Current season, competition or edition: 2024 U Sports University Cup | |
Sport | Ice hockey |
---|---|
Founded | 1963 |
First season | 1963 |
Organising body | U Sports |
No. of teams | 8 |
Country | Canada |
Most recent champion(s) | UNB Reds (10th title) |
Most titles | Alberta Golden Bears (16) |
Official website | usports |
The U Sports Men's Ice Hockey Championship, is a Canadian university ice hockey tournament conducted by U Sports, and determines the men's national champion. The tournament involves the champions from each of Canada's four regional sports conferences. The David Johnston University Cup is awarded to the winners.
The UNB Reds are the current champions for the 2023–24 season. The Alberta Golden Bears hold the record of 16 championship wins, as well as the record of 24 championship final appearances. The Toronto Varsity Blues hold the record of 5 consecutive championship trophy wins, from 1969 through 1973, but have not returned to the tournament since 1993, when they suffered the second most lopsided loss in a UCup final, 12–1. Alternatively, during their power years, winning 9 UCups in the 1960s and 1970s, the Blues were the victors in the overall most lopsided final, winning 16–2 in 1967. In the seven years from 2013 through 2019, only the Alberta Golden Bears (3 wins) or the UNB Reds (4 wins) won the championship. The currently dominant UNB Reds have won four of the last six UCups.
The trophy was presented to U Sports, then known as the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (CIAU), for presentation to a national champion starting with the 1962–63 season, by Queen's University and the Royal Military College of Canada. These two schools, located in Kingston, Ontario, had been the participants in the first organized interuniversity hockey game, played in Kingston in 1885. [1] The cup is meant to recognize the overall contribution made to the game of hockey by outstanding university players.
The CIAU changed its name to Canadian Interuniversity Sport (renaming the trophy the CIS University Cup) in 2001, and again in October 2016 to U Sports (renaming the trophy the U Sports University Cup).
The original University Cup is located at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto and does not travel publicly. A replica was created with a less ornate cup in 2006. Between 2006 and 2015, the trophy has been modified after several repairs - the metal bowl is now of simpler design, and mounts more flush to the main wooden portion. The two handles that used to be attached to the bowl, and frequently broke off, were removed. An additional black wooden ring was added to the bottom of the trophy in order to incorporate more school shields, as an engraved metal shield, with diagonal stripes in the winning school's colours, is added to the trophy every year.
On March 13, 2018, U Sports renamed the cup the David Johnston University Cup in honour of David Johnston, former Governor General of Canada. [2]
The 2020 championship was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic after two quarter-final games had already been played. [3] On October 15, 2020, the 2021 inception was also cancelled. [4]
With the completion of the 2023–24 championship, 27 different teams have played in the national championship final (however Sir George Williams University merged with Loyola College in 1974 to create Concordia University, so it could be described as 26 different teams). In all, 17 different teams have won the national championship.
The winningest coaches are Tom Watt and current UNB coach Gardiner MacDougall, whom, at the helm of the Toronto Varsity Blues and Reds respectively, won nine University Cup championships between 1966 and 1977 and 2007 and 2024. Clare Drake sits second, coaching the Alberta Golden Bears to six University Cup championships between 1964 and 1986.
A varying number of tournament formats had been used prior to 1998. Towards the end of this era, the common format was a 4-team single elimination event between the four conference champions: AUS (called the AUAA at the time - Atlantic University Athletic Association), CW (called the CWUAA at the time - Canada West Universities Athletic Association) and OUA East & West (called the OUAA at the time - Ontario Universities Athletics Association), with the Top 10 ranking determining the opponents in the semi-finals (1v4 and 2v3). In most cases, the semi-finals were on Saturday with the championship game on Sunday. Games were hosted at Varsity Arena in Toronto. In some events, the finals were at Maple Leaf Gardens [5]
Starting in 1998, the CIS changed the format of the University Cup tournament to a six-team/two-pool tournament that would be hosted by a CIS member institution/team rather than in Toronto at Varsity Arena. The host would automatically be included in the tournament leaving five spots for regional representatives. The three conference champions and OUA Queen's Cup Runner-up would automatically be included with the fifth spot as a rotating 'wild-card' team. The University of Saskatchewan Huskies won the bid to host the first three (3) tournaments: 1998, 1999 and 2000.
The wild-card selection was initially chosen based on a static rotation through each conference starting with the AUS in 1998 followed by the OUA and CW, repeating on a tri-year cycle. Due to the random nature of the host bidding process, some tournaments saw more local teams then expected when the host advanced as a conference champion. It was possible for CW or AUS hosts to have 3 teams from their conference or 4 teams in the case of an OUA host who was also a champion. To reduce the local bias, the rotation selection rule was changed prior to the 2009 season - the wild-card would now only come from a non-host conference while maintaining the rotation. In 2009 the OUA was the host conference (Lakehead University) and should have also been the original wild-card conference, instead the AUS provided the wild-card. This rule remained in effect until the format changed in 2015 to 8 teams.
Starting in 2015, the tournament expanded from six to eight teams and moved from a two-pool format to a single-elimination competition (quarter-finals, semifinals and gold-medal final plus a bronze-medal game).
The eight teams competing include the four regional conference champions: AUS, Canada West, OUA West and OUA East (where the three men's hockey teams from the RSEQ compete). The remaining four teams are: the host, the Canada West runner-up, the AUS runner-up and the OUA 3rd-place finisher (bronze medalist). The 'natural' conference champions are seeded 1–3; AUS, CW and OUA Queen's Cup Champion (in ranked order). The OUA Queen's Cup Finalist is always seed No. 4. The remaining teams are seeded 5–7, all based on the pre-tournament Top 10 Ranking Poll with the expectation that the host is likely 8th. [6]
A joint bid from St. Francis Xavier University and Saint Mary's University was selected to host the first two events using this format; 2015 (St. FX as the host) and 2016 (SMU as the host). U Sports evaluated those two events and continues to use this tournament format.
These tables rank appearances in the final championship game.
Appearances | Team | Wins | Losses | Win % |
---|---|---|---|---|
24 | Alberta Golden Bears | 16 | 8 | .666 |
13 | Toronto Varsity Blues | 10 | 3 | .769 |
15 | UNB Reds [lower-alpha 1] | 10 | 5 | .666 |
7 | Saskatchewan Huskies | 1 | 6 | .142 |
6 | Moncton Aigles Bleus | 4 | 2 | .666 |
8 | UQTR Patriotes | 5 | 3 | .625 |
6 | Saint Mary's Huskies | 1 | 5 | .167 |
5 | St. Francis Xavier X-Men | 1 | 4 | .200 |
4 | Acadia Axemen | 2 | 2 | .500 |
4 | Guelph Gryphons | 1 | 3 | .250 |
4 | Western Mustangs | 1 | 3 | .250 |
3 | York Lions | 3 | 0 | 1.000 |
3 | Sir George Williams Georgians [lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 3 | .000 |
2 | McGill Redbirds | 1 | 1 | .500 |
2 | Waterloo Warriors | 1 | 1 | .500 |
2 | Concordia Stingers [lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 2 | .000 |
2 | Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks | 0 | 2 | .000 |
1 | Lethbridge Pronghorns | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
1 | Manitoba Bisons | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
1 | McMaster Marauders | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
1 | Dalhousie Tigers | 0 | 1 | .000 |
1 | Lakehead Thunderwolves | 0 | 1 | .000 |
1 | Laurentian Voyageurs | 0 | 1 | .000 |
1 | Loyola Warriors [lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 1 | .000 |
1 | Regina Cougars | 0 | 1 | .000 |
1 | St. Dunstan's Saints [lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 1 | .000 |
1 | UBC Thunderbirds | 0 | 1 | .000 |
120 | Total for 27 teams | 60 | 60 |
Appearances | Province | Teams | Wins | Losses | Win % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
31 | Ontario | 9 | 17 | 14 | .548 |
25 | Alberta | 2 | 17 | 8 | .680 |
21 | New Brunswick | 2 | 14 | 7 | .666 |
16 | Nova Scotia | 4 | 4 | 12 | .250 |
16 | Quebec | 5 | 6 | 10 | .375 |
8 | Saskatchewan | 2 | 1 | 7 | .125 |
1 | Manitoba | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
1 | British Columbia | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
1 | Prince Edward Island | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
120 | Total for 9 provinces | 27 | 60 | 60 |
The only province missing from this list, Newfoundland and Labrador, has only one U Sports member, Memorial University of Newfoundland. Memorial dropped their varsity men's hockey team after the 1981–82 season.
City | Hosted | Most recent |
---|---|---|
Toronto, Ontario | 15 | 2024 |
Edmonton, Alberta | 7 | 2006 |
Fredericton, New Brunswick | 6 | 2018 |
Moncton, New Brunswick | 5 | 2008 |
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | 5 | 2014 |
Halifax, Nova Scotia | 3 [lower-alpha 1] | 2020 |
Calgary, Alberta | 2 | 1981 |
Kingston, Ontario | 2 | 1964 |
Montreal, Quebec | 2 | 1979 |
Sudbury, Ontario | 2 | 1971 |
Thunder Bay, Ontario | 2 | 2010 |
Waterloo, Ontario | 2 | 2002 |
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island | 2 [lower-alpha 2] | 2023 |
Lethbridge, Alberta | 1 | 2019 |
Regina, Saskatchewan | 1 | 1980 |
Sherbrooke, Quebec | 1 | 1972 |
Trois-Rivières, Quebec | 1 | 1984 |
Winnipeg, Manitoba | 1 | 1965 |
Wolfville, Nova Scotia | 1 | 2022 |
Total for 19 Cities | 61 | 2024 |
Province | Hosted | Most recent |
---|---|---|
Ontario | 23 | 2024 |
New Brunswick | 11 | 2018 |
Alberta | 10 | 2019 |
Saskatchewan | 6 | 2014 |
Quebec | 4 | 1984 |
Nova Scotia | 4 | 2022 |
Manitoba | 1 | 1965 |
Prince Edward Island | 2 | 2023 |
Total for 8 Provinces | 61 | 2024 |
British Columbia is the only province to have a team play in the championship final (UBC Thunderbirds were runners-up in the original 1963 competition, nothing else since then), but to never host the championships. The other province missing from this list, Newfoundland and Labrador, had not yet hosted yet when it withdrew from varsity men's hockey after the 1981–82 season.
In addition to the University Cup, the Major W.J. "Danny" McLeod Award is presented following the conclusion of the tournament to the individual deemed Most Valuable Player.
Major McLeod was the overall athletic director at the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC), was the coach of RMC's ice hockey team, and simultaneously coached two Kingston teams in the Ontario Hockey Association – the Kingston Frontenacs (Junior B) and the Kingston Aces (Senior A). [7] McLeod was instrumental in establishing the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (CIAU) in 1961, operating the CIAU from his office at RMC as the first CIAU Secretary-Treasurer. [8] He helped create the national university ice hockey championship tournament, which was hosted by RMC for its first two years (1963 and 1964).
U Sports is the national sport governing body for universities in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country and four regional conferences: Ontario University Athletics (OUA), Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ), Canada West (CW), and Atlantic University Sport (AUS). The equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). Some institutions are members of both bodies for different sports.
The UNB Reds are the athletic teams that represent the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.
The Waterloo Warriors are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The Warriors have found success over certain spans in football, hockey, rugby, golf and basketball among others, and the Warriors have won national championships in ice hockey (1974), basketball (1975), and women's swimming (1975). For many years from the 1960s through the 1990s, Warrior basketball games attracted the largest and rowdiest basketball crowds in the country. The Warriors Football teams have won two Yates Cup Championships, in 1997 and in 1999.
Ontario University Athletics is a regional membership association for Canadian universities which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providing contact information, schedules, results, and releases about those programs and events to the public and the media. This is similar to what would be called a college athletic conference in the United States. OUA, which covers Ontario, is one of four such bodies that are members of the country's governing body for university athletics, U Sports. The other three regional associations coordinating university-level sports in Canada are Atlantic University Sport (AUS), the Canada West Universities Athletic Association (CW), and Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ).
The Toronto Varsity Blues men's ice hockey team is an ice hockey team operated by the Varsity Blues athletics program of the University of Toronto. They are members of the Ontario University Athletics conference and compete in U Sports. The Varsity Blues senior team won the Allan Cup in 1921 and 1927, and won the gold medal for Canada at the 1928 Winter Olympics. The team is based at Varsity Arena on the University downtown campus in Toronto, Ontario.
The 2012 CIS Men's University Cup Hockey Tournament was held March 22–25, 2012. This event marked the 50th anniversary of the inception of the University Cup tournament to decide the Men's University Hockey Champion. It is the second of two consecutive CIS Championships to be held at the University of New Brunswick's Aitken University Centre before moving to Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon for two years (hosted by the University of Saskatchewan.
The 2013 CIS Men's University Cup Hockey Tournament was held March 14–17, 2013. It was the first of two consecutive CIS Championships to be held at the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon hosted by the University of Saskatchewan. The defending champions were the McGill Redmen, but they were unable to defend their title, having been eliminated in the first round of the OUA-East playoffs by the Nipissing Lakers.
U Sports men's ice hockey is the highest level of play of men's ice hockey at the university level and operates under the auspices of U Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports. As of the 2018 season, 48 teams from Canadian universities are divided into three athletic conferences, drawing from three regional associations of U Sports: Canada West Universities Athletic Association, Ontario University Athletics, and Atlantic University Sport. At the end of every season, eight teams compete for the David Johnston University Cup, awarded to the U Sports Men's Hockey Championship team.
The 2014 CIS Men's University Cup Hockey Tournament was held March 20–23, 2014. It was the second of two consecutive CIS Championships to be held at the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon hosted by the University of Saskatchewan. The defending champions were the UNB Varsity Reds, but they would not be able to defend their title having been eliminated in the second round of the AUS playoffs by the Saint Mary's Huskies.
The 2016 CIS Men's University Cup Hockey Tournament was held March 17–20, 2016 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to determine a national champion for the 2015–16 CIS men's ice hockey season. It was the second of two consecutive CIS Championships to be held at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax.
The 2015 CIS Men's University Cup Hockey Tournament was held March 20–23, 2014. It was the first of two consecutive CIS Championships to be held at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax jointly hosted by the St. Francis Xavier University and Saint Mary's University. Each school was a designated 'host' for one of the events; St. Francis Xavier was the 2015 host while Saint Mary's was the host in the second year (2016).
The 2017 U Sports Men's University Cup Hockey Tournament was held March 16–19, 2017 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, to determine a national champion for the 2016–17 U Sports men's ice hockey season. The tournament was played at the Aitken Centre on UNB's Fredericton campus. This event marked the first year of a successful two-year bid to host the 2017 and 2018 USports University Cup. This is the 3rd time UNB has hosted the University Cup - they first hosted a two-year bid in 2003 & 2004 and again in 2011 & 2012. UNB is the first program to host the event 3 times since the expanded format was introduced in 1998.
The 2018 U Sports Men's University Cup Hockey Tournament was held March 15–18, 2018 in Fredericton, New Brunswick and played at the Aitken Centre on the University of New Brunswick's Fredericton campus. This event marked the second year of a successful two-year bid to host the 2017 and 2018 U Sports University Cup. This is the third time UNB has hosted the University Cup - they first hosted a two-year bid in 2003 & 2004 and again in 2011 & 2012. UNB is the first program to host the event three times since the expanded format was introduced in 1998.
The 2011 CIS Men's University Cup Hockey Tournament was held March 24–27, 2011. It was the first year of a two-year CIS Championship bid won by University of New Brunswick and hosted at their on-campus hockey rink - Aitken University Centre. The defending champions were St. Mary's Huskies, who won their 1st title in team history the previous year in Saskatoon. There would be a new champion this season as SMU was unsuccessful in advancing to the event.
The 2019 U Sports University Cup hockey tournament was held March 14–17, 2019, in Lethbridge, Alberta, to determine a national champion for the 2018–19 U Sports men's ice hockey season. The event was hosted by the Lethbridge Pronghorns, a member of U Sports Canada West conference, and played at the ENMAX Centre. The ENMAX center is located 15 minutes from campus, in south Lethbridge. This event marks the first appearance of the tournament in Lethbridge and 10th time in Alberta.
The 2020 U Sports University Cup hockey tournament was scheduled for March 2020 in Halifax, Nova Scotia at the Scotiabank Centre, to determine a national champion for the 2019–20 U Sports men's ice hockey season, but was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic after the first day of competition. The Acadia Axemen, a member of U Sports Atlantic University Sport conference, were the designated host. The Scotiabank Centre is 99 kilometres south of the school's campus (Wolfville). This event marked the third appearance of the tournament in Halifax, which hosted the 2015 and 2016 tournaments. This was the first time that Acadia was the host of the tournament; St. Francis Xavier University and Saint Mary's University split hosting rights (respectively) during the previous two-year stint.
The 2009 CIS Men's University Cup Hockey Tournament was held March 26–29, 2009. It was the first year of a two-year CIS Championship bid by Lakehead University and was hosted at Fort William Gardens hockey rink.
U Sports men's volleyball is the highest level of amateur play of men's indoor volleyball in Canada and operates under the auspices of U Sports. Thirty-one teams from Canadian universities are divided into three athletic conferences, drawing from the three of the four regional associations of U Sports: Canada West Universities Athletic Association (CW), Ontario University Athletics (OUA), and Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ). The Atlantic University Sport (AUS) formerly featured men's volleyball as a U Sports championship sport, but it was removed following the 2017–18 season. The 31 participating teams compete in a regular season and following intra-conference playoffs, eight teams are selected to play in a national tournament to compete for the U Sports men's volleyball championship.
The 2023 U Sports Men's Hockey Championship was the 61st edition of the U Sports men's ice hockey championship, a postseason tournament to determine the national champion of the 2023 U Sports men's ice hockey season. The tournament started on March 16 and ended with the bronze-medal and championship games being played on March 19 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
The 2024 U Sports University Cup was the 62nd edition of the U Sports men's ice hockey championship held between March 14-17, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario, to determine a national champion for the 2023–24 U Sports men's ice hockey season.