Canada West men's ice hockey tournament explained

The Canada West men's ice hockey tournament is an annual conference championship held between member teams. The tournament champion received an automatic bid to participate in the University Cup tournament.

History

In 1972, the Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Association (WCIAA) decided to divide itself into two separate conferences due to the sizable area that the conference covered.^[1] The Great Plains Athletic Association (GPAA) was created for eastern schools while the western colleges were placed in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association (CWUAA). Originally a five-team league, the conference was soon down to four members when Victoria dropped its program in 1973.

1984 saw the conference expanded for the first time, adding Lethbridge to the league roster. The next season, due to the collapse of the since-renamed Great Plains Athletic Conference's (GPAC) hockey division, Canada West absorbed the three remaining schools. With the conference doubling its size in just two years, the playoff was expanded to include four teams for the first time in 1986. The conference tournament remained unchanged until 1996 when Canada West expanded the format. The league was reorganized into two divisions with three teams from each grouping now qualifying for the playoffs. This came due mostly to three teams failing to make the postseason virtually every season for a decade. From 1986 through '95, Brandon, Lethbridge and UBC combined for a total of three appearances. In 2000, a third place series was instituted for the first time and would be held in years when needed to determine a wild-card berth.

Brandon, after having spent most of its existence dwelling in the conference cellar, decided to suspend its program in 2002. Because the divisions were now lopsided, the league changed the qualifications for the Great Plains third seed; whichever team that finished last in the two divisions had the better record would receive the final spot in the Great Plains bracket. Only once (2007) did the fourth-place Mountain team qualify for the postseason. The very next year, the conference abandoned the divisional format and returned to a singular division. For over a decade, the conference remained a 7-team league. The quarterfinal round was dropped in 2010 but returned three years later when Mount Royal joined.

After the 2020 season, Lethbridge terminated both its men's and women's ice hockey program due to budget cuts.^[2] The following season ended up being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic,^[3] however, when the league finally reconvened in the fall of 2021, Canada West had actually grown. The addition of MacEwan and Trinity Western brought the conference up to its greatest size at nine teams.

Throughout its history, the league had been dominated by Alberta; the Golden Bears have won 29 championships in 51 years of conference play (as of 2024) and gone on to capture 16 national championships, the most in the history of U Sports.^[4]

Tournaments

1973

Seed	School	Standings
1	Alberta	17–7–0
T–2	Calgary	16–8–0
T–2	British Columbia	16–8–0
4	Saskatchewan	11–13–0
5	Victoria	0–24–0

No playoff

1974

Seed	School	Standings
1	Calgary	14–4–0
2	Alberta	11–7–0
3	British Columbia	9–9–0
4	Saskatchewan	2–16–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1975

Seed	School	Standings
1	Alberta	20–4–0
2	British Columbia	12–11–1
3	Calgary	11–12–1
4	Saskatchewan	4–20–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1976

Seed	School	Standings
1	Calgary	17–7–0
2	Alberta	16–8–0
3	British Columbia	12–12–0
4	Saskatchewan	3–21–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1977

Seed	School	Standings
1	Alberta	21–3–0
2	British Columbia	14–10–0
3	Calgary	8–16–0
4	Saskatchewan	5–19–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1978

Seed	School	Standings
1	Alberta	20–4–0
2	British Columbia	14–10–0
3	Calgary	11–13–0
4	Saskatchewan	3–21–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1979

Seed	School	Standings
1	Alberta	20–4–0
2	Calgary	15–9–0
3	British Columbia	7–17–0
4	Saskatchewan	6–18–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1980

Seed	School	Standings
1	Alberta	20–9–0
2	Calgary	18–11–0
3	Saskatchewan	14–15–0
4	British Columbia	12–17–0

Note: Canada West played an interlocking schedule with the GPAC.Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1981

Seed	School	Standings
1	Calgary	18–6–0
2	Saskatchewan	15–9–0
3	Alberta	10–14–0
4	British Columbia	5–19–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1982

Seed	School	Standings
1	Saskatchewan	17–7–0
2	Calgary	14–10–0
3	Alberta	11–13–0
4	British Columbia	6–18–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1983

Seed	School	Standings
1	Saskatchewan	16–8–0
2	Alberta	13–11–0
3	Calgary	10–14–0
4	British Columbia	9–15–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1984

Seed	School	Standings
1	Alberta	20–4–0
2	Saskatchewan	14–10–0
3	Calgary	11–13–0
4	British Columbia	3–21–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1985

Seed	School	Standings
1	Alberta	20–4–0
2	Saskatchewan	16–8–0
3	British Columbia	12–12–0
4	Calgary	8–16–0
5	Lethbridge	4–20–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1986

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Alberta	20–8–0	5	Brandon	13–15–0
2	Calgary	19–9–0	6	British Columbia	12–16–0
3	Manitoba	18–10–0	7	Regina	8–20–0
4	Saskatchewan	16–12–0	8	Lethbridge	6–22–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1987

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Calgary	23–5–0	5	British Columbia	9–17–2
2	Alberta †	19–8–1	6	Brandon	10–18–0
3	Manitoba	17–10–1	7	Regina	9–18–1
4	Saskatchewan	16–11–1	8	Lethbridge	6–22–0

† Alberta was unable to compete in the tournament due to being Canada's representative in the World University Games.Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1988

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Calgary	23–5–0	5	British Columbia	10–16–2
T–2	Alberta	22–5–1	6	Brandon	8–18–2
T–2	Saskatchewan	22–5–1	7	Lethbridge	6–21–1
4	Manitoba	14–14–0	8	Regina	3–24–1

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1989

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
T–1	Alberta	21–7–0	5	British Columbia	13–14–1
T–1	Calgary	21–7–0	6	Regina	9–16–3
3	Saskatchewan	19–9–0	7	Brandon	6–21–1
4	Manitoba	16–9–3	8	Lethbridge	3–25–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1990

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Calgary	21–6–1	T–4	Manitoba	14–14–0
2	Alberta	20–6–2	6	Brandon	12–16–0
3	British Columbia	16–11–1	7	Saskatchewan	10–16–2
T–4	Regina	13–13–2	8	Lethbridge	1–25–2

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1991

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Calgary	22–5–1	5	Manitoba	11–15–2
2	Alberta	19–7–2	6	British Columbia	8–15–5
3	Saskatchewan	12–12–4	7	Lethbridge	10–18–0
4	Regina	13–14–1	8	Brandon	7–16–5

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1992

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Regina	19–6–3	T–5	Lethbridge	12–13–3
2	Alberta	17–6–5	T–5	Saskatchewan	13–14–1
3	Calgary	15–11–2	7	British Columbia	11–14–3
4	Manitoba	14–13–1	8	Brandon	1–25–2

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1993

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Alberta	18–6–4	5	Manitoba	13–13–2
2	Regina	16–7–5	6	Lethbridge	9–16–3
3	Calgary	17–8–3	7	British Columbia	7–19–2
4	Saskatchewan	16–9–3	8	Brandon	3–21–4

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1994

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Lethbridge	19–7–2	5	Manitoba	11–12–5
2	Calgary	17–7–4	6	British Columbia	7–17–4
3	Alberta	15–6–7	7	Saskatchewan	7–19–2
4	Regina	16–11–1	8	Brandon	5–18–5

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1995

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Calgary	20–6–2	5	Alberta	11–12–5
2	Regina	17–9–2	6	British Columbia	10–13–5
3	Manitoba	15–11–2	7	Brandon	8–18–2
4	Lethbridge	14–13–1	8	Saskatchewan	7–20–1

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1996

Great Plains			Mountain
Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Manitoba	16–10–2	1	Calgary	18–9–1
2	Regina	12–11–5	2	Alberta	17–10–1
3	Saskatchewan	11–14–3	3	Lethbridge	14–11–3
4	Brandon	6–21–1	4	British Columbia	9–17–2

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1997

Great Plains			Mountain
Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Saskatchewan	15–9–2	1	Calgary	21–2–3
2	Manitoba	12–11–3	2	Alberta	20–5–1
3	Regina	7–17–2	3	Lethbridge	8–16–2
4	Brandon	5–19–2	4	British Columbia	7–16–3

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1998

Great Plains			Mountain
Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Saskatchewan	19–4–5	1	Alberta	19–4–5
2	Manitoba	14–7–7	2	Calgary	13–12–3
3	Brandon	10–17–1	3	British Columbia	9–15–4
4	Regina	4–22–2	4	Lethbridge	8–15–5

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1999

Great Plains			Mountain
Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Saskatchewan	18–9–1	1	Alberta	20–6–2
2	Manitoba	13–11–4	2	Calgary	13–10–5
3	Brandon	12–13–3	3	Lethbridge	13–13–2
4	Regina	4–20–4	4	British Columbia	7–18–3

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2000

Great Plains			Mountain
Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Saskatchewan	22–3–3	1	Alberta	20–3–5
2	Manitoba	11–15–2	2	Calgary	16–9–3
3	Brandon	11–17–0	3	Lethbridge	12–14–2
4	Regina	4–21–3	4	British Columbia	5–19–4

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2001

Great Plains			Mountain
Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Manitoba	17–8–3	1	Alberta	25–1–2
2	Saskatchewan	14–10–4	2	Calgary	13–12–3
3	Regina	9–14–5	3	Lethbridge	11–14–3
4	Brandon	4–21–3	4	British Columbia	6–19–3

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2002

Great Plains			Mountain
Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Saskatchewan	17–8–3	1	Alberta	21–3–4
2	Manitoba	14–12–2	2	Calgary	16–11–1
3	Regina	12–12–4	3	Lethbridge	9–14–5
4	Brandon	5–20–3	4	British Columbia	5–19–4

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2003

Great Plains			Mountain
Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Saskatchewan	16–10–2	1	Alberta	24–2–2
2	Manitoba	12–13–3	2	Calgary	14–12–2
3	Regina	11–16–1	3	Lethbridge	10–16–2
			4	British Columbia	5–23–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2004

Great Plains			Mountain
Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Saskatchewan	15–9–4	1	Alberta	26–0–2
2	Regina	10–14–4	2	Calgary	16–10–2
3	Manitoba	8–14–6	3	British Columbia	7–19–2
			4	Lethbridge	4–20–4

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2005

Great Plains			Mountain
Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Saskatchewan	19–6–3	1	Alberta	24–3–1
2	Manitoba	15–8–5	2	Calgary	12–10–6
3	Regina	6–17–5	3	British Columbia	5–17–6
			4	Lethbridge	3–23–2

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2006

Great Plains			Mountain
Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Saskatchewan	17–7–4	1	Alberta	21–5–2
2	Manitoba	12–13–3	2	Calgary	13–13–2
3	Regina	10–16–2	3	British Columbia	12–15–1
			4	Lethbridge	4–20–4

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2007

Great Plains			Mountain
Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Saskatchewan	16–9–3	1	Alberta	20–4–4
2	Regina	13–12–3	2	Lethbridge	14–9–5
3	Manitoba	10–16–2	3	British Columbia	14–13–1
			4	Calgary	11–13–4

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2008

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Alberta	21–5–2	5	British Columbia	12–16–0
2	Saskatchewan	17–5–6	6	Regina	10–15–3
3	Calgary	16–8–4	7	Lethbridge	9–18–1
4	Manitoba	13–13–2

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2009

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Alberta	22–4–0–2	5	British Columbia	11–14–1–2
2	Saskatchewan	17–9–1–1	6	Regina	11–15–0–2
3	Manitoba	13–9–1–5	7	Calgary	10–16–2–0
4	Lethbridge	14–13–0–1

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2010

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Alberta	23–4–0–1	5	Lethbridge	13–11–2–2
2	Saskatchewan	16–8–3–1	6	Regina	9–17–2–0
3	Manitoba	16–10–0–2	7	British Columbia	8–19–0–1
4	Calgary	13–9–3–3

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2011

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Alberta	19–6–2–1	5	Lethbridge	13–10–2–3
2	Calgary	17–8–1–2	6	British Columbia	11–12–4–1
3	Saskatchewan	17–11–0–0	7	Regina	8–18–0–2
4	Manitoba	13–9–3–3

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2012

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Manitoba	20–5–3–0	5	British Columbia	12–12–1–3
2	Alberta	20–6–1–1	6	Lethbridge	7–18–3–0
3	Saskatchewan	19–6–3–0	7	Regina	5–20–2–1
4	Calgary	15–11–1–1

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2013

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Alberta	23–4–0–1	5	British Columbia	14–11–1–2
2	Saskatchewan	19–8–0–1	6	Regina	13–12–3–0
3	Manitoba	17–7–2–2	7	Mount Royal	7–19–2–0
4	Calgary	17–11–0–0	8	Lethbridge	2–22–4–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2014

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Alberta	25–2–1–0	5	Mount Royal	11–14–3–0
2	Calgary	21–4–3–0	T–6	British Columbia	11–15–2–0
3	Saskatchewan	17–10–1–0	T–6	Regina	11–15–1–1
4	Manitoba	12–12–3–1	8	Lethbridge	4–21–2–1

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2015

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Alberta	24–3–1–0	5	Manitoba	15–13–0–0
2	Calgary	20–8–0–0	6	Saskatchewan	10–15–1–2
3	Mount Royal	17–10–0–1	7	Regina	8–17–2–1
4	British Columbia	13–10–5–0	8	Lethbridge	5–23–0–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2016

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Saskatchewan	22–6–0–0	T–4	Calgary	12–12–4–0
2	Alberta	19–7–1–1	6	British Columbia	11–13–4–0
3	Mount Royal	17–8–3–0	7	Lethbridge	11–15–2–0
T–4	Manitoba	13–13–2–0	8	Regina	7–21–0–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2017

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Saskatchewan	21–5–1–1	5	Manitoba	14–12–2–0
2	Alberta	18–8–2–0	6	British Columbia	12–13–2–1
3	Calgary	18–9–1–0	7	Lethbridge	11–14–3–0
4	Mount Royal	15–11–2–0	8	Regina	3–22–3–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2018

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Alberta	23–4–1–0	5	Calgary †	12–13–3–0
2	Saskatchewan	20–7–1–0	6	Mount Royal	12–14–1–1
3	Manitoba	16–10–2–0	7	Lethbridge †	9–16–3–0
4	British Columbia †	16–10–2–0	8	Regina	4–22–1–1

† Calgary was forced to forfeit 6 games for using an ineligible player. The games were retroactively recorded as 0–1 losses.
As a result, UBC gained 4 points in the standings while Lethbridge gained 2.Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2019

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Saskatchewan	25–3–0–0	5	Mount Royal	12–11–5–0
2	Alberta	24–3–1–0	6	Lethbridge	9–17–2–0
3	Calgary	18–7–2–1	7	Manitoba	6–20–2–0
4	British Columbia	14–12–2–0	8	Regina	4–23–1–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2020

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
T–1	Alberta	23–5–0–0	5	British Columbia	9–14–4–1
T–1	Saskatchewan	22–4–2–0	6	Manitoba	9–15–2–2
3	Calgary	18–7–3–0	7	Regina	8–17–2–1
4	Mount Royal	18–8–0–2	8	Lethbridge	5–20–2–1

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2021

Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

2022

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Alberta	16–3–1–0	6	Regina	10–9–1–0
2	British Columbia	14–5–1–0	7	Manitoba	7–12–1–0
3	Mount Royal	13–6–1–0	8	MacEwan	3–17–0–0
4	Saskatchewan	13–7–0–0	9	Trinity Western	2–17–1–0
5	Calgary	12–7–1–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2023

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	Calgary	25–3–0–0	6	Regina	8–17–2–1
2	Alberta	20–5–2–1	7	MacEwan	9–18–1–0
3	British Columbia	20–6–1–1	8	Manitoba	8–19–0–1
4	Mount Royal	19–5–4–0	9	Trinity Western	3–24–1–0
5	Saskatchewan	14–10–4–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2024

Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings	Seed	width:120px"	School	Standings
1	British Columbia	22–4–1–1	6	MacEwan	9–17–0–2
2	Calgary	21–5–1–1	7	Regina	6–20–1–1
3	Mount Royal	21–6–0–1	8	Manitoba	5–22–1–0
4	Saskatchewan	20–6–1–1	9	Trinity Western	4–23–0–1
5	Alberta	18–8–2–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Championships

School	Championships
	29
	11
	9
	1
	1

See also

• WCIAU men's ice hockey tournament
• WCIAA men's ice hockey tournament
• GPAC men's ice hockey tournament

References

Canada West Men's Hockey History

Notes and References

1. History of Canada West . Canada West . October 10, 2024.
2. Web site: Pronghorns players react after elimination of U of L hockey programs: 'People are devastated' . Global News . April 21, 2020 . October 10, 2024.
3. Web site: Coronavirus: Canada West cancels five more sports for 2020-21 . Global News . October 15, 2020 . October 10, 2024.
4. Canada West Men's Hockey History . Canada West . October 10, 2024.