The Stanley Cup Final is heating up with the Las Vegas Golden Knights headed to the Washington Capitals this week. The Capitals are looking to bring the Stanley Cup to the D.C./Maryland area for the first time in their history.
Eighty-five years ago the University of Maryland Dental School’s ice hockey team (the Maryland Dents) made their own history by winning the Baltimore Amateur Ice Hockey League championship. While the University of Maryland, Baltimore does not currently have an NCAA sports team, the campus has had its share of sports teams in the past. The Maryland Dents, though short-lived (they played from 1932 to 1935) enjoyed a whirlwind of success, earning the title in their second year of play.
Perhaps it was a search for job security that led to the success of the team, after all, hockey players tend to need a lot of dental work. More likely, it was the group of students who led the team, which included players from traditional hockey outlets like New England and Canada. Perhaps the most important player for the Dents was Captain Fred Cuddy, class of 1935. Cuddy was from Providence, Rhode Island and had played in the Rhode Island Amateur League, and for Cranston High School and Hebron Academy before attending the University of Maryland Dental School. In their championship season, Cuddy led the league in points. Perhaps not surprisingly, after Fred Cuddy graduated hockey stopped appearing in The Mirror, the Dental School’s yearbook, as a sport.
While short-lived, ice hockey at the University of Maryland, Baltimore was hugely successful and popular. The Dents appeared in the playoffs/championship game three out of four seasons. At the conclusion of the first season, a testimonial dinner was given in the team’s honor and instilled in all a sense of school spirit.
Want to know more about the Maryland Dents? Check out the following links to The Mirror:
1932: http://www.archive.org/details/mirror1932univ