United States International Gulls men's ice hockey

The United States International Gulls men's ice hockey represented United States International University—now known as Alliant International University–in college ice hockey at the NCAA Division I level during the 1980s.

Not to be confused with American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey.
United States International Gulls men's ice hockey
UniversityUnited States International
First season1979–80
ArenaSan Diego Ice Arena
LocationSan Diego, California

History

In 1978 Ph.D candidate Maynard Howe, the former head coach of Maine at Portland–Gorham, put together the first hockey team for the University and, with the support of University President Dr. William Rust, the team was soon sponsored as a Division I program.[1] The Gulls charged out of the gate, winning 24 games in their first season of NCAA play but they could not keep that pace. USIU produced just 8 wins the following year (albeit in 21 games) and, after surging back with an 18-win year in 1982, the program put up losing records three straight seasons before Howe was replaced by former Minnesota head coach Brad Buetow. The new coach coincided with U.S. International forming the Great West Hockey Conference with Alaska–Anchorage, Alaska–Fairbanks and Northern Arizona.

In Buetow's first season he got the Gulls back on their winning ways, producing a 20 win season and winning the inaugural conference championship. After a mediocre second season the Gulls returned in force in 1987–88, winning 23 games and being a finalist for the last at-large bid to the 1988 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. 1988 was the last hurrah for the program, however. After Northern Arizona couldn't continue after their first season in the conference, USIU had only the Alaska schools as conference partners and travelling to the largest state was just as prohibitively as expensive as anywhere else in the country. The university had tried to induce several nearby schools to begin their own ice hockey programs, including USC, UCLA and Arizona but after three years the school was no longer able to financially support the program and it was shuttered.[2]

Season-by-Season Results[3]
NCAA D-I Champions NCAA Frozen Four Conference Regular Season Champions Conference Playoff Champions
Season Conference Regular Season[lower-alpha 1] Conference Tournament Results National Tournament Results
Conference Overall
GP W L T Pts* Finish GP W L T %
Maynard Howe (1979–1985)
1979–80 Independent – – – – – – 34 24 8 2 .735
1980–81 Independent – – – – – – 21 8 13 0 .381
1981–82 Independent – – – – – – 30 18 12 0 .600
1982–83 Independent – – – – – – 32 13 17 2 .438
1983–84 Independent – – – – – – 36 4 31 1 .125
1984–85 Independent – – – – – – 32 7 23 2 .250
Brad Buetow (1985–1988)
1985–86 GWHC 12 9 3 0 18 1st 33 20 13 0 .606
1986–87 GWHC 16 7 8 1 15 2nd 35 17 17 1 .500
1987–88 GWHC 8 4 4 0 8 2nd 36 23 13 0 .639
Totals GP W L T % Championships
Regular Season 289 134 147 8 .478 1 GWHC Championship
Conference Post-season 0 0 0 0 –
NCAA Post-season 0 0 0 0 –
Regular Season and Post-season Record 289 134 147 8 .478

Footnotes
  1. Code explanation; GP—Games Played, W—Wins, L—Losses, T—Tied games, Pts—Points

Gulls in the NHL
Player Position Team(s) Years Stanley Cups
Darren Lowe Right Wing PIT 1983–1984 0
Pat Mayer Defenseman PIT 1987–1988 0

References
  1. "The beach boys on blades". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  2. "Hockey Dropped by USIU". LA Times. April 23, 1988. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  3. "United States International University Statistics and History". Hockey DB. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
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