# 2024 U Sports University Cup

The 2024 U Sports University Cup was the 62nd edition of the U Sports men's ice hockey championship, held between March 14 and 17 in Toronto, Ontario, to determine a national champion for the 2023–24 U Sports men's ice hockey season.
The UNB Reds defeated the UQTR Patriotes 4–0 to claim their 10th National Championship. This marked UNB's second title defence – they also won back-to-back championships in 2016 and 2017. Similarly, this was UNB's second consecutive shutout posted in the finals (defeated Alberta 3–0 in 2023) and their fourth shutout in a final overall (2011, 2013, 2023 and 2024).
UNB became the first ever U Sports team to concede no goals at the U Cup and completed the first undefeated season in Canadian collegiate hockey since 1962, going 43–0 (30–0, 5–0, 3–0 plus 5–0 in exhibition play). McMaster Marlins are the only other undefeated championship team, going 12–0–0 on their way to a U Cup title (10–0, 2–0).

## Milestones

* With 9 under his tenure, UNB head coach Gardiner MacDougall tied Tom Watt for the most U Cup Championship titles.
* This was Coach MacDougall's 17th appearance at the tournament, setting a new U Cup record.
* This was Coach MacDougall's 12th appearance at the tournament finals, setting a new U Cup record.
* With three games coached at this year's event, Coach MacDougall's set a new tournament record for games coached at 45, surpassing Clare Drake (Alberta) who had 42 games.
* Coach MacDougall extended his career games won at U Cup with 36. Clare Drake (Alberta) and Tom Watt (Toronto) are tied for second with 30 wins each.
* UNB became the first team in the 8-team/3-game tournament format to win all three games via shutout.

## Host

The tournament was played at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in the former Maple Leaf Gardens and was hosted by Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). This was the first time that TMU hosted the tournament, but was the 15th time that the championship was played in Toronto.
The finals were played 27 years to the day of the last University Cup finals played at Maple Leaf Gardens: Guelph Gryphons (OUA Queen's Cup Champions) won 4–3 over the UNB Varsity Reds (AUAA Champions) on March 17, 1997.

## Qualification
### AUS playoffs

Source:
| Quarterfinals February 14–17 | Quarterfinals February 14–17 | Quarterfinals February 14–17 | Quarterfinals February 14–17 | Quarterfinals February 14–17 | Semifinals February 23–27 | Semifinals February 23–27 | Semifinals February 23–27 | Semifinals February 23–27 | Semifinals February 23–27 | Semifinals February 23–27 | Semifinals February 23–27 | Championship March 2–5 | Championship March 2–5 | Championship March 2–5 | Championship March 2–5 | Championship March 2–5 |
| | | | | | 1 | New Brunswick | 4 | 5 | 5 | — | — | | | | | |
| 3 | St. Francis Xavier | | 3**** | — | 4 | Saint Mary’s | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | — | | | | | |
| 6 | Acadia | 3 | 2 | — | | | | | | | | 1 | New Brunswick | 3 | 3 | — |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Moncton | 1 | 0 | — |
| | | | | | 2 | Moncton | 5 | 5 | 4 | — | — | | | | | |
| 4 | Saint Mary’s | 4 | 2* | — | 3 | St. Francis Xavier | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | | | | | |
| 5 | Prince Edward Island | 3 | 1 | — | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

### OUA playoffs

Source:
| Play In February 11 | Play In February 11 | Play In February 11 | Division Quarterfinals February 14–17 | Division Quarterfinals February 14–17 | Division Quarterfinals February 14–17 | Division Quarterfinals February 14–17 | Division Quarterfinals February 14–17 | Division Semifinals February 21–25 | Division Semifinals February 21–25 | Division Semifinals February 21–25 | Division Semifinals February 21–25 | Division Semifinals February 21–25 | | | Division Finals February 28–March 3 | Division Finals February 28–March 3 | Division Finals February 28–March 3 | Division Finals February 28–March 3 | Division Finals February 28–March 3 | | | Queen's Cup Final March 9 | Queen's Cup Final March 9 | Queen's Cup Final March 9 |
| | | | | | | | | W1 | Brock | 6 | 4 | — | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | W4 | Windsor | 3* | 7 | — | W4 | Windsor | 1 | 1 | — | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | W5 | Lakehead | 2 | 2 | — | | | | | | | | W1 | Brock | 3 | 1 | 1 | | | |
| | | | W5 | Lakehead | 2 | 2 | — | West | West | West | | | | | W1 | Brock | 3 | 1 | 1 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | West | West | West | | | W2 | Toronto Metropolitan | 1 | 5 | 2 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | W2 | Toronto Metropolitan | 4 | 5 | — | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | W3 | Toronto | 4 | 3 | — | W6 | Wilfrid Laurier | 1 | 1 | — | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| W6 | Wilfrid Laurier | 5* | W6 | Wilfrid Laurier | 7 | 5 | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | W2 | Toronto Metropolitan | 2 |
| W7 | Nipissing | 4 | | | | | | | | | E2 | Quebec–Trois-Rivières | 3** |
| | | | | | | | | E1 | McGill | 6 | E2 | Quebec–Trois-Rivières | 3 | | | | | | | | — | | | |
| | | | E4 | Queen's | 1 | 3 | — | E5 | Concordia | 4 | 1 | — | | | | | | | | | Bronze Medal Game | Bronze Medal Game | Bronze Medal Game |
| | | | E5 | Concordia | 3 | 4* | — | | | | | | | | E1 | McGill | 2 | 5 | | | 0 | | | |
| | | | E5 | Concordia | 3 | 4* | — | East | East | East | | | | | E1 | McGill | 2 | 5 | | | 0 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | East | East | East | | | E2 | Quebec–Trois-Rivières | 4 | 3 | 4 | | | W1 | Brock | 2 |
| | | | | | | | | E2 | Quebec–Trois-Rivières | 4 | 2 | 1 | | | | | | | | E1 | McGill | 5 | | |
| | | | E3 | Ottawa | 5 | 8 | — | E3 | Ottawa | 1 | 3* | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | E6 | Ontario Tech | 1 | 0 | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) 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. This rule was applied this season as UQTR had a better record than TMU – thus, TMU would host the game but UQTR would be the 'home' team.
Note 2: The OUA 'Host' rule mentioned in Note 1 now, as of 2019–20, also applies to the bronze medal game. This rule was also applied this season as McGill had a better record than Brock – thus, Brock hosted the game but McGill was the 'home' team.

### Canada West playoffs

Source:
| Quarterfinal February 16–18 | Quarterfinal February 16–18 | Quarterfinal February 16–18 | Quarterfinal February 16–18 | Quarterfinal February 16–18 | Semifinal February 22–25 | Semifinal February 22–25 | Semifinal February 22–25 | Semifinal February 22–25 | Semifinal February 22–25 | Championship March 1–3 | Championship March 1–3 | Championship March 1–3 | Championship March 1–3 | Championship March 1–3 |
| | | | | | 1 | British Columbia | 1 | 4 | 4 | | | | | |
| 3 | Mount Royal | 4 | 6 | — | 5 | Alberta | 4 | 2 | 0 | | | | | |
| 6 | MacEwan | 1 | 4 | — | | | | | | 1 | British Columbia | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Calgary | 5 | 1 | 3 |
| | | | | | 2 | Calgary | 4 | 4* | — | | | | | |
| 4 | Saskatchewan | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | Mount Royal | 2 | 3 | — | | | | | |
| 5 | Alberta | 2 | 3 | 5* | | | | | | | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

## University Cup Tournament

The eight teams advancing to the tournament are listed below. The three (3) conference champions must be seeded 1–3 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 respectively. Their seedings are based on the pre-tournament rankings. Since TMU would advance as the OUA Runner-up, the loser from the OUA Bronze Medal game (Brock) would represent the host.

### Participating teams and seeding

| Seed | Team | Qualified | Record | Last App | Total | Last Win | Total |
| 1 | New Brunswick Reds | AUS Champion | 30–0–0 | 2023 | 22nd | 2023 | 9 |
| 2 | Quebec–Trois-Rivières Patriotes | OUA Champion | 21–7–1 | 2023 | 23rd | 2022 | 5 |
| 3 | British Columbia Thunderbirds | CW Champion | 22–4–2 | 2022 | 6th | None | 0 |
| 4 | Toronto Metropolitan Bold | OUA Finalist (Host) | 19–8–1 | 2022 | 2nd | None | 0 |
| 5 | Calgary Dinos | CW Finalist | 21–5–2 | 2023 | 14th | None | 0 |
| 6 | McGill Redbirds | OUA Bronze | 21–5–2 | 2018 | 10th | 2012 | 1 |
| 7 | Moncton Aigles Bleus | AUS Finalist | 20–9–1 | 2012 | 16th | 1995 | 4 |
| 8 | Brock Badgers | OUA Semifinalist | 21–7–0 | 2022 | 4th | None | 0 |

### Bracket

| Quarterfinals March 14–15 | Quarterfinals March 14–15 | Quarterfinals March 14–15 | Semifinals March 16 | Semifinals March 16 | Semifinals March 16 | Final March 17 | Final March 17 | Final March 17 |
| 1 | New Brunswick | 4 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Brock | 0 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Brock | 0 | 1 | New Brunswick | 7 | | | |
| Thursday Mar. 14th | Thursday Mar. 14th | Thursday Mar. 14th | 1 | New Brunswick | 7 | | | |
| Thursday Mar. 14th | Thursday Mar. 14th | Thursday Mar. 14th | 4 | Toronto Metropolitan | 0 | | | |
| 4 | Toronto Metropolitan | 2** | 4 | Toronto Metropolitan | 0 | | | |
| 5 | Calgary | 1 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Calgary | 1 | | | | 1 | New Brunswick | 4 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Quebec–Trois-Rivières | 0 |
| 2 | Quebec–Trois-Rivières | 5 | | | | | | | 2 | Quebec–Trois-Rivières | 0 |
| 7 | Moncton | 1 | | | |
| 7 | Moncton | 1 | 2 | Quebec–Trois-Rivières | 5 | Bronze Medal Game | Bronze Medal Game | Bronze Medal Game |
| Friday Mar. 15th | Friday Mar. 15th | Friday Mar. 15th | 2 | Quebec–Trois-Rivières | 5 |
| Friday Mar. 15th | Friday Mar. 15th | Friday Mar. 15th | 6 | McGill | 4 |
| 3 | British Columbia | 2 | 6 | McGill | 4 | 4 | Toronto Metropolitan | 2 |
| 6 | McGill | 3 | | | | 6 | McGill | 3 |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

## Results
### Championship final

* Game MVPs: Cody Morgan (UNB) & Félix Lauzon (UQTR)

## Awards

The Major W.J. 'Danny' McLeod Award for U Sports University Cup MVP was awarded to UNB forward Brady Gilmour whom finished the tournament tied for first in points with 7 (1G + 6A) along with Simon Lafrance (2G + 5A) of UQTR. His lone goal was the game winner in the Championship Final.
Tournament all-star team were: Forward: Brady Gilmour (UNB Reds) Forward: Simon Lafrance (UQTR Patriotes) Forward: Austen Keating (UNB Reds) Defenceman: Kale McCallum (UNB Reds) Defenceman: Scott Walford (McGill Redbirds) Goaltender: Samuel Richard (UNB Reds)

## Media
### Television

All games were broadcast live in English by crews consisting of Damian Smith and Griffin Butler, and Curtis Coleman and Matthew Smith on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app, the CBC Sports YouTube channel and the CBC Gem streaming service. It was broadcast in French by David Brosseau (PxP) and Dylan Baker (Colour) on Radio-Canada and Ici TOU.TV, while the finals also aired on TVA Sports.

### Entertainment

The McGill Fight Band came to support the McGill Redbirds at their three games, providing musical performances in the arena.