2026 U Sports University Cup
 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Cities | Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| Venue | Scotiabank Centre |
| Dates | March 19–22, 2026 |
| Teams | 8 |
| TV partner | CBC[1] |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Quebec–Trois-Rivières Patriotes (6th title) |
| Runners-up | Saint Mary's Huskies |
| Third place | UNB Reds |
| Fourth place | Windsor Lancers |
| Awards | |
| MVP | Conor Frenette (Quebec–Trois-Rivières) |
The 2026 U Sports University Cup, the 64th edition, was held from March 19 to March 22, 2026, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to determine a national champion for the 2025–26 U Sports men's ice hockey season.[2][3] The third-seeded OUA champion UQTR Patriotes defeated the eighth-seeded host Saint Mary's Huskies in the gold medal match to win their sixth national championship in program history.[4]
Host
The tournament was played at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia.[2] This was the second time that Saint Mary's University had hosted the tournament, with the most recent in 2016.[5] This was also the third time that Halifax hosted the tournament.[5]
Participating teams
| Seed | Team | Qualified | Record | Last App | Total | Last Win | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saskatchewan Huskies | CW Champion | 19–7–1 | 2025 | 24th | 1983 | 1 |
| 2 | UNB Reds | AUS Champion | 20–8–2 | 2025 | 24th | 2024 | 10 |
| 3 | UQTR Patriotes | OUA Champion | 20–5–3 | 2024 | 24th | 2022 | 5 |
| 4 | Windsor Lancers | OUA Finalist | 18–7–3 | 2023 | 5th | None | 0 |
| 5 | Mount Royal Cougars | CW Finalist | 20–6–0 | 2025 | 2nd | None | 0 |
| 6 | Moncton Aigles Bleus | AUS Finalists | 19–9–2 | 2025 | 18th | 1995 | 4 |
| 7 | Queen's Gaels | OUA Bronze | 14–13–1 | 2025 | 5th | None | 0 |
| 8 | Saint Mary's Huskies | AUS Quarterfinalist (host) | 16–11–3 | 2023 | 16th | 2010 | 1 |
Championship bracket
| First Round: March 19-20 | Semi-Finals: March 21 | Gold Medal Game: March 22 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Saskatchewan Huskies | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Saint Mary's Huskies | 4* | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Saint Mary's Huskies | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Windsor Lancers | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Windsor Lancers | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Mount Royal Cougars | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Saint Mary's Huskies | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | UQTR Patriotes | 3* | ||||||||||||
| 2 | UNB Reds | 5 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Queen’s Gaels | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | UNB Reds | 4 | Bronze Medal Game: March 22 | |||||||||||
| 3 | UQTR Patriotes | 7 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | UQTR Patriotes | 4 | 4 | Windsor Lancers | 1 | |||||||||
| 6 | Moncton Aigles Bleus | 0 | 2 | UNB Reds | 5 | |||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Results
Quarterfinals
| March 19, 2026 7:00 PM | (1) Saskatchewan | 3 – 4 (OT) (1–0, 1–2, 2–0, 0–1) | (8) Saint Mary's | Scotiabank Centre – Halifax, Nova Scotia Attendance: 3,993 |
| Game reference | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nolan Maier | Goalies | Marcus Vandenberg | Referees: Chad Ingalls Mark Pearce Linesmen: Adam Burnett Brennan Walker | |
| 8 min | Penalties | 14 min | ||
| 37 | Shots | 33 | ||
| March 19, 2026 1:00 PM | (1) Windsor | 4 – 3 (1–0, 0–1, 3–2) | (8) Mount Royal | Scotiabank Centre – Halifax, Nova Scotia Attendance: 2,199 |
| Game reference | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Donoso | Goalies | Shane Farkas | Referees: Jesse Gour Tyson Stewart Linesmen: Matt McConnell Nick Grenier | |
| 6 min | Penalties | 4 min | ||
| 20 | Shots | 41 | ||
| March 20, 2026 7:00 PM | (1) New Brunswick | 5 – 2 (2–0, 1–1, 2–1) | (8) Queen’s | Scotiabank Centre – Halifax, Nova Scotia Attendance: 3,465 |
| Game reference | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rémi Delafontaine | Goalies | Tanner Wickware | Referees: Jesse Gour Chad Ingalls Linesmen: Matt McConnell Brennan Walker | |
| 4 min | Penalties | 6 min | ||
| 38 | Shots | 21 | ||
| March 20, 2026 1:00 PM | (3) Quebec–Trois-Rivières | 4 – 0 (3–0, 0–0, 1–0) | (6) Moncton | Scotiabank Centre – Halifax, Nova Scotia Attendance: 2,616 |
| Game reference | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Grimard | Goalies | Olivier Adam | Referees: Tyson Stewart Troy Murray Linesmen: Nick Grenier Anthony Lapointe | |||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| 12 min | Penalties | 8 min | ||||||||||||
| 31 | Shots | 27 | ||||||||||||
References
- ↑ "CBC Sports expands live coverage of U Sports Men's and Women's Hockey Championships". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. October 9, 2025.
- 1 2 "Halifax to host four U Sports national championships". U Sports. September 25, 2024.
- ↑ "Championship Calendar". U Sports. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
- ↑ "Vive Lafrance! UQTR scores OT winner to lift 2026 University Cup". U Sports. March 22, 2026.
- 1 2 "Saint Mary's Huskies to host 2026 U Sports men's hockey championship". Saint Mary's Huskies. September 25, 2024. Cite error: Unknown parameter "<ref" in
<ref>tag; supported parameters are dir, follow, group, name (see the help page). - ↑ "Playing Regulations: Men's Ice Hockey" (PDF). U Sports. August 2025.
- ↑ "Saskatchewan named top dogs in men's hockey". U Sports. March 15, 2026.
- ↑ "Schedule/Results". U Sports. Retrieved March 16, 2026.