Pictured is of the first U of S intercollegiate (1911-12) hockey team. The following is an excerpt from the 1912 Yearbook:
“Of the four universal Canadian outdoor sports, the one of which a western University is able to take full advantage is hockey. The academic year, and the skating season are almost concurrent, and The University of Saskatchewan has not been slow to realize this fact.”
“The number of Canadian born students was very small during the first year so that the number of hockey players was not large. The policy of the first athletic Executive was to make a small beginning and gradually replace the team as hockey players entered the University. Scrub teams were made up to play on the Fourth Avenue rink. While Stanley Cup hockey was not indulged in, yet there was created amongst the men a strong hockey spirit.”
“Emmanuel College formed an open air rink on which the more fortunate Canadians assisted their fellow students from the Old Country by giving many exhibitions of first steps and by indicating the use of a hockey stick. The following season, 1910-11, is not soon to be forgotten by those in the university who took an interest in hockey.”
“The team was strengthened by the addition of three new players, and was thought to be sufficiently strong to take a place in the City League. The septet, however, was hardly capable of keeping up the pace. Nevertheless Varsity earned the name of being clean players, capable of taking defeat like true sports and of returning with the proverbial smile.”