U Sports women's ice hockey championship

The Golden Path Trophy is a national collegiate sports award, presented annually to the women's ice hockey champions of U Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports. The trophy was donated by Katherine Cartwright in 1998, which is when the championship was first contested. Cartwright was the first head coach of the Queen's Gaels women's hockey program in 1971 and led the movement to reinstate women's hockey at the collegiate level in 1960, following a nine-year hiatus.^[1]

The 2020 championship tournament was cancelled after two semi-final games had been played due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2] On October 15, 2020, it was announced that the 2021 national championship was also cancelled.^[3]

History[]

The championship has been competed for in U Sports since 1998, when the sport was established in what was then known as the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union. Prior to that, only teams from Ontario would compete for a women's ice hockey championship.

With the completion of the 2017 championship, 12 different teams have played in the national championship final. Eight different teams have won the national championship.

With the completion of the 2018 championship, the Alberta Pandas have won the most national championships, with eight wins in 10 appearances, followed by the McGill Martlets, with four wins in nine appearances. The Concordia Stingers and Montreal Carabins are next with two national championship wins, followed by five teams with one win each.

The Alberta Pandas hold the record of three consecutive championships, from 2002 through 2004.

Champions[]

^[14]

Championship appearances[]

Ontario champions pre-1998 national championship[]

Previously, the only significant Canadian university women's ice hockey championship was the determination of the champions in the large Ontario associations, as the few non-Ontario teams tended to play against local or regional community teams rather than in organized interuniversity associations. In Ontario, the Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WIAU) existed from 1921–22 to 1970–71, then merged with the Ontario-Quebec University Athletic Association to forme the Ontario Women's Interuniversity Athletic Association (OWIAA), competing from 1971–72 to 1996–97. The OWIAA awarded the Dr. Judy McCaw trophy to its annual champion.

WIAU champions (1921–1971)[]

1921–22 University of Toronto

1922–23 University of Toronto

1923–24 University of Toronto

1924–25 University of Toronto

1925–26 Queen's University

1926–27 University of Toronto

1927–28 University of Toronto

1928–29 University of Toronto

1929–30 University of Toronto

1930–31 Queen's University

1931–32 University of Toronto

1932–33 University of Toronto

1933–34 University of Toronto

1934–35 University of Toronto

1935–36 University of Toronto

1936 at 1948 No official competition

1948–49 University of Toronto

1949–50 University of Toronto

1950–51 University of Toronto

1951 to 1960 No official competition

1960–61 University of Toronto

1961–62 University of Toronto

1962–63 University of Toronto / Queen's University

1963–64 University of Toronto

1964–65 University of Toronto

1965–66 University of Toronto

1966–67 University of Guelph

1967–68 University of Guelph

1968–69 University of Guelph

1969–70 University of Guelph

1970–71 McMaster University

OWIAA champions (1972–1997)[]

1971–72 University of Guelph

1972–73 Queen's University

1973–74 University of Guelph

1974–75 Queen's University

1975–76 McMaster University

1976–77 Queen's University

1977–78 McMaster University

1978–79 Queen's University

1979–80 University of Toronto

1980–81 University of Toronto

1981–82 University of Toronto

1982–83 York University

1983–84 University of Toronto

1984–85 University of Toronto

1985–86 University of Toronto

1986–87 York University

1987–88 University of Toronto

1988–89 University of Toronto

1989–90 University of Toronto

1990–91 University of Toronto

1991–92 University of Toronto

1992–93 University of Toronto

1993–94 Université de Toronto

1994–95 University of Guelph

1995–96 University of Toronto

1996–97 York University

Reference^[15]

References[]

External links[]

• U Sports Women's Hockey Championship