Stories
A short history of Cap on ice
Who knew Capilano had a hockey team in the 1970s? The Capilano College club team skimmed the ice beginning in 1973, practicing on a rink in Lynn Valley.
Team photo in historical clippings
Who knew Capilano had a hockey team in the 1970s? The Capilano College club team skimmed the ice beginning in 1973, practicing on a rink in Lynn Valley.
Finding a coach was difficult, ice time was expensive and interest was low, which seems surprising given the legions of ardent jersey-clad hockey fans that flood the Lower Mainland today.
Neil Chester, who became Capilano then-college’s first athletics director in 1973, says it was early days for hockey in Vancouver. The Canucks had only joined the NHL in 1970.
“That strong hockey following happened subsequent to getting a professional team,” he says.
The Pacific Western Athletics Association, then called the Totem Conference, initiated a hockey program that involved all the colleges interested in hitting the ice.
When asked how Cap’s team faired, Chester answers with a laugh.
“You know, it’s kind of funny,” he quips. “People don’t like going out and getting their butts kicked every night.”
Membership fell and Cap was unable to form a team around the remaining diehards, so hockey at Cap melted away.
Written by: Cheryl Rossi