Steve Stich, with some help from alum Jeff Waite, formed the team during the 1990-1991 Season. The team played mostly exhibition games that year, and did well enough to garner interest from other SJSU students. Practices and games were held at Eastridge Ice Arena and Ron Glasow was chosen as coach.
During the 1991-1992 Season, the team grew by leaps and bounds. Steve, with Ron and Jeff’s help, spread the word and soon attracted some quality hockey players (mostly grad students or open university students) to the program.
The team went nearly undefeated during it’s first full campaign and began play in the Pacific Collegiate Hockey Association (PCHA) that year. The team played home games at the Golden Gate Ice Arena (now Ice Oasis) in Redwood City.
Below is a timeline of the club’s history…
October 13, 1990 – Ice Hockey at San Jose State meets for their first practice, organized by their founder and president Steve Stich.
October 20, 1990 – Ron Glasow is named head coach, and Jeff Waite is named captain for the 1990-1991 season.
November 17, 1990 – The first game is played by the San Jose State Hockey team against Cal’s ‘B’ team at Berkeley Iceland. San Jose State wins the game 6-0 and Steve Stich appropriately scores the first goal in club history, sliding in a rebound to the left of the Cal goaltender. Jim Campbell records the first assist. Goaltender Paul Legreski records the shutout.
March, 1991 – The Spartans conclude their inaugural season with a 2-4-2 record. Cody Smith finishes the season as leading scorer and Jeff Waite leads the team in penalty minutes.
Summer, 1991 – SJSU becomes an official member of the Pacific Collegiate Hockey Association (PCHA), entering a 13-team Division II league.
March 7, 1992 – San Jose State caps an undefeated season (17-0) by winning the PCHA Division II Championship, defeating St. Mary’s College 4-1 in the final, which was held in Fresno.
March, 1993 – After the cancellation of the league playoffs scheduled at Stanford, the PCHA declares San Jose State the Division I Champion, due to its holding of the best regular season record.
April, 1994 – Led by Lou Siville’s shutout goaltending, the Spartans win their second straight PCHA Division I Championship by defeating Cal 3-0 in the finals. Tony Destro’s goal early in the third period broke a tense 0-0 tie to help give SJSU its third title in a row.
March, 1995 – San Jose State wins its third consecutive PCHA Division I Championship, defeating Orange Coast College 3-2 in overtime. Tony Destro scored the winning goal after a brilliant end-to-end rush by Joel Jenkins 9 minutes into a thrilling sudden-death overtime at the Ice Centre at San Jose.
March, 1995 – San Jose State is selected for the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) National Collegiate Club Hockey Tournament in Fort Collins, CO. The Spartans go 1-2, defeating Southern Connecticut, but losing to Kentucky and eventual National Champion Colorado State. The Spartans finish 5th out of 8 teams.
March, 1996 – For the second consecutive year, the Spartans are selected to the ACHA National Tournament, this time held in Tampa, FL. After a come-from-behind 5-4 win over Rutgers in the opening game, SJSU falls to Southern Florida and Bradley University to finish 13th out of 16 teams.
March, 1997 – After failing to qualify for the National Tournament, San Jose State wins its 4th PCHA Division I title (5th overall) with a 7-1 victory over Orange Coast College in Stockton, CA.
Summer, 1997 – San Jose State withdraws from the PCHA and becomes and independent club team in the ACHA’s Division II.
December, 1997 – San Jose State defeats Cal 12-0 in the opener, and Stanford 4-3 in the finals to win their 1st Gold Rush Tournament title.
March, 1998 – San Jose State ranks third in the ACHA West Region and qualifies for the National Tournament, held in Newark, N.J. Despite a spirited showing, the Spartans lose to Michigan State, Miami (OH), and Rutgers.
December, 2000 – San Jose State loses 8-7 to the Palmer College Pride when Colin Chala scores on Spartan goaltender Eric Lahrs as the final shooter in a shootout.
February, 2001 – San Jose State fails to make the ACHA National Tournament, finishing 6th in the West Region.
April, 2001 – The ACHA holds its annual league-wide meeting. After several teams make bids to host the 2002 National tournament, the league votes New York University in Manhattan as host.
September, 2001 – Terrorist attacks in downtown Manhattan threaten the ACHA tournament at Chelsea Piers on the lower east side. After some debate, the ACHA votes to continue with the tournament as planned.
December, 2001 – San Jose State beats Cal and Palmer College to win the Gold Rush trophy.
February, 2002 – Freshman center Jason Marconcini threatens Brett Faulhauber’s record of 33 goals in one season, but comes up short with 30.
February, 2002 – San Jose State finishes 4th in the West Region to earn a berth in the ACHA National Tournament in New York, NY. They would lose the first game 5-0 to host NYU. The second game would prove to be even more disastrous with a 12-1 loss to Robert Morris. Old friends University of Michigan would then close out the Spartans’ season by handing them an 8-1 defeat.
February, 2003 – The team finishes the season 10-7-4, but are not selected to play in the ACHA National Tournament.
February, 2004 – The team finishes 12-10-4 and are once again passed over for the ACHA National Tournament.
May, 2004 – Defenseman Ryan Richardson is selected as a 2nd Team All-American.
March, 2005 – The team finishes 3rd in the West with a 23-6-2 record, earning themselves a trip to the ACHA National Tournament in Detroit, Michigan. In their first game, the team pulls out a dramatic 5-4 overtime victory against Penn State, with captain Ray Kellam netting the game-winner. However, a 12-1 thrashing at the hands of the eventual National Champion Michigan State Spartans dashes the team’s hopes of taking home the title. A 4-1 loss at the hands of Miami (Ohio) ends the Spartans’ stellar season on a sour note.
May, 2005 – The Spartans rack up the post-season hardware as sophomore goaltender Ryan Lowe, posting a 12-6-1 record, earns 1st Team All-West Region honors; freshman wing Sean Scarbrough earns 2nd Team All-West Region honors with a team-leading 30 goals; and Head Coach Ron Glasow is selected as the ACHA West Region Coach of the Year.
October 16, 2005 – In an 8-2 win over Long Beach State, graduate student Aaron Scott nets the 200th point of his Spartan career, becoming the first player to reach the bicentennial mark.
February, 2006 – The Spartans finish their finest regular season to date with an astounding 26-1-1 record, including an undefeated 18-0-1 record at home. The team is voted first place in the West Region for the first time in franchise history and heads to the National Tournament in Rochester, New York as favorites to take home the title.
March, 2006 – The team’s cinderella season comes to an abrupt end as they are upset in their opening game 5-2 by eventual National Runners-Up Liberty University. The Spartans keep their hopes of moving on to the semifinal round alive by defeating the defending National Champion Michigan State Spartans 3-1, but fail to advance after Liberty wins their final game of pool play. The Spartans end their season with a close 4-3 loss to Penn State.
May, 2006 – The Spartans once again take home significant post-season hardware as junior goaltender Ryan Lowe, posting an impressive 23-3-1 record, along with a 2.47 Goals-Against Average and a .923 Save-Percentage, earns 1st Team All-American (as well as 1st Team All-West Region) honors. Meanwhile, Head Coach Ron Glasow is selected as the ACHA National Coach of the Year and sophomore wing Sean Scarbrough, after leading the team in scoring with 53 points and setting a new single-season club record with 36 goals, is selected to the All-West Region’s 3rd Team.
September, 2006 – The 2006-2007 campaign would prove to be one of the more memorable ones in Spartan history as the largest rookie class to date (12 new faces) would team up with some of the club’s all-time greats to make yet another run at a National title. Despite high hopes the team starts slowly with a surprising road loss to up-and-comer Long Beach State and two losses and a tie at the hands of Stony Brook, Wagner College, and Siena, respectively. But after taking 13 of their next 14 contests the Spartans would find themselves back in the National title hunt.
November 11, 2006 – In a 5-4 loss to Weber State, senior center Mason Nave nets the 200th point of his Spartan career, becoming only the second player to reach the bicentennial mark.
February 3, 2007 – Finishing the regular season with a resounding 9-1 victory over the visiting USC Trojans, the Spartans earn the #4 rank in the West and head to Logan, Utah for the Regional Tournament.
February 17, 2007 – Thanks to dramatic overtime winners from junior wing Simon Guertin and team captain Adam Smith-Toomey the Spartans down the Oregon Ducks and Denver Pioneers to advance the National Tournament in Fort Collins, Colorado.
March 11, 2007 – Thanks to a questionable call in final minutes the Spartans fall to Stony Brook again, this time by a 4-2 score. Eventual National Champion Michigan State topples SJSU 4-1 the following day and after battling back from a four-goal third period deficit the Spartans lose their final contest to Florida Gulf Coast 6-5 in overtime. Senior Ryan Lowe is spectacular in goal throughout the weekend, stopping 138 of 149 shots seen. He and junior wing Kelly Spain are selected to participate in the tournament’s first ever Skills Competition. Meanwhile, having recording one assist during the tournament, senior center Mason Nave passes Aaron Scott for the all-time…