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.

History 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.

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. On 15 October 2020, it was announced that the 2021 national championship was also cancelled.

Results

Year Winner Score Runner-up Host UniversityLocationRef.1998 Concordia Stingers (1) 4–1 Toronto Lady Blues Concordia UniversityMontreal, Quebec1999 Concordia Stingers (2) 2–0 Alberta Pandas University of TorontoToronto, Ontario2000 Alberta Pandas (1) 2–0 McGill Martlets Concordia UniversityMontreal, Quebec2001 Toronto Lady Blues (1) 4–3 Regina Cougars University of CalgaryCalgary, Alberta2002 Alberta Pandas (2) 5–2 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks University of ReginaRegina, Saskatchewan2003 Alberta Pandas (3) 5–4 (OT) Toronto Lady Blues University of ReginaRegina, Saskatchewan2004 Alberta Pandas (4) 2–0 Ottawa Gee-Gees McGill UniversityMontreal, Quebec2005 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (1) 4–1 Alberta Pandas McGill UniversityMontreal, Quebec2006 Alberta Pandas (5) 2–1 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks St. Francis Xavier UniversityAntigonish, Nova Scotia2007 Alberta Pandas (6) 4–0 McGill Martlets University of OttawaOttawa, Ontario2008 McGill Martlets (1) 2–0 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks University of OttawaOttawa, Ontario2009 McGill Martlets (2) 3–1 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks St. Francis Xavier UniversityAntigonish, Nova Scotia2010 Alberta Pandas (7) 2–0Press release cis-sic.ca McGill Martlets St. Francis Xavier UniversityAntigonish, Nova Scotia2011 McGill Martlets (3) 5–2 St. Francis Xavier X-Women Wilfrid Laurier UniversityWaterloo, Ontario2012 Calgary Dinos (1) 5–1 Montreal Carabins University of AlbertaEdmonton, Alberta2013 Montreal Carabins (1) 3–2 Calgary Dinos University of TorontoToronto, Ontario2014 McGill Martlets 4) 4–3 (2OT)Fouracres scores in 2OT, Martlets edge archrivals for national title Montreal Carabins St. Thomas UniversityFredericton, New Brunswick2015 Western Mustangs (1) 5–0 Results cis-sic.ca McGill MartletsUniversity of CalgaryCalgary, Alberta 2016 Montreal Carabins (2) 8–0Results cis-sic.ca UBC Thunderbirds University of CalgaryCalgary, Alberta 2017 Alberta Pandas (8) 2–1 (2OT) McGill Martlets Queen's UniversityKingston, Ontario 2018 Manitoba Bisons (1) 2–0 Western Mustangs University of Western OntarioLondon, Ontario 2019 Guelph Gryphons (1) 1–0 McGill Martlets University of Prince Edward IslandCharlottetown, Prince Edward Island 2020 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic University of Prince Edward IslandCharlottetown, Prince Edward Island 2021 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic Université de MontréalMontreal, Quebec 2022 Concordia Stingers (3) 4–0 Nipissing Lakers University of Prince Edward IslandCharlottetown, Prince Edward Island 2023 Mount Royal Cougars (1) 4–3 (OT) Concordia Stingers Université de MontréalMontreal, Quebec 2024 Concordia Stingers (4) 3–1 Toronto Varsity Blues University of SaskatchewanSaskatoon, Saskatchewan 2025 Bishop's Gaiters (1) 3–0 Waterloo Warriors University of WaterlooWaterloo, Ontario 2026 Montreal Carabins (3) 5–2 Concordia Stingers University of WaterlooWaterloo, Ontario 2027 University of New BrunswickFredericton, New Brunswick 2028 St. Francis Xavier UniversityAntigonish, Nova Scotia

Appearances Appearances Team Wins Losses Win %10Alberta Pandas8 2 .8009McGill Martlets46.4006Concordia Stingers42.6675Montreal Carabins32.6005Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks14.2004Toronto Varsity Blues1 3 .2502Calgary Dinos110.5002Western Mustangs110.5001Manitoba Bisons101.0001Guelph Gryphons101.0001Mount Royal Cougars101.0001Regina Cougars01.0001Ottawa Gee-Gees01.0001St. Francis Xavier X-Women01.0001UBC Thunderbirds01.000

Ontario champions pre-1998 national championship 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) 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 to 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)

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

References

External links

U Sports Women's Hockey Championship