They brought in experienced players to help improve the team like Tom Howard and Percy LeSueur but a disagreement between college administrations dealt a mortal wound to the program.

At the time Ice Hockey was not governed by a national body (the NCAA would ignore the sport until after World War II) which left the few schools that fielded teams able to decide the rules for themselves.

The major competitors, the teams that would later form the Ivy league, decided that they would prohibit freshmen from participating and limit players to 3 years of varsity play.

After playing an entire season on the road, Columbia managed to get a 'test' game at the Rink in order to prove that the ice hockey team was enough of an attraction.

The Lions played what was described as an exciting game, but the audience was too small and the team was forced to find another home.

In 1937 the school decided to sponsor the program again and Columbia played a schedule composed mostly of amateur clubs but did perform well at times.