[4] Canisius founded its hockey team, then known as the Ice Griffs, in the fall of 1971 as a club sport led by Dr. David Dietz.

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.

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.

The remaining nine schools simply reformed into a new conference called Atlantic Hockey and continued on without much trouble.

In December 2004 he was fired when players threatened to sit out a game and he was soon replaced by assistant Clancy Seymour.

[7] 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.

Smith was hired away by Rensselaer soon after[8] but the Golden Griffins continue to perform well under new coach Trevor Large.

[11] 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.