Success has always been the cornerstone of Clarkson Hockey. From the early years of the twentieth century, when the Golden Knights skated on the frozen Raquette River, to the present, Clarkson has established a legacy of excellence that symbolizes proud tradition. Through the first 98 years of hockey at Clarkson, the Green and Gold have achieved many significant milestones. Overall Clarkson, which became the fastest Division I college hockey team to compile 1,000 victories, and one of only a few to reach the elite mark, has compiled a highly successful 1,485,-881-165 record for an all-time winning percentage of .619, among the best in the country.
It is said that the first Clarkson hockey game was played in 1916 against the Hogansburg Indians, but the Golden Knights were established as a hockey club in 1921, under the tutelage of head coach Gordon Croskery and led by captain Bill Johnson. The Knights won their opening encounter against Alexandria Bay, 6-4, and finished the year with a 2-1 record, their first of 75 winning seasons.
The college produced its first All-America in 1928, Fred Dion, a defenseman, and many more have followed in his footsteps—39 to be exact, including 13 who have won the prestigious honor twice. Clarkson has three standouts earn All-American honors the past two seasons - Sheldon Rempal -F (2nd) and Kelly Summers-D (2nd) in 2018 and Nico Sturm-F (1st) in 2019.
The Knights have participated in the past two NCAA Tournaments (2018, 2019), made 22 NCAA Tournaments appearances overall, including three championship games, won 10 ECAC Hockey Regular Season titles, skated away with six ECAC Tournament championship trophies, the last in 2019, and have showcased some of the greatest student-athletes to ever play the college game.
- In the 2019-20 season, the Golden Knights were ranked 9th in the final NCAA Pairwise Rankings with a 23-8-3 overall record and were the number 2 seed in the ECAC Hockey playoffs with a 16-5-1 league mark before the postseason was cancelled -
