David Johnston University Cup

The David Johnston University Cup is a national collegiate sports award, presented annually to the champion of a season-ending tournament played by U Sports men's ice hockey teams in Canada. The UQTR Patriotes are the current champions for the 2021–2022 season. The Alberta Golden Bears have won the most championships with 16, and have also appeared in another seven finals. 
Originally called the CIAU University Cup in 1962, with minor changes through the decades when Canada's national university sports organization changed its own name, the trophy's name was changed on March 13, 2018, to honour David Johnston, a few months after he served as Governor General of Canada.
The 2020 championship tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic after two quarter-final games had already been played. On October 15, 2020, the 2021 national championship was also cancelled. The 2022 University Cup tournament was held March 31–April 3 at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.
==History==
The trophy was presented to U Sports, then known as the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (CIAU), for presentation to a national champion starting with the 1962–63 season, by Queen's University and the Royal Military College of Canada. These two schools, located in Kingston, Ontario, had been the participants in the first organized interuniversity hockey game, played in Kingston in 1885. The cup is meant to recognize the overall contribution made to the game of hockey by outstanding university players.
The CIAU changed its name to Canadian Interuniversity Sport (renaming the trophy the CIS University Cup) in 2001, and in October 2016 to U Sports (renaming the trophy the U Sports University Cup).
On March 13, 2018, U Sports renamed the cup the David Johnston University Cup in honour of David Johnston, former Governor General of Canada.
The original University Cup is located at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto and does not travel publicly. A replica was created with a less ornate cup in 2006. Between 2006 and 2015, the trophy has been modified after several repairs - the metal bowl is now of simpler design, and mounts more flush to the main wooden portion. The two handles that used to be attached to the bowl, and frequently broke off, were removed. An additional black wooden ring was added to the bottom of the trophy in order to incorporate more school shields, as an engraved metal shield, with diagonal stripes in the winning school's colours, is added to the trophy every year.
With the completion of the 2018–19 championship, 27 different teams have played in the national championship final (however Sir George Williams University merged with Loyola College in 1974 to create Concordia University, so it could be described as 26 different teams). In all, 17 different teams have won the national championship.
The Alberta Golden Bears hold the record of 16 championship wins, as well as the record of 22 championship final appearances. The Toronto Varsity Blues hold the record of 5 consecutive championship trophy wins, from 1969 through 1973, but have not returned to the tournament since 1993, when they suffered the second most lopsided loss in a UCup final, 12–1; during their power years, winning 9 UCups in the 1960s and 1970s, the Blues were the victors in the overall most lopsided final, winning 16–2 in 1967. In the seven years from 2013 through 2019, only the Alberta Golden Bears (3 wins) or the UNB Reds (4 wins) won the championship.
The winningest coach is Tom Watt, who at the helm as the Toronto Varsity Blues won nine University Cup championships between 1966 and 1977. Second is current UNB Reds coach Gardiner MacDougall with seven UCup wins between 2007 and 2019, while Clare Drake is third, coaching the Alberta Golden Bears to six University Cup championships between 1964 and 1986.
==Tournament Formats==
===Pre 1998===
A varying number of tournament formats had been used prior to 1998. Towards the end of this era, the common format was a 4-team single elimination event between the four conference champions: AUS (called the AUAA at the time - Atlantic University Athletic Association), CW (called the CWUAA at the time - Canada West Universities Athletic Association) and OUA East & West (called the OUAA at the time - Ontario Universities Athletics Association), with the Top 10 ranking determining the opponents in the semi-finals (1v4 and 2v3). In most cases, the semi-finals were on Saturday with the championship game on Sunday. Games were hosted at Varsity Arena in Toronto. In some events, the finals were at Maple Leaf Gardens
===1998 to 2014===
Starting in 1998, the CIS changed the format of the University Cup tournament to a six-team/two-pool tournament that would be hosted by a CIS member institution/team rather than in Toronto at Varsity Arena. The host would automatically be included in the tournament leaving five spots for regional representatives. The three conference champions and OUA Queen's Cup Runner-up would automatically be included with the fifth spot as a rotating 'wild-card' team. The University of Saskatchewan Huskies won the bid to host the first three(3) tournaments; 1998, 1999 and 2000.
The wild-card selection was initially chosen based on a static rotation through each conference starting with the AUS in 1998 followed by the OUA and CW, repeating on a tri-year cycle. Due to the random nature of the host bidding process, some tournaments saw more local teams then expected when the host advanced as a conference champion. It was possible for CW or AUS hosts to have 3 teams from their conference or 4 teams in the case of an OUA host who was also a champion. To reduce the local bias, the rotation selection rule was changed prior to the 2009 season - the wild-card would now only come from a non-host conference while maintaining the rotation. In 2009 the OUA was the host conference (Lakehead University) and should have also been the original wild-card conference, instead the AUS provided the wild-card. This rule remained in effect until the format changed in 2015 to 8-teams.
===2015 to present day===
Starting in 2015, the U Sports Hockey championship tournament expanded from six to eight teams and moved from a two-pool format to a single-elimination competition (quarter-finals, semifinals and final with a bronze medal game).
The eight teams competing include the four regional conference champions: AUS, Canada West, OUA West & OUA East (where the three hockey teams from the RSEQ compete). The remaining four teams are: the host, the Canada West runner-up, the AUS runner-up and the OUA 3rd-place finisher (Bronze medalist). The 'natural' conference champions would be seeded 1–3; AUS, CW and OUA Queen's Cup Champion. The OUA Queen's Cup Finalist is always seed #4. The remaining teams would be seeded 5–8, all based on the pre-tournament Top 10 Ranking Poll.
A joint bid from St. Francis Xavier University and Saint Mary's University was selected to host the first two events using this format; 2015 (St. FX as the host) and 2016 (SMU as the host). U Sports evaluated these two events and continues to promote this tournament format.
== Champions==
Year	Location 	Host University 	Champion 	Score 	Runner Up 			
1963	Kingston, Ontario 	Queen's & RMC 	McMaster Marlins (1) 	3-2 	UBC Thunderbirds 			
1964	Kingston, Ontario 	Queen's & RMC 	Alberta Golden Bears (1) 	9-1 	Sir George Williams Georgians 			
1965	Winnipeg, Manitoba 	Manitoba 	Manitoba Bisons (1) 	9-2 	St. Dunstan's Saints 			
1966	Sudbury, Ontario 	Laurentian 	Toronto Varsity Blues (1) 	8-1 	Alberta Golden Bears 			
1967	Calgary, Alberta 	Calgary & Alberta 	Toronto Varsity Blues (2) 	16-2 	Laurentian Voyageurs 			
1968	Montreal, Quebec 	Sir George Williams,Loyola & MacDonald	Alberta Golden Bears (2) 	5-4 	Loyola Warriors 			
1969	Edmonton, Alberta 	Alberta 	Toronto Varsity Blues (3) 	4-2 	Sir George Williams Georgians 			
1970	Charlottetown, PEI 	UPEI 	Toronto Varsity Blues (4) 	3-2 	Saint Mary's Huskies 			
1971	Sudbury, Ontario 	Laurentian 	Toronto Varsity Blues (5) 	5-4 	Saint Mary's Huskies 			
1972	Sherbrooke, Quebec 	Bishops's & Sherbrooke 	Toronto Varsity Blues (6) 	5-0 	Saint Mary's Huskies 			
1973	Toronto, Ontario 	Toronto 	Toronto Varsity Blues (7) 	3-2 	Saint Mary's Huskies 			
1974	Toronto, Ontario 	Toronto 	Waterloo Warriors (1) 	6-5 	Sir George Williams Georgians 			
1975	Edmonton, Alberta 	Alberta 	Alberta Golden Bears (3) 	5-2 	Toronto Varsity Blues 			
1976	Toronto, Ontario 	Toronto 	Toronto Varsity Blues (8) 	7-2 	Guelph Gryphons 			
1977	Edmonton, Alberta 	Alberta 	Toronto Varsity Blues (9) 	4-1 	Alberta Golden Bears 			
1978	Moncton, New Brunswick 	Moncton 	Alberta Golden Bears (4) 	6-5 	Toronto Varsity Blues 			
1979	Montreal, Quebec 	Concordia 	Alberta Golden Bears (5) 	5-1 	Dalhousie Tigers 			
1980	Regina, Saskatchewan 	Regina 	Alberta Golden Bears (6) 	7-3 	Regina Cougars 			
1981	Calgary, Alberta 	Calgary 	Moncton Aigles Bleus (1) 	4-2 	Saskatchewan Huskies 			
1982	Moncton, New Brunswick 	Moncton 	Moncton Aigles Bleus (2) 	3-2 	Saskatchewan Huskies 			
1983	Moncton, New Brunswick 	Moncton 	Saskatchewan Huskies (1) 	6-2 	Concordia Stingers 			
1984	Trois-Rivières, Quebec 	UQTR 	Toronto Varsity Blues (10) 	9-1 	Concordia Stingers 			
1985	Toronto, Ontario 	Toronto 	York Yeomen (1) 	3-2 	Alberta Golden Bears 			
1986	Edmonton, Alberta 	Alberta 	Alberta Golden Bears (7) 	5-2 	UQTR Patriotes 			
1987	Edmonton, Alberta 	Alberta 	UQTR Patriotes (1) 	6-3 	Saskatchewan Huskies 			
1988	Toronto, Ontario 	Toronto 	York Yeomen (2) 	5-3 	Western Ontario Mustangs 			
1989	Toronto, Ontario 	Toronto 	York Yeomen (3) 	5-2 	Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks 			
1990	Toronto, Ontario 	Toronto 	Moncton Aigles Bleus (3) 	2-1 	Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks 			
1991	Toronto, Ontario 	Toronto 	UQTR Patriotes (2) 	7-2 	Alberta Golden Bears 			
1992	Toronto, Ontario 	Toronto 	Alberta Golden Bears (8) 	5-2 	Acadia Axemen 			
1993	Toronto, Ontario 	Toronto 	Acadia Axemen (1) 	12-1 	Toronto Varsity Blues 			
1994	Toronto, Ontario 	Toronto 	Lethbridge Pronghorns (1) 	5-2 	Guelph Gryphons 			
1995	Toronto, Ontario 	Toronto 	Moncton Aigles Bleus (4) 	5-1 	Guelph Gryphons 			
1996	Toronto, Ontario 	Toronto 	Acadia Axemen (2) 	3-2 	Waterloo Warriors 			
1997	Toronto, Ontario 	Toronto 	Guelph Gryphons (1) 	4-3 	UNB Varsity Reds 			
1998	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 	Saskatchewan 	UNB Varsity Reds (1) 	6-3 	Acadia Axemen 			
1999	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 	Saskatchewan 	Alberta Golden Bears (9) 	6-2 	Moncton Aigles Bleus 			
2000	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 	Saskatchewan 	Alberta Golden Bears (10) 	5-4 (2OT) 	UNB Varsity Reds 			
2001	Waterloo, Ontario 	Guelph, Laurier & Waterloo 	UQTR Patriotes (3) 	5-4 	St. Francis Xavier X-Men 			
2002	Waterloo, Ontario 	Guelph, Laurier & Waterloo 	Western Ontario Mustangs (1) 	4-3 (3OT) 	UQTR Patriotes 			
2003	Fredericton, New Brunswick	UNB 	UQTR Patriotes (4) 	3-0 	St. Francis Xavier X-Men 			
2004	Fredericton, New Brunswick	UNB 	St. Francis Xavier X-Men (1) 	3-2 (2OT) 	UNB Varsity Reds 			
2005	Edmonton, Alberta 	Alberta 	Alberta Golden Bears (11) 	4-3 (OT) 	Saskatchewan Huskies 			
2006	Edmonton, Alberta 	Alberta 	Alberta Golden Bears (12) 	3-2 	Lakehead Thunderwolves 			
2007	Moncton, New Brunswick 	Moncton 	UNB Varsity Reds (2) 	3-2 (2OT) 	Moncton Aigles Bleus 			
2008	Moncton, New Brunswick 	Moncton 	Alberta Golden Bears (13) 	3-2 	UNB Varsity Reds 			
2009	Thunder Bay, Ontario 	Lakehead 	UNB Varsity Reds (3) 	4-2 	Western Ontario Mustangs 			
2010	Thunder Bay, Ontario 	Lakehead 	Saint Mary's Huskies (1) 	3-2 (OT) 	Alberta Golden Bears 			
2011	Fredericton, New Brunswick	UNB 	UNB Varsity Reds (4) 	4-0 	McGill Redmen 			
2012	Fredericton, New Brunswick	UNB 	McGill Redmen (1) 	4–3 (OT) 	Western Ontario Mustangs 			
2013	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 	Saskatchewan 	UNB Varsity Reds (5) 	2-0 	Saint Mary's Huskies 			
2014	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 	Saskatchewan 	Alberta Golden Bears (14) 	3-1 	Saskatchewan Huskies 			
2015	Halifax, Nova Scotia 	StFX 	Alberta Golden Bears (15) 	6-3 	UNB Varsity Reds 			
2016	Halifax, Nova Scotia 	Saint Mary's 	UNB Varsity Reds (6) 	3-1 	St. Francis Xavier X-Men 			
2017	Fredericton, New Brunswick	UNB 	UNB Varsity Reds (7) 	5-3 	Saskatchewan Huskies 			
2018	Fredericton, New Brunswick	UNB 	Alberta Golden Bears (16) 	4-2 	St. Francis Xavier X-Men 			
2019	Lethbridge, Alberta 	Lethbridge 	UNB Reds (8) 	4-2 	Alberta Golden Bears 			
2020	Halifax, Nova Scotia 	Acadia 	Cancelled after first two (of eight) games due to COVID-19 pandemic	Cancelled after first two (of eight) games due to COVID-19 pandemic	Cancelled after first two (of eight) games due to COVID-19 pandemic			
2021	Charlottetown, PEI 	UPEI 	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic 	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic 	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic 			
2022	Wolfville, Nova Scotia 	Acadia 	UQTR Patriotes (5) 	5-4 (2OT) 	Alberta Golden Bears 			
2023	Charlottetown, PEI 	UPEI 	New Brunswick Reds (9) 	3-0 	Alberta Golden Bears 			
2024	Toronto, Ontario 	TMU 	New Brunswick Reds (10) 	4-0 	UQTR Patriotes 			
2025	Ottawa, Ontario 	University of Ottawa 	 	 	 			
==University Cup Final appearances==
These tables rank appearances in the final championship game.
===By team===
Appearances	Team 	Wins	Losses	Win %
23 	Alberta Golden Bears 	16 	8 	.667
13 	Toronto Varsity Blues 	10 	3 	.769
13 	UNB Reds 	9 	5 	.643
7 	Saskatchewan Huskies 	1 	6 	.142
6 	Moncton Aigles Bleus 	4 	2 	.666
7 	UQTR Patriotes 	5 	2 	.714
6 	Saint Mary's Huskies 	1 	5 	.167
5 	St. Francis Xavier X-Men 	1 	4 	.200
4 	Acadia Axemen 	2 	2 	.500
4 	Guelph Gryphons 	1 	3 	.250
4 	Western Mustangs 	1 	3 	.250
3 	York Lions 	3 	0 	1.000
3 	Sir George Williams Georgians	0 	3 	.000
2 	McGill Redbirds 	1 	1 	.500
2 	Waterloo Warriors 	1 	1 	.500
2 	Concordia Stingers 	0 	2 	.000
2 	Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks 	0 	2 	.000
1 	Lethbridge Pronghorns 	1 	0 	1.000
1 	Manitoba Bisons 	1 	0 	1.000
1 	McMaster Marauders 	1 	0 	1.000
1 	Dalhousie Tigers 	0 	1 	.000
1 	Lakehead Thunderwolves 	0 	1 	.000
1 	Laurentian Voyageurs 	0 	1 	.000
1 	Loyola Warriors 	0 	1 	.000
1 	Regina Cougars 	0 	1 	.000
1 	St. Dunstan's Saints 	0 	1 	.000
1 	UBC Thunderbirds 	0 	1 	.000
114 	Total for 27 teams 	57 	57 	
===By team's province===
Appearances	Province 	Teams	Wins	Losses	Win %
31 	Ontario 	9 	17 	14 	.548
24 	Alberta 	2 	17 	7 	.708
19 	New Brunswick 	2 	12 	7 	.632
16 	Nova Scotia 	4 	4 	12 	.250
15 	Quebec 	5 	6 	9 	.400
8 	Saskatchewan 	2 	1 	7 	.125
1 	Manitoba 	1 	1 	0 	1.000
1 	British Columbia 	1 	0 	1 	.000
1 	Prince Edward Island 	1 	0 	1 	.000
114 	Total for 9 provinces	27 	57 	57 	
The only province missing from this list, Newfoundland and Labrador, has only one U Sports member, Memorial University of Newfoundland. Memorial dropped their varsity men's hockey team after the 1981–82 season.
==Tournament location==
===By city===
City 	Hosted	Most Recent
Toronto, Ontario 	14 	1997
Edmonton, Alberta 	7 	2006
Fredericton, New Brunswick 	6 	2018
Moncton, New Brunswick 	5 	2008
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 	5 	2014
Halifax, Nova Scotia 	4 	2020
Calgary, Alberta 	2 	1981
Kingston, Ontario 	2 	1964
Montreal, Quebec 	2 	1979
Sudbury, Ontario 	2 	1971
Thunder Bay, Ontario 	2 	2010
Waterloo, Ontario 	2 	2002
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island	1 	1970
Lethbridge, Alberta 	1 	2019
Regina, Saskatchewan 	1 	1980
Sherbrooke, Quebec 	1 	1972
Trois-Rivières, Quebec 	1 	1984
Winnipeg, Manitoba 	1 	1965
Wolfville, Nova Scotia 	1 	2022
Total for 19 Cities 	59 	2022
===By province===
Province 	Hosted	Most Recent
Ontario 	22 	2010
New Brunswick 	11 	2018
Alberta 	10 	2019
Saskatchewan 	6 	2014
Quebec 	4 	1984
Nova Scotia 	5 	2022
Manitoba 	1 	1965
Prince Edward Island 	1 	1970
Total for 8 Provinces	59 	2022
British Columbia is the only province to have a team play in the championship final (UBC Thunderbirds were runners-up in the original 1963 competition, nothing else since then), but to never host the championships. The other province missing from this list, Newfoundland and Labrador, had not yet hosted yet when it withdrew from varsity men's hockey after the 1981–82 season.
==Major W.J. "Danny" McLeod Award==
In addition to the University Cup, the Major W.J. "Danny" McLeod Award is presented at the end of each year's championship, to the University Cup's Most Valuable Player.
Major McLeod was the overall athletic director at the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC), was the coach of RMC's ice hockey team, and simultaneously coached two Kingston teams in the Ontario Hockey Association – the Kingston Frontenacs (Junior B) and the Kingston Aces (Senior A). McLeod was instrumental in establishing the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (CIAU) in 1961, operating the CIAU from his office at RMC as the first CIAU Secretary-Treasurer. He helped create the national university ice hockey championship tournament, which was hosted by RMC for its first two years (1963, 1964).
The Major W.J. "Danny" McLeod Award winners:
Year	Player 	Position 	Team
1963	Bill Mahoney 	Forward 	McMaster Marlins
1964	Dave Dies 	Defenceman 	Sir George Williams Georgians
1965	no MVP selected 	no MVP selected 	no MVP selected
1966	Tom Purser 	Goaltender 	St. Francis Xavier X-Men
1967	(data, if any, unavailable) 	(data, if any, unavailable) 	(data, if any, unavailable)
1968	Ron Cebryk 	Forward 	Alberta Golden Bears
1969	John Wright 	Forward 	Toronto Varsity Blues
1970	Chuck Goddard 	Goaltender 	Saint Mary's Huskies
1971	Ron Hindson 	Forward 	Saint Mary's Huskies
1972	John Wright 	Forward 	Toronto Varsity Blues
1973	Gord Davies 	Forward 	Toronto Varsity Blues
1974	Bernie Wolfe 	Goaltender 	Sir George Williams Georgians
1975	Dale Henwood 	Goaltender 	Alberta Golden Bears
1976	Kent Ruhnke 	Forward 	Toronto Varsity Blues
1977	Rocci Pagnello 	Defenceman 	Toronto Varsity Blues
1978	Kevin Primeau 	Forward 	Alberta Golden Bears
1979	David Hindmarch 	Forward 	Alberta Golden Bears
1980	Chris Helland 	Forward 	Alberta Golden Bears
1981	Benoit Fortier 	Goaltender 	Moncton Aigles Bleus
1982	Alain Grenier 	Forward 	Moncton Aigles Bleus
1983	Willie Desjardins 	Forward 	Saskatchewan Huskies
1984	André Hidi 	Forward 	Toronto Varsity Blues
1985	Don McLaren 	Forward 	York Yeomen
1986	Dennis Cranston 	Forward 	Alberta Golden Bears
1987	Marc Gervais 	Forward 	UQTR Patriotes
1988	Brian Gray 	Forward 	York Yeomen
1989	Mark Applewhaite 	Goaltender 	York Yeomen
1990	Rob Dopson 	Goaltender 	Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks
1991	Denis Desbiens 	Goaltender 	UQTR Patriotes
1992	Garth Premak 	Defenceman 	Alberta Golden Bears
1993	George Dupont 	Forward 	Acadia Axemen
1994	Trevor Ellerman 	Forward 	Lethbridge Pronghorns
1995	Dominic Rhéaume 	Forward 	Moncton Aigles Bleus
1996	Greg Clancy 	Forward 	Acadia Axemen
1997	Matt Mullin 	Goaltender 	Guelph Gryphons
1998	Chris Zanutto 	Defenceman 	UNB Varsity Reds
1999	Cam Danyluk 	Forward 	Alberta Golden Bears
2000	Kevin Marsh 	Forward 	Alberta Golden Bears
2001	Alexandre Tremblay 	Forward 	UQTR Patriotes
2002	Mike D'Alessandro 	Goaltender 	Western Ontario Mustangs
2003	Éric Desjardins 	Goaltender 	UQTR Patriotes
2004	Mike Mole 	Goaltender 	St. Francis Xavier X-Men
2005	Ben Thomson 	Forward 	Alberta Golden Bears
2006	Harlan Anderson 	Defenceman 	Alberta Golden Bears
2007	Yvan Busque 	Forward 	Moncton Aigles Bleus
2008	Ian McDonald 	Forward 	Alberta Golden Bears
2009	Lachlan MacIntosh 	Forward 	UNB Varsity Reds
2010	Andrew Hotham 	Defenceman 	Saint Mary's Huskies
2011	Luke Gallant 	Defenceman 	UNB Varsity Reds
2012	Francis Verreault-Paul 	Forward 	McGill Redmen
2013	Tyler Carroll 	Forward 	UNB Varsity Reds
2014	Derek Hulak 	Forward 	Saskatchewan Huskies
2015	Kruise Reddick 	Forward 	Alberta Golden Bears
2016	Philippe Halley 	Forward 	UNB Varsity Reds
2017	Philippe Maillet 	Forward 	UNB Varsity Reds
2018	Stephane Legault 	Forward 	Alberta Golden Bears
2019	Alex Dubeau 	Goaltender 	UNB Reds
2020	Not awarded, only two (of 8) games played due to COVID-19 pandemic	Not awarded, only two (of 8) games played due to COVID-19 pandemic	Not awarded, only two (of 8) games played due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021	No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic 	No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic 	No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022	Alexis Gravel 	Goaltender 	UQTR Patriotes
==See also==
*NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship, the closest equivalent in the United States for men's college ice hockey
==References==
==External links==
*University Cup Championships
*HHoF University Cup
Category:Ice hockey tournaments in Canada
Category:Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Category:Western Canada University Hockey
Category:Atlantic University Hockey
Category:Ontario University Hockey
Category:Quebec University Hockey