The U Sports Women's Ice Hockey Championship, is a Canadian university ice hockey tournament conducted by U Sports, and determines the women's national champion. The tournament involves the champions from each of Canada's four regional sports conferences. The Golden Path Trophy is awarded to the winners.

U Sports women's ice hockey championship
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2025 U Sports Women's Ice Hockey Championship
SportIce hockey
Founded1998; 26 years ago (1998)
First season1998
Organising bodyU Sports
No. of teams8
CountryCanada
Most recent
champion(s)
Concordia Stingers (4th title)
Most titlesAlberta Pandas (8)
Official websiteusports.ca/en/championships/hockey/f

History

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The championship has been competed for in U Sports since 1998, when the sport was established in what was then known as the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union. Prior to that, only teams from Ontario would compete for a women's ice hockey championship.

The trophy was donated by Katherine Cartwright in 1998, which is when the championship was first contested. Cartwright was the first head coach of the Queen's Gaels women's hockey program in 1971 and led the movement to reinstate women's hockey at the collegiate level in 1960, following a nine-year hiatus.[1]

With the completion of the 2022 championship, the Alberta Pandas have won the most national championships, with eight wins in 10 appearances, followed by the McGill Martlets, with four wins in nine appearances. The Concordia Stingers and Montreal Carabins are next with three and two titles, respectively, followed by six teams with one win each.

The 2020 championship tournament was cancelled after two semi-final games had been played due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] On 15 October 2020, it was announced that the 2021 national championship was also cancelled.[3]

Results

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Year Winner Score Runner-up Host
1998 Concordia Stingers (1) 4–1 Toronto Lady Blues Concordia Stingers
1999 Concordia Stingers (2) 2–0 Alberta Pandas Toronto Lady Blues
2000 Alberta Pandas (1) 2–0 McGill Martlets Concordia Stingers
2001 Toronto Lady Blues (1) 4–3 Regina Cougars Calgary Dinos
2002 Alberta Pandas (2) 5–2 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks Regina Cougars
2003 Alberta Pandas (3) 5–4 (OT) Toronto Lady Blues Regina Cougars
2004 Alberta Pandas (4) 2–0 Ottawa Gee-Gees McGill Martlets
2005 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (1) 4–1 Alberta Pandas McGill Martlets
2006 Alberta Pandas (5) 2–1 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks St. Francis Xavier X-Women
2007 Alberta Pandas (6) 4–0 McGill Martlets Ottawa Gee-Gees
2008 McGill Martlets (1) 2–0 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks Ottawa Gee-Gees
2009 McGill Martlets (2) 3–1[4] Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks St. Francis Xavier X-Women
2010 Alberta Pandas (7) 2–0[5] McGill Martlets St. Francis Xavier X-Women
2011 McGill Martlets (3) 5–2 St. Francis Xavier X-Women Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks
2012 Calgary Dinos (1) 5–1[6][7] Montreal Carabins Alberta Pandas
2013 Montreal Carabins (1) 3–2 Calgary Dinos Toronto Lady Blues
2014 McGill Martlets 4) 4–3 (2OT)[8][9] Montreal Carabins St. Thomas Tommies
2015 Western Mustangs (1) 5–0 [10][11] McGill Martlets Calgary Dinos
2016 Montreal Carabins (2) 8–0[12] UBC Thunderbirds Calgary Dinos
2017 Alberta Pandas (8) 2–1 (2OT)[13] McGill Martlets Queen's Gaels
2018 Manitoba Bisons (1) 2–0 Western Mustangs Western Mustangs
2019 Guelph Gryphons (1) 1–0 McGill Martlets UPEI Panthers
2020 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[2] UPEI Panthers
2021 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[3] Montreal Carabins
2022 Concordia Stingers (3) 4–0 Nipissing Lakers UPEI Panthers[14]
2023 Mount Royal Cougars (1) 4–3 (OT) Concordia Stingers Montreal Carabins[14]
2024 Concordia Stingers (4) 3–1 Toronto Varsity Blues Saskatchewan Huskies[15]
2025 Waterloo Warriors[15]
2026 Waterloo Warriors[16]
2027 UNB Reds[17]
2028 St. Francis Xavier X-Women[18]

[1]

Appearances

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Appearances Team Wins Losses Win %
10 Alberta Pandas 8 2 .800
9 McGill Martlets 4 6 .400
5 Concordia Stingers 4 1 .800
5 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks 1 4 .200
4 Montreal Carabins 2 2 .500
4 Toronto Varsity Blues 1 3 .250
2 Calgary Dinos 1 1 0.500
2 Western Mustangs 1 1 0.500
1 Manitoba Bisons 1 0 1.000
1 Guelph Gryphons 1 0 1.000
1 Mount Royal Cougars 1 0 1.000
1 Regina Cougars 0 1 .000
1 Ottawa Gee-Gees 0 1 .000
1 St. Francis Xavier X-Women 0 1 .000
1 UBC Thunderbirds 0 1 .000

Ontario champions pre-1998 national championship

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Previously, the only significant Canadian university women's ice hockey championship was the determination of the champions in the large Ontario associations, as the few non-Ontario teams tended to play against local or regional community teams rather than in organized interuniversity associations. In Ontario, the Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WIAU) existed from 1921–22 to 1970–71, then merged with the Ontario-Quebec University Athletic Association to forme the Ontario Women's Interuniversity Athletic Association (OWIAA), competing from 1971–72 to 1996–97. The OWIAA awarded the Dr. Judy McCaw trophy to its annual champion.

WIAU champions (1921–1971)

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1921–22 University of Toronto
1922–23 University of Toronto
1923–24 University of Toronto
1924–25 University of Toronto
1925–26 Queen's University
1926–27 University of Toronto
1927–28 University of Toronto
1928–29 University of Toronto
1929–30 University of Toronto
1930–31 Queen's University
1931–32 University of Toronto
1932–33 University of Toronto
1933–34 University of Toronto
1934–35 University of Toronto
1935–36 University of Toronto
1936 at 1948 No official competition
1948–49 University of Toronto
1949–50 University of Toronto
1950–51 University of Toronto
1951 to 1960 No official competition
1960–61 University of Toronto
1961–62 University of Toronto
1962–63 University of Toronto / Queen's University
1963–64 University of Toronto
1964–65 University of Toronto
1965–66 University of Toronto
1966–67 University of Guelph
1967–68 University of Guelph
1968–69 University of Guelph
1969–70 University of Guelph
1970–71 McMaster University

OWIAA champions (1972–1997)

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1971–72 University of Guelph
1972–73 Queen's University
1973–74 University of Guelph
1974–75 Queen's University
1975–76 McMaster University
1976–77 Queen's University
1977–78 McMaster University
1978–79 Queen's University
1979–80 University of Toronto
1980–81 University of Toronto
1981–82 University of Toronto
1982–83 York University
1983–84 University of Toronto
1984–85 University of Toronto
1985–86 University of Toronto
1986–87 York University
1987–88 University of Toronto
1988–89 University of Toronto
1989–90 University of Toronto
1990–91 University of Toronto
1991–92 University of Toronto
1992–93 University of Toronto
1993–94 Université de Toronto
1994–95 University of Guelph
1995–96 University of Toronto
1996–97 York University

Reference[19]

References

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  1. ^ a b "History". U Sports. 18 July 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  2. ^ a b "U Sports hockey championships cancelled due to COVID-19 outbreak". Sportsnet. 12 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b "U Sports unable to offer national championships in winter 2021". usports.ca. U Sports. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  4. ^ "Canadian Interuniversity Sport". Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  5. ^ Press release cis-sic.ca
  6. ^ "NATIONAL CHAMPIONS". University of Calgary Athletics. 10 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  7. ^ "| Edmonton Sun". Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  8. ^ Fouracres scores in 2OT, Martlets edge archrivals for national title
  9. ^ "CIS W.HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP: Fouracres nets winner in double OT as McGill conquers Carabins, wins fourth CIS title - McGill University Athletics". Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  10. ^ Results cis-sic.ca
  11. ^ "Western News - Mustangs earn CIS Women's Hockey Championship". 16 March 2015.
  12. ^ Results cis-sic.ca
  13. ^ "Alberta at McGill - March 19, 2017 - 7:01PM - Box Score - U SPORTS - English". presto-en.usports.ca. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  14. ^ a b "U Sports Calendar". usports.ca. U Sports. 17 June 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  15. ^ a b "U Sports awards 2024 & 2025 women's hockey championships to Saskatchewan and Waterloo". usports.ca. U Sports. 12 January 2023.
  16. ^ "Waterloo region to host U Sports Women's Hockey Championship for second-straight year". U Sports. 16 October 2024.
  17. ^ "Fredericton to host two U SPORTS national hockey championships". usports.ca. U Sports. 25 September 2024.
  18. ^ "Halifax to host four U SPORTS national championships". usports.ca. U Sports. 25 September 2024.
  19. ^ "Ontario University Athletics (OUA)". www.whockey.com. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
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