2019 U Sports University Cup

2019 U Sports University Cup
Lethbridge, Alberta
Host team	Lethbridge Pronghorns
Champions	UNB Varsity Reds
Venue	ENMAX Centre
Duration	March 14–17, 2019
Number of games	8
Number of teams	8
Total attendance	11,416 (1,427/game)
Television	Sportsnet 360 TVA Sports
←2018 2020→

The 2019 U Sports Men's University Cup Hockey Tournament (57th annual) was held March 14–17, 2019, in Lethbridge, Alberta and played at the ENMAX Centre. The Lethbridge Pronghorns, a member of U Sports Canada West conference, are the designated host for this awarded year.^[1] 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 (7 times in Edmonton and 2 times in Calgary).

The New Brunswick Reds won their 8th title over the defending champion Alberta Golden Bears. UNB last won the University Cup in 2017. This marked only the 2nd victory for an Atlantic program in 10 trips to Alberta (the other victory was Moncton, in 1981, hosted by Calgary).

The tournament format remained unchanged: 8 teams, single elimination and Bronze medal games, with 3 conference champions, 3 conference runner-ups, OUA Bronze winner and host.

Road to the Cup[]

AUS playoffs[]

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

Ottawa Gee-Gees

2

8E

Laurentian Voyageurs

0

1E

Ottawa Gee-Gees

1

4E

Queen's Gaels

2

4E

McGill Redmen

2

5E

UOIT Ridgebacks

0

2E

Carleton Ravens

0

4E

Queen's Gaels

2

2E

Carleton Ravens

2

7E

UQTR Patriotes

0

2E

Carleton Ravens

2

3E

McGill Redmen

1

3E

Queen's Gaels

2

6E

Concordia Stingers

0

4E

Queen's Gaels

4

4W

Guelph Gryphons

1

1W

Ryerson Rams

2

8W

Toronto Varsity Blues

0

1W

Ryerson Rams

1

4W

Guelph Gryphons

2

4W

Guelph Gryphons

2

5W

Laurier Golden Hawks

0

3W

Western Mustangs

1

4W

Guelph Gryphons

2

2W

Brock Badgers

2

7W

York Lions

0

2W

Brock Badgers

1

Third place - Best of 1

3W

Western Mustangs

2

3W

Western Mustangs

2

2E

Carleton Ravens

3

6W

Windsor Lancers

0

3W

Western Mustangs

0

Note 1: 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.

Note 2: Queen's forfeited a Feb. 9 regular season game against McGill after it was determined they dressed an ineligible player. The subsequent loss and adjusted record would relegate Queen's to the 4th seed (previously 3rd), while McGill promoted to #3 (previously 4th). However, due to the late determination of this foul (two hours before the start of the first round of the playoffs) - it was determined that the opening round matchups would remain unchanged. Going forward into the second round, the two teams (if they advanced) would be reseeded accordingly.^[2]

Canada West playoffs[]

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

University Cup Tournament[]

The eight teams to advance to the tournament are listed below. The three 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.

Further Information in the tournament preview: University Cup

Rank	Seed	Team	Qualified
1	1	Alberta Golden Bears	Canada West Champions
2	2	UNB Reds	AUS Champions
5	3	Queen's Gaels	OUA Champions
6	4	Guelph Gryphons	OUA Finalists
3	5	Saskatchewan Huskies	Canada West Finalists
4	6	St. Francis Xavier X-Men	AUS Finalists
7	7	Carleton Ravens	OUA Bronze Medallists
8	8	Lethbridge Pronghorns	Host

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	Guelph Gryphons	1
	5	Saskatchewan Huskies	6
						5	Saskatchewan Huskies	0
	Thursday
						1	Alberta Golden Bears	3
	1	Alberta Golden Bears	7
	8	Lethbridge Pronghorns	1
											1	Alberta Golden Bears	2
											2	UNB Reds	4
	2	UNB Reds	2
	7	Carleton Ravens	1
						2	UNB Reds	9
	Friday
						6	St.FX X-Men	1
	3	Queen's Golden Gaels	3
	6	St. Francis Xavier X-Men	5

	Bronze Medal (Single Game)
	1	St. Francis Xavier X-Men	5
	6	Saskatchewan Huskies	1

Championship Bronze[]

March 17, 2019 1:00 (local)

Saskatchewan Huskies #5

1-5 (0-2, 0-2, 1-1)

St. Francis Xavier X-Men #6

ENMAX Centre, Lethbridge Attendance: 923 (16.8%)

Game reference
	(0-0)	Goalies	(1-1)	Referees: Linesmen:
	0-1 2:07 - (1) ( & ) (PP) 0-2 12:41 - (1) ( & ) (PP) 0-3 21:26 - (2) ( & ) 0-4 35:58 - (1) ( & ) 0-5 43:28 - (1) ( & ) (PP) (1) () - 59.29 1-5
	5 for 18 min	Penalties	8 for 16 min
	49	Shots	16

Game MVPs: Chase Marchand (SFX) & Michael Sofillas (USK)

Championship Final[]

March 17, 2019 6:00 (local) Sportsnet 360 TVA Sports 2

Alberta Golden Bears #1

2-4 (1-1, 0-2, 1-1)

UNB Reds #2

ENMAX Centre, Lethbridge Attendance: 1573 (28.7%)

Game reference
	Zach Sawchenko (2-0)	Goalies	(2-0)	Referees: Linesmen:
	(1) (B. Magee, J. Fram (PP) - 4:33 1-0 1-1 6:36 - (1) () 1-2 24:27 - O. Cooper (1) (R. Gazzola & ) 1-3 37:29 - (1) ( & ) (PP) B. Magee (1) (, ) - 46.47 2-3 2-4 50:57 - (1) unassisted
	7 for 14 min	Penalties	3 for 6 min
	34	Shots	31

Game MVPs: Mark Rassell (UNB) & Brandon Magee (ALB)

Tournament All-Stars[]

, from the UNB Reds, was selected as the Major W.J. 'Danny' McLeod Award for U Sports University Cup MVP. Dubeau played all three games for UNB (Game 1 MVP versus Carleton) and finished the tournament with a GAA of 1.33 and Save Percentage of 0.948.

Joining Dubeau on the tournament all-star team were:^[3]
Forward: (UNB Reds)
Forward: (UNB Reds)
Forward: (Alberta Golden Bears)
Defenseman: (UNB Reds)
Defenseman: Jason Fram (Alberta Golden Bears)

See also[]

2019 U Sports Women's Ice Hockey Championship

References[]

External links[]

• Tournament Website