# U Sports women's ice hockey championship

The U Sports Women's Ice Hockey Championship, is a Canadian university ice hockey tournament conducted by U Sports, and determines the women's national champion. The tournament involves the champions from each of Canada's four regional sports conferences. The Golden Path Trophy is awarded to the winners.

## 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.
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.
With the completion of the 2022 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 three and two titles, respectively, followed by six teams with one win each.
The 2020 championship tournament was cancelled after two semi-final games had been played due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 15 October 2020, it was announced that the 2021 national championship was also cancelled.

## Results

| Year | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Host University | Location |
| 1998 | Concordia Stingers (1) | 4–1 | Toronto Lady Blues | Concordia University | Montreal, Quebec |
| 1999 | Concordia Stingers (2) | 2–0 | Alberta Pandas | University of Toronto | Toronto, Ontario |
| 2000 | Alberta Pandas (1) | 2–0 | McGill Martlets | Concordia University | Montreal, Quebec |
| 2001 | Toronto Lady Blues (1) | 4–3 | Regina Cougars | University of Calgary | Calgary, Alberta |
| 2002 | Alberta Pandas (2) | 5–2 | Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks | University of Regina | Regina, Saskatchewan |
| 2003 | Alberta Pandas (3) | 5–4 (OT) | Toronto Lady Blues | University of Regina | Regina, Saskatchewan |
| 2004 | Alberta Pandas (4) | 2–0 | Ottawa Gee-Gees | McGill University | Montreal, Quebec |
| 2005 | Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (1) | 4–1 | Alberta Pandas | McGill University | Montreal, Quebec |
| 2006 | Alberta Pandas (5) | 2–1 | Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks | St. Francis Xavier University | Antigonish, Nova Scotia |
| 2007 | Alberta Pandas (6) | 4–0 | McGill Martlets | University of Ottawa | Ottawa, Ontario |
| 2008 | McGill Martlets (1) | 2–0 | Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks | University of Ottawa | Ottawa, Ontario |
| 2009 | McGill Martlets (2) | 3–1 | Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks | St. Francis Xavier University | Antigonish, Nova Scotia |
| 2010 | Alberta Pandas (7) | 2–0 | McGill Martlets | St. Francis Xavier University | Antigonish, Nova Scotia |
| 2011 | McGill Martlets (3) | 5–2 | St. Francis Xavier X-Women | Wilfrid Laurier University | Waterloo, Ontario |
| 2012 | Calgary Dinos (1) | 5–1 | Montreal Carabins | University of Alberta | Edmonton, Alberta |
| 2013 | Montreal Carabins (1) | 3–2 | Calgary Dinos | University of Toronto | Toronto, Ontario |
| 2014 | McGill Martlets 4) | 4–3 (2OT) | Montreal Carabins | St. Thomas University | Fredericton, New Brunswick |
| 2015 | Western Mustangs (1) | 5–0 | McGill Martlets | University of Calgary | Calgary, Alberta |
| 2016 | Montreal Carabins (2) | 8–0 | UBC Thunderbirds | University of Calgary | Calgary, Alberta |
| 2017 | Alberta Pandas (8) | 2–1 (2OT) | McGill Martlets | Queen's University | Kingston, Ontario |
| 2018 | Manitoba Bisons (1) | 2–0 | Western Mustangs | University of Western Ontario | London, Ontario |
| 2019 | Guelph Gryphons (1) | 1–0 | McGill Martlets | University of Prince Edward Island | Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island |
| 2020 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | University of Prince Edward Island | Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island |
| 2021 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Université de Montréal | Montreal, Quebec |
| 2022 | Concordia Stingers (3) | 4–0 | Nipissing Lakers | University of Prince Edward Island | Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island |
| 2023 | Mount Royal Cougars (1) | 4–3 (OT) | Concordia Stingers | Université de Montréal | Montreal, Quebec |
| 2024 | Concordia Stingers (4) | 3–1 | Toronto Varsity Blues | University of Saskatchewan | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan |
| 2025 | | | | University of Waterloo | Waterloo, Ontario |
| 2026 | | | | University of Waterloo | Waterloo, Ontario |
| 2027 | | | | University of New Brunswick | Fredericton, New Brunswick |
| 2028 | | | | St. Francis Xavier University | Antigonish, Nova Scotia |

## Appearances

| Appearances | Team | Wins | Losses | Win % |
| 10 | Alberta Pandas | 8 | 2 | .800 |
| 9 | McGill Martlets | 4 | 6 | .400 |
| 5 | Concordia Stingers | 4 | 1 | .800 |
| 5 | Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks | 1 | 4 | .200 |
| 4 | Montreal Carabins | 2 | 2 | .500 |
| 4 | Toronto Varsity Blues | 1 | 3 | .250 |
| 2 | Calgary Dinos | 1 | 1 | 0.500 |
| 2 | Western Mustangs | 1 | 1 | 0.500 |
| 1 | Manitoba Bisons | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 1 | Guelph Gryphons | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 1 | Mount Royal Cougars | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 1 | Regina Cougars | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| 1 | Ottawa Gee-Gees | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| 1 | St. Francis Xavier X-Women | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| 1 | UBC Thunderbirds | 0 | 1 | .000 |

## 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