The significance of a game forty years ago this month would not be known until the completion of CIAU and CCAA National Championships in March of 1985. On December 29th, 1984, Kevin Imrie tallied twice while Scott Melnyk, Sid Cranston and Mike Tookey added singles for the NAIT Ooks in a 5-3 victory over the York University Yeomen to capture the Altjahres Cup in Adelboden, Switzerland.

In the regular season, the Ooks placed first in the ACAC regular season with a winning percentage of 1.000 while the Yeomen placed fifth in the OUA regular season with a winning percentage of .625. On a related note, the Ooks were atop the CCAA rankings for the better part of the campaign while the Yeomen were in and out of the CIAU rankings for the better part of the campaign.

In the post season, both teams ran the table winning eight games including three at nationals.  The Yeoman edged the University of Alberta Golden Bears 3-2 to capture the University Cup on March 17th, 1985 while the Ooks outscored Les Vulkins du Collège de Victoriaville 9-2 to capture the CCAA Championship Bowl on March 30th, 1985. As a result, NAIT became the first CCAA team to down the eventual CIAU champions on the way to raising a national championship banner.

Previously, the teams that would win CCAA & CIAU titles met on three occasions. On October 10th, 1974, the Camrose Lutheran College Vikings dropped a 4-2 decision to the University of Alberta Golden Bears. On October 17th, 1978 in Red Deer, the University of Alberta and Red Deer College battled to a 3-3 draw. On October 13th, 1979 in Red Deer, the Golden Bears tripled the Kings 6-2.

The eventual CCAA & CIAU champs met on nine occasions with identical records of four wins, four losses and one tie. Of the nine meetings, the NAIT-York contest was the only one to take place beyond Canada's borders and the only one to be played outdoors.

The watershed moment stands alone in the history of games between the eventual CIAU & CCAA champions.

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