Men’s Hockey University Cup returns to Halifax after 10-year hiatus

University hockey championships have returned to Halifax.

After a 10-year hiatus, the Men’s Hockey University Cup is back in Halifax.

Saint Mary’s University, the University of New Brunswick and the Université de Moncton are representing Atlantic University Sport.

“It’s been a lot of fun so far. I think that everybody who has come to the tournament whether it be a fan or participating play players and team teams have had a good time,” says USports communications manager John Bower.

The weekend tournament will be Mika Cyr’s last in a Blue Eagles jersey. The fifth year forward was just named the USports player of the year.

“Anytime that you have such an outstanding season as Mika had, it’s very difficult not to recognize his accomplishments,” Bower says.

This event was scheduled to return to Halifax in 2020 but was cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, eight teams are participating in the single knock-out style tournament. The games started strong for local clubs.

Saint Mary’s came in as the eight seed, but beat the top ranked Saskatchewan Huskies 4-to-3 and overtime Thursday night.

“Last night was a very unique experience playing as the home team and hearing that crowd was just electric and being able to play in front of the hometown fans was unreal,” says Cole Habour native and Saint Mary’s forward Connor Trenholm. “It was unbelievable. I have a lot of family and friends who are at the game last night and like you said, as a kid growing up, I always wanted to play here.”

The momentum will continue on and off the ice as the tournament progresses.

“It makes March very special in this town when there is a USport championship,” says Sports and Entertainment Atlantic president Chris Larsen.

After not hosting a national championship for the last two years, the city will play host to a number of events in the coming years.

“Next year for only the third time in USport’s history, men’s and women’s basketball together. It will be a five-day tournament, the men’s hosted by Dal and the women’s hosted by Acadia and we’re really looking forward to that because basketball has a special place in this town,” Larsen says.

“In 2028 we’re bringing in the women’s national championship here, the first time in Atlantic Canada, and really the first time the women’s national championship has been in a bigger building so it’s all part of the growth of women’s hockey.”

Hosting major event events is the benefit of the city, but it also helps draw interest from student athletes who are considering where they’re going to play university sport.

“Anytime you play host, and you have the opportunity to play these national championships in your own backyard, it gives you a little bit of an advantage when you’re talking to student athletes and recruiting them,” says Saint Mary’s athletic director Scott Gray.

The men’s gold medal game is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday.

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