Early years

Canisius founded their hockey team, then known as the Ice Griffs, in the fall of 1971 as a club sport led by Dr. David Dietz.^[4] Two years later they joined their first conference and by 1976 had claimed two conference titles. Dietz resigned after the 1976 championship and allowed Mike Kelly to take over. Kelly kept the team performing at a high level but finished runner up two years running before reclaiming the title in 1979. Canisius join a new conference the following year and after claiming the championship, their fourth in a six-year span, the program was elevated to varsity status.

With a new division to play in Canisius also received a new coach in Brian Cavanaugh. Their first two seasons in Division III went well for the Golden Griffins but when Cavanaugh took a year off in 1982 the program slumped to single-digit wins before rebounding after the coach's return. During Cavanaugh's tenure he kept the team mostly above .500 and aside from a dip in the early 1990s Canisius was a contender for the ECAC West crown most years.^[5] Canisius was able to reach two ECAC West title game in the '90s but lost both contests by one goal.

Division I

When the MAAC announced it was forming an ice hockey division in 1997 only three member teams had extant programs, one of those was Canisius who became a founding member of the league that began play in 1998–99. The Golden Griffins played well in their first season, finishing with a winning record, but it was their play in the conference tournament, allowing them to reach the title match, that made Canisius stand out. Unfortunately that was the height of Canisius' time in the MAAC. Despite a 20-win season the following year the Griffs were bounced in the first round and won only one MAAC playoff game after their inaugural year in D-I.

When two of the MAAC's teams ended their ice hockey sponsorship in 2003 the conference was able to end its support for the hockey division. The remaining nine schools simply reformed into a new conference called Atlantic Hockey and continued on without much trouble. Canisius' trouble in the conference tournament continued throughout the decade and saw them win two out of their first ten games. During that streak, however, the Canisius program went through some upheaval. Long-time coach Brian Cavanaugh came under fire for his conduct through complaints from his players. In December 2004 he was fired when players threatened to sit out a game and he was soon replaced by assistant Clancy Seymour.^[6] The following season began with yet a third coach, Dave Smith and it took the new bench boss a few years to repair the program.

In 2009–10 Canisius posted its first winning season in nine years and reach the conference semifinal. After a couple of modest seasons the Golden Griffins shocked Atlantic Hockey by winning the 2013 Tournament as a 7th-seed and made its first appearance in the NCAA tournament. The Golden Griffins played well but bowed out in their first game against top-seeded Quinnipiac. Over the next few years Smith pushed the program to better results, culminating in their first conference title in 2017. Smith was hired away by Rensselaer soon after^[7] but the Golden Griffins continue to perform well under new coach Trevor Large.

The Golden Griffins finished fourth in the 2022–23 Atlantic Hockey division standings.^[8] Canisius defeated fifth seeded Army in three games^[9] to advance to the conference tournament semifinals, where they defeated sixth seeded Niagara in three games and advanced to their second straight conference championship game, their first as hosts.^[10] The Golden Griffins went on to defeat seventh seeded Holy Cross by a score of 3–0 to clinch the program's second appearance in the NCAA tournament.^[11] Canisius faced the No. 1 seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers in the opening round of the tournament. Canisius maintained a 2–1 lead early in the second period thanks to goals by forwards Daniel DiGrande and Nick Bowman, before allowing two goals to make the score 3–2 heading into the third period. The Golden Griffins would end up losing to the Golden Gophers by a score of 9–2, finishing the season with a 20–19–3 record.^[12]

NCAA

AHCA First Team All-Americans

• 2016-17: Charles Williams, G

MAAC

Atlantic Hockey

Career points leaders

Career goaltending leaders

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Minimum 2000 minutes

Statistics current through the end of the 2022-23 season.

Golden Griffins in the NHL

As of July 1, 2023.

• Cory Conacher

^[17]