TORONTO, ON – With conference playoffs completed, the top eight teams in U SPORTS men’s hockey make their way to Toronto to battle for the 2024 University Cup Championship from March 14-17.
While the UQTR Patriotes, UNB Reds, and UBC Thunderbirds can briefly celebrate their respective conference titles, they, along with five others, look ahead to a run at the former Maple Leaf Gardens with hopes of lifting the David Johnston University Cup on Sunday.
With a week until the U CUP final, U SPORTS announced the tournament’s seeding, draw, and schedule.
Seeding:
- UNB Reds (AUS Champions)
- UQTR Patriotes (OUA Champions)
- UBC Thunderbirds (Canada West Champions)
- TMU (OUA runner-up)
- Calgary (Canada West runner-up)
- McGill (OUA bronze medalist)
- Moncton (AUS runner-up)
- Brock (OUA fourth/host berth)
Schedule:
Thursday, March 14, 2024
1:00pm – QF1/Game 1: #1 UNB vs. #8 Brock
7:00pm – QF2/Game 2: #4 TMU vs. #5 Calgary
Friday, March 15, 2024
1:00pm – QF3/Game 3: #2 UQTR vs. #7 Moncton
7:00pm – QF4/Game 4: #3 UBC vs. #6 McGill
No. 1 UNB looks to avoid upset against No. 8 Brock
The UNB Reds enter the matchup with the Brock Badgers and the U CUP tournament as the outright favourites to defend their national title, riding a 45-game win streak in all competitions.
Led by head coach Gardiner MacDougall, the Reds went a perfect 30-0-0 in the AUS regular season and continued that run into the playoffs, dispatching the SMU Huskies and Monton Aigles Bleus en route to a sixth straight AUS banner.
With 172 goals in the regular season and just 47 against, the Reds have been ranked the top team all year, and it is no surprise to see them as the top seed heading into the national tournament, with a long list of returnees from last year’s winning team, headlined by Kade Landry, Austen Keating, Brady Gilmour and 2023 U CUP MVP goaltender, Samuel Richard.
Still, their opponent, the Brock Badgers, could poise upset potential in the first round, similar to UNB’s efforts against the Ryerson Rams (Now TMU Bold) at the 2020 U SPORTS U CUP at Acadia University, when Garrett Forrest made 36 saves in a 2-1 Ryerson victory.
For Brock, that potential lies within rookie goaltender Connor Ungar, who starred for the Badgers in his first OUA season, posting a cumulative.937 save percentage through the regular season and playoffs, while the rest of the team buoyed his efforts with 107 goals for the most in the OUA West.
While the odds lie in UNB’s favour to advance, the Badgers could put up a stingy effort and, with Ungar, have the potential to upset the heavily favoured team from Fredericton.
No. 2 UQTR favoured against No. 7 Moncton
It’s a rarity at the U CUP, but two French-speaking teams will face off in the national quarterfinals. The 2022 U CUP champion and now three-time OUA Queen’s Cup champion UQTR Patriotes will take on the AUS runner-up Moncton Aigles Bleus.
UQTR suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the semifinals of last year’s U CUP against UNB, the eventual champions. Still, they return to the national stage with another OUA title and an abundance of young talent pushed on by a veteran core.
Having won the OUA in a double-overtime thriller against TMU with a winning goal from senior Vincent Milot-Oullet, the Patriotes enter as a genuine contender for the national banner and a team that may be able to give UNB a run for its money.
Led by two-time OUA MVP and 2022 U CUP OT-winning goalscorer Simon Lafrance, the Pats will hope his OUA-leading 45 regular-season points can continue into the U CUP, while Conor Frenette can continue his form, which got him seven points in the OUA playoffs.
Of the young players, keep an eye on Pier-Olivier Roy, a Memorial Cup champion in 2023 and now entering the U CUP after scoring his first playoff goal in the OUA Final against TMU. Similarly, rookie defenceman Edouard Cournoyer has looked poised, playing significant minutes as a top-four defenceman.
In net, Alexis Gravel is no stranger to big games on the U CUP stage. He stopped 66 in the final two years ago and always gives his team a chance.
UQTR goes up against a dynamic yet hard-forechecking Moncton team with the potential to pull off an upset in the tournament. Despite being swept by UNB, they pushed the eventual AUS champions to the limit in the conference final.
Moncton finished the regular season at 16-11-3, scoring 100 goals and conceding 109, led by rookie Jeremy Lapointe and his 15 goals and 34 points. Meanwhile, sophomore and linemate Jeremy Michel scored 11 times for 30 points, all ahead of offensive blueliner Jacob Dion, who plays top powerplay minutes and scored 28 points in 29 games.
The winner of this matchup would face the winner of UBC v McGill. While UQTR is the likely favourite, Moncton’s gruelling approach to one-and-done games could push them to Saturday’s semifinals.
No. 3 UBC eyeing national title against No. 6 McGill
Two of the most established educational institutions among the U CUP teams, the UBC Thunderbirds have their sights set on a national title this season and get a seemingly favourable draw against a McGill Redbirds team that has seen better form.
Coming off their first Canada West title in 53 years and first championship on home ice with a win over the Calgary Dinos, head coach Sven Butenschön and the Thunderbirds enter the U CUP as an outside shot for the national title.
In a highly competitive Canada West conference, UBC has played critical do-or-die games in the hunt for top seeds from the regular season since the beginning of the second half and pretty much the whole year while seldom folding under pressure.
While their Game 1 loss to the Dinos, a 5-1 defeat in the final, gave concern to UBC, they quickly reassured a growing fanbase that they are a team to watch, going on to return to their highly structured system, allowing their top offensive players to roam free.
Captain Chris Douglas, who was among the younger players at UBC’s last U CUP appearance at Acaida in 2022, has established himself as a man for the big moments in 2023-24, scoring three goals in the three Canada West final games, topping off a regular season that saw him notch 13 goals and 26 points.
Complimenting the captain is top-scoring forward Sam Huo, who posted 14 goals and 33 points, alongside veteran Liam Kindree, who held the team lead in goals with 15, topping out at 29 points. Still, even with offensive firepower among their top lines, defenceman Jake Lee proved critical in his second full season, leading the team in scoring from the blueline with 23 assists and 34 points.
Expect Cole Schwebius to start at the U CUP in net. Despite splitting starts with backup netminder Kaeden Lane throughout the season, Schwebius posted a .913 save percentage through 15 regular-season games before posting a .886 in testing postseason contests.
While the top of the lineup is an engaging factor that could allow UBC to contend for a national title, their depth and goaltending likely push them past McGill with relative simplicity.
The Redbirds, led by head coach David Urquhart come to the national tournament as OUA bronze medal winners, dropping the OUA East Final to UQTR before beating Brock in the third-place game.
The relatively experienced team scored 116 goals and conceded 80 but were buoyed by incredible special teams through the regular season, with a 34% powerplay and 89.2% penalty kill.
Top forwards William Rouleau, Eric Uba, Brandon Frattaroli and Zach Gallant lead the potent attack, having all scored above a point-per-game through the regular season, with Rouleau, a 2019 Memorial Cup and QMJHL Champion leading the group with 14 goals and 37 points. Gallant, meanwhile, has brought a ferocious two-way approach to the top six, with the former AHL forward settling into his first full U SPORTS season after previously redshirting with McGill.
On the blueline, Scott Walford, a former NHL prospect and multi-time NHL prospect camp invitee, provides stability. However, there isn’t much depth on defence, leaving starting netminder Alexis Shank to often fend for himself, something he’s appeared shaky at through the Queen’s Cup playoffs, stopping just .901% of shots he’s faced.
While McGill offers a substantial challenge, UBC enters this quarterfinal matchup as a slight favourite and one that, should they get through to face the winner of UQTR and Moncton, could see themselves eyeing a U SPORTS medal or national title.
Host TMU Bold looking for program’s first U SPORTS medal against hungry Calgary
Hosting the U CUP tournament, the TMU Bold were destined to play in the final days of the U SPORTS season regardless, but they’ve earned their spot as a higher seed and have put themselves in contention to win the national title.
After years of heartbreak, the Bold finally qualified for a program-first Queen’s Cup Final with an OUA West final victory over Brock; however, the title on home ice wasn’t to be for them, dropping a 3-2 game in double overtime to UQTR.
Still, going up against UQTR and developing enough chances to win the game, the Bold proved in the final that they could be in contention for a national championship and give a run to even the best teams in the nation — significant growth from where the program was at in their run to the 2022 U CUP Final.
By far, the most critical factor for head coach Johnny Duco and the Bold heading into the U CUP is goaltender Kai Edmonds. He showcased his potential to steal games with 49 saves in the Queen’s Cup Final and posted a combined .925 save percentage through the OUA regular season and playoffs.
At the same time, the veteran core of leading scorer Kyle Bollers, captain Chris Playfair, Kevin Gursoy, and Elijah Roberts is critical to the team’s success and brings experience from their 2022 OUA bronze medal and U CUP run.
In addition, Russian youngsters Danil Grigorev and Artem Duda have proved critical to TMU’s recent success, with the two former Youth Olympic champions hitting top form through the OUA Playoffs.
Grigorev, 19, scored the winning goal against to send TMU to the Queen’s Cup Final, one of his three postseason points, while Arizona Coyotes second-round draft pick and currency prospect Duda is playing nearly 30 minutes a game and posted two goals and six points through the playoffs.
On the other side is a determined Calgary Dinos side led by head coach Mark Howell. The Dinos return to the national tournament with the definition of “unfinished business” after being eliminated as a dominant No. 1 seed at last year’s tournament against a hard-forechecking and host UPEI Panthers program.
While Calgary finished just short of UBC for the Canada West regular season and playoff title, they bring immense experience to the tournament, with an element of heartbreak they want to mend from last season.
Led by captain Noah King, one of U SPORTS’ top defencemen, the Dinos conceded a conference-best 61 goals. At the same time, goaltender Carl Tetachuk also put in regular outstanding performances, leading to a .913 save percentage.
At the same time, the Dinos have a dominant top line of Colson Gengenbach, Jake Gricius and Riley Stotts, who combined for 89 goal contributions in 2023-24, led by Gengenbach’s 20 goals and 35 points, many of which proved critical in Crowchild Classic victories both at the showcase Calgary Saddledome game and in the Canada West Playoffs.
Having learned from their disappointment in 2023, the Dinos have been a harder forechecking team against the top Canada West programs and have prepared to take a run at the national banner since the first day of the season. Now, they just have to avoid an upset against the home team for a second year in a row and look ahead to a challenging road that would see the UNB Reds or Brock Badgers as their next opponent.