2018 U Sports University Cup

2018 U Sports University Cup

Alberta Golden Bears (16th title)
Runner-up	St. Francis Xavier X-Men
Third place	UNB Varsity Reds
Fourth place	Saskatchewan Huskies
Tournament statistics
Games played	8
Attendance	24,000 (3,000 per game)
MVP	Stephen Legault
← 2017 2019  →

The 2018 U Sports Men's University Cup Hockey Tournament (56th Annual) was held March 15–18, 2018 in

. 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

in the finals.

It was announced a month prior to the tournament, that the next two tournaments would be 'singles', first hosted by

). The tournament format would remain unchanged for both years.

Road to the Cup

AUS playoffs

	Quarter-finals (Best of 3)					Semi-finals (Best of 5)					AUS Championship (Best of 3)
						1	UNB Varsity Reds	3
	4	Saint Mary's Huskies	2			4	Saint Mary's Huskies	0
	5	UPEI Panthers	1								1	UNB Varsity Reds	2
											2	St. Francis Xavier X-Men	0
						2	St. Francis Xavier X-Men	3
	3	Acadia Axemen	2			3	Acadia Axemen	2
	6	Dalhousie University	0								Third place
											3	Acadia Axemen	2
											4	Saint Mary's Huskies	1

OUA playoffs

Division Quarter-finals (Best of 3) OUA Sweet 16

Division Semi-finals (Best of 3) OUA Quarter-Finals

Division Finals (Best of 3) OUA Semi-Finals

Queen's Cup (Single Game) OUA Championship

1E

McGill Redmen

2

8E

Laurentian Voyageurs

0

1E

McGill Redmen

2

5E

Ottawa Gee Gees

1

4E

Carleton Ravens

1

5E

Ottawa Gee Gees

2

1E

McGill Redmen

2

3E

Concordia Stingers

1

2E

Queen's Golden Gaels

2

7E

Nipissing Lakers

0

2E

Queen's Golden Gaels

1

3E

Concordia Stingers

2

3E

Concordia Stingers

2

6E

UOIT Ridgebacks

0

1E

McGill Redmen

5

5W

Brock Badgers (Host)

1

1W

Guelph Gryphons

2

8W

Windsor Lancers

1

1W

Guelph Gryphons

0

5W

Brock Badgers

2

4W

Laurier Golden Hawks

0

5W

Brock Badgers

2

2W

York Lions

1

5W

Brock Badgers

2

2W

York Lions

2

Third place

7W

Lakehead Thunderwolves

1

2W

York Lions

2

3E

Concordia Stingers (H)

3

3W

Ryerson Rams

0

2W

York Lions (V)

2

3W

Ryerson Rams

2

6W

Western Mustangs

1

Note 1: UQTR forfeit their first 13 games due to an ineligible player,^[1] resulting in the loss of eight(8) wins. Their record of 15-6-1, at the time of the January announcement, was correct to 7-14-1. They finished with a record of 8-19-1 (17pts for 10th).

Note 2: The Queen's Cup championship game must be held in Ontario (part of the arrangement when the RSEQ hockey league merged with the OUA). When a Quebec-based OUA-East representative is the higher seed and should 'host' the game - the game shall be hosted by the OUA-West team instead, but the OUA-East team shall be the 'home' team and have last change.

Canada West playoffs

	Quarter-finals (Best of 3)					Semi-finals (Best of 3)					Canada West Championship (Best of 3)
						1	Alberta Golden Bears	2
	3	Manitoba Bison	0			6	Mount Royal Cougers	0
	6	Mount Royal Cougers	2								1	Alberta Golden Bears	2
											2	Saskatchewan Huskies	0
						2	Saskatchewan Huskies	2
	4	UBC Thunderbirds	1			5	Calgary Dinos	1
	5	Calgary Dinos	2

University Cup tournament

The eight teams to advance to the tournament are listed below. The three(3) conference champions must be seeded 1-3 based on the pre-tournament Top 10 Rankings followed by the OUA Runner-up (seed #4). The remaining four seeds are for the AUS Finalist, Canada West Finalist, OUA Third-place and host. Their seedings are based on the pre-tournament rankings.

Since UNB advancing as the AUS Champion, Acadia - as the AUS 3rd-place finisher (AUS Bronze), would take the place of the 'host'. To avoid a first round all-conference matchup between UNB and Acadia, Acadia #8 and Concordia #7 swapped seeds.

Rank	Seed	Team	Qualified
1	1	UNB Varsity Reds	AUS Champion / Host
2	2	Alberta Golden Bears	Canada West Champion
5	3	McGill Redmen	OUA Champion
6	4	Brock Badgers	OUA Finalist
3	5	St. Francis Xavier X-Men	AUS Finalist
4	6	Saskatchewan Huskies	Canada West Finalist
7	7	Acadia Axemen	(AUS Bronze)
8	8	Concordia Stingers	OUA Bronze

Tournament format

The tournament is a traditional 8 team, single elimination ladder with bronze medal game between the two semi-final losers. Games that are tied after regulation play a 10-minute overtime period following the 3rd period. If there is no score after the first overtime, the ice is cleaned and they would play 20 minute periods (with ice cleaned between periods) until there is a winner.

The higher seed is the 'Home' team for each game (the home team must wear their 'white' jerseys and will get the last change during stoppages of play).

	Quarter-finals (Single Game)					Semi-finals (Single Game)					Championship final (Single Game)
	4	Brock Badgers	2
	5	St. Francis Xavier X-Men	6
						5	St. Francis Xavier X-Men	5 OT1
	Thursday
						1	UNB Varsity Reds	4
	1	UNB Varsity Reds	8
	8	Concordia Stingers	1
											5	St. Francis Xavier X-Men	2
											2	Alberta Golden Bears	4
	2	Alberta Golden Bears	8
	7	Acadia Axemen	6
						2	Alberta Golden Bears	3 OT1			Bronze Medal (Single Game)
	Friday
						6	Saskatchewan Huskies	2
	3	McGill Redmen	1								1	UNB Varsity Reds	5 OT1
	6	Saskatchewan Huskies	4								6	Saskatchewan Huskies	4

Tournament All-Stars

for U Sports University Cup MVP. Stephan had two goals and five assists for seven points in three games.

Joining Legault on the tournament all-star team were:^[2]
Forward: Mark Simpson (UNB Varsity Reds)
Forward: Michael Clarke (St. Francis Xavier X-Men)
Defenceman: Jagger Dirk (St. Francis Xavier X-Men)
Defenceman: Kendall McFaull (Saskatchewan Huskies)
Goalie: Zach Sawchenko (Alberta Golden Bears)

See also

2018 U Sports Women's Ice Hockey Championship

References

External links

• Tournament Website