Episode 17: Champions Corner - 1996-97 Men’s Hockey | Gryph Nation Radio

Episode 17 marks the first edition of our new, reoccurring segment which we've titled Champions Corner where we will be doing a little blast-to-the-past to catch up with former Gryphon student-athletes who helped secure some of the greatest championship moments in U of G history during their time as Gryphon varsity student-athletes.

For our first Champions Corner edition, we’re going back 24 years to March of 1997, when the Guelph Gryphons were crowned national champions for the first (and still to this date, the only) time in Gryphons men’s hockey history. Nearly 6,000 fans filled the lower bowl at the iconic Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto to watch the Gryphons capture the 1996-97 CIAU title, skating to a 4-3 win over the University of New Brunswick. Joining us to re-live the greatest moment in Gryphon men's hockey history is team captain Chris Clancy, standout goalie Matt Mullin and star defenceman J.P. Davis.

Chris Clancy, a Kitchener native who studied arts and played forward for three and a half years with the Gryphons (joining the team mid-way thru the 93-94 season and ending his U of G career with a national title in 96-97) served as team captain and was a former draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres who went on to become a three-time OUAA All-Star during his standout Gryphon career. Matt Mullin, a Guelph native who studied agricultural business during his two seasons as a star goalie for the Gryphons (1995-96 to 1996-97) was the first individual in program history to be named National Player of the Year, earning the prestigious Senator Joseph A. Sullivan Trophy during the Gryphons national-title winning season in 1996-97. J.P. Davis, an Oshawa native who studied biology at U of G, was a two-time All-Canadian who also was named the CIAU Player of the Year during his senior season at Guelph in 1997-98. To date, J.P. Davis and Matt Mullin remain the only Gryphon players in program history to take home National Player of the Year honours. Davis played five seasons with the Gryphons (1993-94 to 1997-98), earning All-Canadian status in each of his final two seasons. In 2014, J.P. Davis was inducted into the Gryphon Hall of Fame.