U Sports men's ice hockey

U Sports men's ice hockey
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2016–17 U Sports men's ice hockey season
Formerly CIAU men's ice hockey, CIS men's ice hockey
Sport Ice hockey
Founded 1961
No. of teams 36
Country Canada
Most recent
champion(s)		 UNB Varsity Reds
Most titles Alberta Golden Bears
Official website http://english.cis-sic.ca/sports/mice/index

U Sports men's ice hockey is the highest level of play at the university level under the auspices of U Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports. As these players compete at the university level, they are obligated to follow the rule of standard eligibility of five years.

University hockey teams in Canada compete in leagues as part of U Sports, the national governing body for Canadian university athletics (in Canadian English, the term "college" is reserved for schools that would be called "junior", "community", or "technical" colleges in the U.S.). U Sports sponsors both men's and women's hockey. Like in the United States, teams compete in athletic conferences based on geographical locations of the schools. Unlike the NCAA the CIS does not award players with athletic scholarships, resulting in a lack of divisional separation such as found between NCAA divisions. Individual conferences hold postseason tournaments, followed by the round-robin U Sports Championship tournament in late March.

History

Windsor Lancers goalie in CIS playoff game (February 16, 2012)

The Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union was established in 1961 by Major W.J. McLeod, Athletic Director of the Royal Military College of Canada.[1][2] By the 1962-63 season, the CIAU had created a National Championship for their ice hockey playoffs: the University Cup.

The first ever University Cup was competed for in Kingston, Ontario between the UBC Thunderbirds and the McMaster Marlins. The Marlins would win the game 3-2.

The CIAU had competition in Canadian post-secondary varsity hockey at a national level. but rivalries only existed on an exhibition basis. The Canadian Colleges Athletic Association now Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association held national championships between 1975 and 2001. At one time, seven conferences in the CCAA sanctioned hockey, but only two do today — the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference and the Quebec Student Sport Federation (now known by its French initialism of RSEQ).

In 1978, the governing body of the league changed its name to the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union. The body's name was changed in 2001 to Canadian Interuniversity Sport, and most recently in 2016 to the current U Sports.

The most successful team in U Sports history is the Alberta Golden Bears with 15 University Cup titles. This is followed by the Toronto Varsity Blues with 10 and the UNB Varsity Reds with 6. The reigning champions are the UNB Varsity Reds, who defeated the St. Francis Xavier X-Men in Halifax in March 2016.

On August 12, 2016, Kori Cheverie was announced as an assistant coach for the Ryerson Rams men’s ice hockey team, making her the first female full-time assistant coach in U Sports men’s hockey history. [3]

Teams

Atlantic University Sport

Canada West Universities Athletic Association

Ontario University Athletics

UOIT Ridgebacks warming up for an exhibition game in Fall 2013.

East

West

Guelph Gryphons and Windsor Lancers square-off during 2012-13 season.

Annual awards

The following are annual U Sports trophies and awards:[4]

Champions

Further information: University Cup

References

  1. ↑ Knowles 2000, p. 72.
  2. ↑ History of CIS
  3. ↑ "Rams announce Cheverie as new assistant coach". Ryerson Rams athletics. 2016-08-12. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
  4. ↑ http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mice/2010-11/releases/20110323-awards
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