigers to their first MACHA playoff appearance. They missed the last spot that was decided by a tie-breaker. Armed with a new head coach, many big-name St. Louis hockey players, more funding, a brilliant administrative staff, and a much longer season, the Tigers put together their best season to date during 2003-2004. The Tigers won the MACHA Silver Division regular season title, only to be upset by the University of Iowa in the playoffs. Once again increasing the overall quality of the program for the 2004-2005 season, the Tigers captured the MACHA Silver Division regular season title with an undefeated league record of 14-0. However, as though they were cursed, they fell short of the league championship at the hands of the University of Iowa. Despite this fact, all the hard work of John and the players finally paid off with a vote to move the Tigers into the Gold Division of the MACHA for the 2005-2006 season. Continuing with the trend, and armed with some new scallywags along with some old pillagers, the Tigers look to improve the program even more this year in their quest for a Gold Division title.