By Daniel Rocchi
Ryerson Athletics announced the retirement of men’s hockey head coach Graham Wise on Thursday, effective September 1.
Wise guided Ryerson to a 106-179-2 (W-L-T) record over his 10 seasons behind the Rams bench, and was instrumental in rebuilding the program into a playoff contender.
Under Wise, the Rams made the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons in 2009-2010. Their first-round victory over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues was Ryerson’s first playoff series win in eight seasons.
Ryerson missed the postseason in 2010-2011, but has qualified for the playoffs every season since 2011-2012.
In 2013-2014, Wise led Ryerson to its best regular-season finish in team history with a 17-11 record as the team advanced to the OUA West semi-finals.
The Rams finished with a 14-13-1 (W-L-OTL) regular-season record in Wise’s final season. They were eliminated in three games by the University of Guelph in the OUA West semi-final.
Wise joined Ryerson in 2006 after 19 years with York University, where he won two OUA championships and two CIS University Cup national championships.
Wise’s 35-year coaching career, including 29 as a head coach, is the longest in OUA history. With a 407-387-55 record (OUA regular season, OUA playoff and CIS University Cup games), he retires as the second-winningest coach in CIS history after the University of Saskatchewan’s Dave Adolph. Wise was a three-time OUA Coach of the Year with York, and won both an OUA East and an OUA West Coach of the Year award with Ryerson.
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