| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Venue(s) | Varsity Arena, Edmonton, Alberta |
| Dates | March 14–23 |
| Teams | 7 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Alberta Golden Bears (7th title) |
| Runners-up | Quebec–Trois-Rivières Patriotes |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Games played | 10 |
| Awards | |
| MVP | Dennis Cranston (Alberta) |
The 1986 CIAU Men's University Cup Hockey Tournament (24th annual) was held at the Varsity Arena in Edmonton, Alberta. The Alberta Golden Bears served as the tournament host.
| Semifinals | Championship | ||||||||||||
| K1 | Dalhousie | 5 | 6 | 5 | |||||||||
| M2 | Prince Edward Island | 8 | 5 | 3 | |||||||||
| K1 | Dalhousie | 6 | 7 | 4 | |||||||||
| M1 | Moncton | 2 | 9 | 9 | |||||||||
| M1 | Moncton | 8 | 8 | — | |||||||||
| K2 | St. Francis Xavier | 2 | 4 | — | |||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
| Semifinal February 28-March 2 | Championship March 7-9 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Alberta | 3 | 5 | 3 | |||||||||
| 4 | Saskatchewan | 8 | 3 | 6 | |||||||||
| 4 | Saskatchewan | 3 | 6 | 3 | |||||||||
| 2 | Calgary | 9 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||
| 2 | Calgary | 4 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||
| 3 | Manitoba | 3 | 4 | 3 | |||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
| Quarterfinals February 25 | Semifinals February 27–March 4 | Championship March 6, 8 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Wilfrid Laurier | 3 | 4 | — | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | York | 4 | 4 | Western Ontario | 2 | 3 | — | |||||||||||
| 6 | Waterloo | 3 | 1 | Wilfrid Laurier | 4 | 3 | — | |||||||||||
| 3 | York | 6 | 6 | — | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | Toronto | 1 | 4 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | Western Ontario | 4 | 3 | York | 2 | 3 | 2 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Windsor | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
| Semifinals | Championship | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | Quebec–Trois-Rivières | 7 | 3 | 10 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Concordia | 2 | 6 | 2 | |||||||||||
| 1 | Quebec–Trois-Rivières | 9 | 3 | 3 | 6 | — | |||||||||
| 2 | Ottawa | 8 | 2 | 7 | 5 | — | |||||||||
| 2 | Ottawa | 5 | 2 | 6 | |||||||||||
| 3 | McGill | 3 | 5 | 4 | |||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Due to the collapse of the GPAC's ice hockey division, there were now only four conferences playing senior collegiate hockey. Despite this, the selection committee decided to increase the number of bids into the tournament by adding two wild-card spots. The teams were ranked according to the following criteria; the host team (Alberta) received a bye into the semifinals. The four league champions were then ranked 1–4 and placed in the regional brackets accordingly. The two wild-card teams were then seeded so that there would not be any intra-conference games in the regional finals. The teams were re-ranked for the semifinals and arranged so that the top-ranked team played the lowest-ranked team.
The regional rounds were played as best of three series while the remainder of the tournament were single elimination matches.
The East regionals were held at the Jean-Louis Lévesque Arena in Moncton, New Brunswick. The Central regionals were held at the York University Ice Palace in Toronto, Ontario. The West regionals were held at the Colisée de Trois-Rivières in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. Because UQTR was seeded higher than Calgary, the Patriotes hosted the West regional.
| Seed | Team | Qualification | Record | Appearance | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| H | Alberta Golden Bears | Host | 21–10–0 | 16th | 1985 |
| 1 | Moncton Aigles Bleus | Atlantic: AUAA Champion | 24–5–0 | 7th | 1983 |
| 2 | York Yeomen | Ontario: OUAA Champion | 23–6–1 | 3rd | 1985 |
| 3 | Quebec–Trois-Rivières Patriotes | Quebec: QUAA Champion | 20–7–0 | 2nd | 1984 |
| 4 | Calgary Dinos | West: Canada West Champion | 23–11–0 | 5th | 1981 |
| WC1 | Dalhousie Tigers | Wild-card: AUAA Runner-up | 21–10–0 | 2nd | 1979 |
| WC2 | Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks | Wild-card: OUAA Runner-up | 22–5–1 | 2nd | 1983 |
| Regional Finals March 14–16 | Semifinals March 20–22 | Championship March 23 | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | Moncton | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | Alberta | 5 | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | Moncton | 5 | 7 | — | ||||||||||||
| WC2 | Wilfrid Laurier | 4 | 3 | — | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Alberta | 5 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Quebec–Trois-Rivières | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | York | 3 | 4 | 7 | ||||||||||||
| WC1 | Dalhousie | 5 | 3 | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | York | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Quebec–Trois-Rivières | 5 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Quebec–Trois-Rivières | 9 | 8 | — | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Calgary | 5 | 5 | — | ||||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) [1]
| March 23, 1986 | #3 Quebec–Trois-Rivières Patriotes | 2–5 | #4 Alberta Golden Bears | Varsity Arena, Edmonton, Alberta |