| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Venue(s) | Varsity Arena, Edmonton, Alberta |
| Dates | March 4–13 |
| Teams | 6 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Toronto Varsity Blues (9th title) |
| Runners-up | Alberta Golden Bears |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Games played | 10 |
| Awards | |
| MVP | Rocci Pagnello (Toronto) |
The 1977 CIAU Men's University Cup Hockey Tournament (15th annual) was held at the Varsity Arena in Edmonton, Alberta. The Alberta Golden Bears served as tournament host.
| Semifinals | Championship | ||||||||||||
| 1 | St. Francis Xavier | 6 | 4 | — | |||||||||
| 4 | Prince Edward Island | 3 | 3 | — | |||||||||
| 1 | St. Francis Xavier | 5 | 2 | — | |||||||||
| 2 | Saint Mary’s | 6 | 3 | — | |||||||||
| 2 | Saint Mary’s | 7 | 10 | — | |||||||||
| 3 | Moncton | 2 | 0 | — | |||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
| Championship March 4-6 | ||||||
| 1 | Alberta | 4 | 4 | 8 | ||
| 2 | British Columbia | 3 | 5 | 3 | ||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
| Seed | School | Standings |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manitoba | 17–6–0 |
| 2 | Regina | 13–9–0 |
| T–3 | Lakehead | 9–12–1 |
| T–3 | Winnipeg | 9–12–1 |
| 5 | Brandon | 8–16–0 |
No playoff
| Quarterfinals February 21–22 | Semifinals February 25 | Championship February 26 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | York | 11 | ||||||||||||
| C1 | Ryerson | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | York | 5 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Guelph | 4 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Guelph | 10 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | Waterloo | 5 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | York | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Toronto | 3 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Wilfrid Laurier | 9 | ||||||||||||
| C2 | Brock | 0 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Wilfrid Laurier | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Toronto | 6 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Toronto | 4 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Laurentian | 1 | ||||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
| Semifinals | Championship | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Concordia | 12 | 8 | — | |||||||||
| 4 | McGill | 1 | 1 | — | |||||||||
| 1 | Concordia | 5 | 7 | — | |||||||||
| 2 | Quebec–Trois-Rivières | 1 | 6 | — | |||||||||
| 2 | Quebec–Trois-Rivières | 8 | 8 | — | |||||||||
| 3 | Bishop's | 3 | 0 | — | |||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
The tournament format was modified from the previous season by eliminating two rounds of the bracket. First, as Canada West was hosting the tournament, two teams from the conference would receive bids and both were advanced into the semifinal round in opposite brackets. The OUAA took Canada West's place in the western regional, however, only one team from the non-hosting conferences was invited to participate. Due to this, the regional semifinals were eliminated. Additionally, the Championship first round was dispensed with, meaning that the winners of the regional finals would advance directly to the national semifinal.
The regional rounds were played as best of three series while the national semifinals were set as two-game total-goal series. The championship game remained a single elimination match.
West regional games were played in Winnipeg, Manitoba. East regional games were played at the Saint Mary's University Alumni Arena in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
| Team | Qualification | Record | Appearance | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta Golden Bears | West: Canada West Champion / Host | 23–4–0 | 10th | 1976 |
| British Columbia Thunderbirds | West: Canada West Runner-Up | 15–12–0 | 3rd | 1971 |
| Concordia Stingers | Quebec: QUAA Champion | 21–2–1 | 2nd | 1976 |
| Manitoba Bisons | Plains: GPAC Champion | 17–6–0 | 3rd | 1976 |
| Saint Mary's Huskies | Atlantic: AUAA Champion | 20–3–1 | 8th | 1975 |
| Toronto Varsity Blues | Ontario: OUAA Champion | 15–5–1 | 11th | 1976 |
| Regional Finals March 4–6 | Semifinals March 11–12 | Championship March 13 | ||||||||||||||
| Alberta | 5 | 7 | 12 | |||||||||||||
| Saint Mary's | 5 | 2 | 3 | Saint Mary's | 1 | 4 | 5 | |||||||||
| Concordia | 1 | 3 | 2 | Alberta | 1 | |||||||||||
| Toronto | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| British Columbia | 4 | 6 | 10 | |||||||||||||
| Toronto | 4 | 7 | — | Toronto | 6 | 5 | 11 | |||||||||
| Manitoba | 2 | 4 | — | |||||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) [1]
| March 13, 1977 | Alberta Golden Bears | 2–7 | Toronto Varsity Blues | Varsity Arena, Edmonton, Alberta |