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Men’s hockey coach Wise to retire in September

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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