U Sports women's ice hockey


U Sports women'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. Women's ice hockey has been played in U Sports since the 1997-98 season, when the governing body was known as the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union, following a long stint of teams only competing in the OUA. There are 36 teams, all of which are based in Canada, that are divided into four conferences that are eligible to compete for the year-end championship. As these players compete at the university level, they are obligated to follow the rule of standard eligibility of five years. This competition is considered as the second level in the pyramid of Canadian women's hockey, below the Canadian Women's Hockey League.

History

The 1890s marked the beginning of the first women's ice hockey teams in Canadian universities. These universities included the University of Toronto in Toronto, Queen's University in Kingston, and McGill University in Montreal. In 1908, other schools such as the Calgary Collegiate Institute and Mount Royal University began to ice competitive teams as well. In the early years, teams played behind closed doors and men were not authorized to attend the matches. The referee was the only man present during the matches.
Starting in 1900, male spectators were authorized to assist in women's matches in most of the Canadian provinces and some university teams. During this time, there was no university women's league and some university women's teams competed against rivals representing cities. Sometimes, they were forced to cross big geographical distances by train in order to participate in tournaments
The first provincial women's championship took place in 1914 in Picton, Ontario. Six teams participated in the event, including the University of Toronto. In 1921, the University of Toronto bested McGill University during the first Canadian women's university championship. The Toronto Lady Blues would gain 11 championship titles, compared with two titles for the Queen's Golden Gaels before the women's university league dissolved in 1933 During this time period, Elizabeth Graham, a Queen's University goaltender, carried a fencing mask during matches in 1927. She would be the first goaltender in ice hockey, before the famous Jacques Plante, to carry a protective face mask.
visit Windsor Lancers in Tecumseh, Ontario.
On December 16, 1922, the Ladies Ontario Hockey Association was formed, and included several Ontario university teams In 1923, the Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Union is created with the aim of offering sporting events to students in Ontario. The WIAU coordinated the programs of the students, and several university women's teams were members there. In the autumn of 1923, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association held its annual meeting in Port Arthur, Ontario. It was here that the association decided not to give to the women official recognition as hockey players. From 1931 until 1941, the non-university team Preston Rivulettes were unbeaten in the LOHA and won ten consecutive championships. Numerous university women's teams are reluctant to join the LOHA because they estimated that they would be unable to compete against the Rivulettes. Due to the Great Depression, several university women's teams were dissolved. Consequently, ice hockey teams became rarer for numerous women's teams.
In 1941, the LOHA was dissolved and, in the aftermath, several teams begin to disappear. The Second World War also affected the level of participation in women's ice hockey in Canada. From 1936 to 1948, and from 1951 to 1960, there was no WIAU official women's competition. Women’s ice hockey would not return until the 1960s at the Canadian university level.
The revival in the 1960s resulted in the creation of new women's teams in several Canadian universities. In 1969, the Canada West Universities Athletic Association, with a mission to organize championships in multiple sports for women university students in Western Canada, presented a proposal which eventually led to the creation of the Canadian Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Union. The first recognized national women's championship was in volleyball, presented in March, 1970 at the University of Waterloo. While the CWIAU had been created, university women's ice hockey was still not prevalent outside Ontario, where the Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Union merged with the Ontario-Quebec University Athletic Association to form the Ontario Women's Interuniversity Athletic Association in 1971. This resulted in university women's teams multiplying and several American university tournaments inviting Canadian teams. Regional women's university ice hockey championships began to grow elsewhere in Canada, and in March 1998, the first Canadian national university championship in women’s ice hockey took place. The Concordia Stingers, in Montreal, hosted the event and won the first U Sports championship.

Schedule structure

In the U Sports regular season, 36 teams play between 20 and 28 matches in their respective regional conferences. At the end of the season, qualifying rounds determine the champion team in each of the four Canadian regions. Afterwards, a national tournament takes place consisting of eight teams: the winning team in each of the four regional championship conferences;. In addition, the organizing team of the national tournament and the defending champion, as well as the finalist from all four conferences qualify.

Participating universities

For the 2019-20 season, the Canadian university women's ice hockey competition consisted of four conferences and 34 teams. The Bishop's Gaiters joined the RSEQ and starts play in 2020-21. The Lethbridge Pronghorns dropped their program following the 2019-20 season. The Trinity Western Spartans and MacEwan Griffins programs also start play in the 2020-2021 season, bringing the team total to 36.

Atlantic University Sport

UniversityVarsity NameCityProvinceSchool
Founded		ArenaArena
Capacity
Dalhousie UniversityTigersHalifaxNS1818Dalhousie Memorial Arena1,280
Université de MonctonAigles BleuesMonctonNB1864J. Louis Levesque Arena
Mount Allison UniversityMountiesSackvilleNB1839Tantramar Veterans Memorial Civic Centre750
University of Prince Edward IslandPanthersCharlottetownPEI1969MacLauchlan Arena
Saint Mary's UniversityHuskiesHalifaxNS1802Alumni Arena1,000
St. Francis Xavier UniversityX-WomenAntigonishNS1853Charles V. Keating Centre1,500
St. Thomas UniversityTommiesFrederictonNB1910Grant • Harvey Centre1,500
University of New BrunswickRedsFrederictonNB1785Aitken University Centre3,278

Canada West Universities Athletic Association

UniversityVarsity NameCityProvinceSchool
Founded		ArenaArena
Capacity
University of AlbertaPandasEdmontonAB1908Clare Drake Arena3,000
University of British ColumbiaThunderbirdsVancouverBC1906Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre5,054
University of CalgaryDinosCalgaryAB1966Father David Bauer Olympic Arena1,750
MacEwan UniversityGriffinsEdmontonAB1971Downtown Community Arena1,000
University of ManitobaBisonsWinnipegMB1877Max Bell Centre2,121
Mount Royal UniversityCougarsCalgaryAB1931Flames Community Arenas500
University of ReginaCougarsReginaSK1974The Co-Operators Centre1,300
University of SaskatchewanHuskiesSaskatoonSK1907Merlis Belsher Place2,300
Trinity Western UniversitySpartansLangleyBC1962Langley Events Centre5,300

Ontario University Athletics

UniversityVarsity NameCityProvinceSchool
Founded		ArenaArena
Capacity
Brock UniversityBadgersSt. CatharinesON1964Seymour-Hannah Sports & Entertainment Centre1,400
University of GuelphGryphonsGuelphON1964Gryphon Centre Arena1,400
Laurentian UniversityVoyageursSudburyON1960Countryside Arena
University of Ontario Institute of TechnologyRidgebacksOshawaON2002Campus Ice Centre800
Nipissing UniversityLakersNorth BayON1992North Bay Memorial Gardens4,246
Queen's UniversityGaelsKingstonON1841Kingston Memorial Centre3,300
Ryerson UniversityRamsTorontoON1948Mattamy Athletic Centre at the Gardens2,796
University of TorontoVarsity BluesTorontoON1827Varsity Arena4,100
University of WaterlooWarriorsWaterlooON1957Columbia Ice Field1,000
University of Western OntarioMustangsLondonON1878Thompson Arena
Wilfrid Laurier UniversityGolden HawksWaterlooON1957Waterloo Recreation Complex3,400
University of WindsorLancersWindsorON1857South Windsor Arena1,000
York UniversityLionsTorontoON1959CanLan Ice Sports York1,500

Ligue de Hockey Universitaire Féminin

UniversityVarsity NameCityProvinceSchool
Founded		ArenaArena
Capacity
Bishop's UniversityGaitersSherbrookeQC1843Jane & Eric Molson Arena800
Carleton UniversityRavensOttawaON1952Ice House500
Concordia UniversityStingersMontrealQC1896Ed Meagher Arena
McGill UniversityMartletsMontrealQC1821McConnell Arena1,500
Université de MontréalCarabinsMontrealQC1821CEPSUM2,461
University of OttawaGee-GeesOttawaON1894Sport Complex Arena850

National Champions

The U Sports women's ice hockey championship is awarded annually to Canada's women's ice hockey champions at the university level. The championship has been competed for since 1998, when the sport was established in the league. Previously, the most important Canadian university women's ice hockey championship was the one from the Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Union , along with that of the Ontario Women's Interuniversity Athletic Association which awarded the Dr. Judy McCaw trophy to the team champion.
The governing body was known as the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union when women's hockey was added to its championship roster. The body's name changed to Canadian Interuniversity Sport in 2001 and the current U Sports in 2016.

Awards and honours

U Sports championship MVP

Player of the year (Brodrick Trophy)

; Brodrick Trophy

Rookie of the year

Outstanding student-athlete

;Marion Hillard Award
The award honours Marion Hillard, a top player on the University of Toronto Varsity Blues outstanding hockey team which captured six championships from 1922-27. Hillard was President of the University Hockey Club and was a member of the women's Athletic Directorate for four years. The award recognizes excellence in a student-athlete in three areas: hockey, academics and community involvement.

R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award

The award recognizes the manners and the sportsmanship of one student-athlete on the ice rink:

Coach of the year

2012-13 Graham Thomas, UBC Thunderbirds
Reference

All Star Teams

1998-99

Reference

1999-2000

;Playoffs All Stars
CIS championship MVP player: Lori Shupak, Alberta Pandas
Reference

2000-01

Reference

2001-02

Reference

2002-03

Reference

2003-04

In 2003, U Sports, then known as Canadian Interuniversity Sport, added an All-Stars category for the playoffs.
;Regular season
;Playoff All-Star selections
Reference

2004-05

In 2004, the then-CIS began selecting two All-Star teams and an All-Rookie Team, as well as maintaining the selection of All-Stars Team for the playoffs tournament.
;First All-Stars Team
;Second All-Stars Team
;All-Rookie Team
;Playoffs All Stars
Reference

2005-06

;First All-Stars Team
;Second All-Stars Team
;All-Rookie Team
Reference
;Playoff All-Star selections
Reference

2006-07

;First All-Stars Team
;Second All-Stars Team
;All-Rookie Team
;Playoff All-Stars
Reference

2007-08

;First All-Star team
;Second All-Star Team
;All-Rookie Team
Reference
;Playoff All-Star selections
Reference

2008-09

;First All-Star Team:
;Second All-Star team:
;All-Rookie Team
Reference
;Playoff All-Stars
Reference

2009-10

;First All-Star Team
;Second All-Star Team
;All-Rookie Team
Reference
;Playoff All-Star selections
Reference

2010-11

;First All-Star Team
;Second All-Star team
;All-Rookie Team
Reference
;Playoff All-Star selections
Reference

2011-12

;First All-Star Team
;Second All-Star team
;All-Rookie Team

;Playoff All-Star selections
Reference

Previous Championship tournaments