2019 University Cup (Lethbridge, AB)

[TB12]

Disappointing that USports hockey continues to be so criminally underrated and undersupported in this country.

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

Disappointing that USports hockey continues to be so criminally underrated and undersupported in this country.

I agree. However, when the same two teams play eachother in the finals year after year it doesn't create a lot of buzz in the hockey community.

 

[FreddyFoyle]

Carleton playing (and usually winning) every year in men's basketball final doesn't seem to hurt Final 8 ratings.

 

[AdamMcg83]

I still would like to see The Ryerson Rams host at the refurbished Maple Leaf Garden. Surely the population in Toronto is big enough to put up decent Attendance now or at Varsity Arena or Ricco Coliseum. Keep in mind when Toronto last hosted the U-Cup it was the 4 team format so they didnt always get a city team in the Tourney. They'd have a host now (Ryerson, York, U of T) + 2 Other OUA schools. TO is an Easy trip for AUS Fans.

I think Ryerson's attendance numbers would be somewhere between unimpressive and disastrous, because the event wouldn't be a blip on the Toronto sports landscape. There's too much to do in Toronto at this time of year - both within sports and aside from sports - that would end up burying the event as a novelty.

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

I agree. However, when the same two teams play eachother in the finals year after year it doesn't create a lot of buzz in the hockey community.

They have played four times in 20 years.

 

[MiamiHockey]

Three departing thoughts on the University Cup:

1) I coach my son's Minor Atom team. We played in the (Winnipeg) City Championship on Saturday night in front of roughly 500 fans. You read that number correctly ... two teams of 9 year olds with dads coaching attracted a (screaming) packed house of 500, while two USports teams with full-time professional coaches attracted 1000 fans sitting on their hands. The Carr-Harris Cup had a crowd of 3800 watch RMC beat Queen's 5-1. Most fans don't go to watch quality hockey ... they go to watch people they know and care about play hockey.

2) Here's a better format: follow the Vanier Cup's lead. Have the OUA East Champion play the AUS Champion in a Best-of-3, and the OUA West Champion play the Canada West Champion play in a Best-of-3. Alternate which conference gets the home ice. Then the winners of that series play a Best-of-3 for the University Cup, alternating the host conference each year. If you wish, switch up the conference match-ups each year (OUA West vs. AUS, OUA East vs. CW). This new format will help in three ways:
a) MUCH better crowds. Even in the OUA, land of the empty barns, fans will jump on board to support their team.
b) Less travel = lower costs.
c) Meaningful Conference Championships.

3) The only real disappointment for me was the Queens collapse. They started off like the team that beat Guelph in the Queen's Cup, then morphed into the team that got waxed 5-1 by RMC. If you look at the pedigree of the Queen's lineup, they are as deep as any team outside of Alberta and UNB. They are lacking something, but it's not talent.

 

[AUS Fan]

Pretty Nasty Attendance numbers for the University Cup. I want to see a bigger variety of cities host it, but those numbers are not going to help that aspect at all. Either will Lethbridges participation in the Tournament. On the other hand, if the CIS is okay with the attendance numbers from Lethbridge than that means a number of teams could host the tournament.

Fredericton, Moncton and Halifax are proving locations. Charlottetown, PEI could do it no problem. If Antigonish and Wolfville had slightly larger rinks they could host easily in their towns and do a great job at it.

Edmonton and Saskatoon are proving. Im sure Calgary could do it at the stampede corral or something for U of C or MRU. UBC has a beautiful rink to do it, but not sure how that would click in Vancouver. Winnepeg I believe would support it, but not sure about a secondary rink, were both the Jets/Moose hog the Big Rink.

Im surprised McGill or UQTR have never bid. Ottawa could be a good 2 year city, rotate Carlton/U Of Ottawa both having CIS Success now.

I still would like to see The Ryerson Rams host at the refurbished Maple Leaf Garden. Surely the population in Toronto is big enough to put up decent Attendance now or at Varsity Arena or Ricco Coliseum. Keep in mind when Toronto last hosted the U-Cup it was the 4 team format so they didnt always get a city team in the Tourney. They'd have a host now (Ryerson, York, U of T) + 2 Other OUA schools. TO is an Easy trip for AUS Fans.

UPEI would not have the sponsorship dollars. I'm also unsure if they have enough hotels. Teams would prob have to fly into Halifax and bus over. Calgary or MRU do not have the fan support. neither does most of the places you named. Trois Rivieres has a bunch of peeler bars and not much else. A Carleton/ Ottawa bid would be nice.

 

[AUS Fan]

One of the high points was the Bronze medal presentation where this little kid (10 yrs?) from Antigonish, who is undergoing cancer treatment, was 1st in line to get his medal. After he got the medal, he went down the UofS team line and shook hands with everyone. I don't kn ow the full story behind this, but someone could check it out.

 

[Island Husky]

UPEI would not have the sponsorship dollars. I'm also unsure if they have enough hotels. Teams would prob have to fly into Halifax and bus over. Calgary or MRU do not have the fan support. neither does most of the places you named. Trois Rivieres has a bunch of peeler bars and not much else. A Carleton/ Ottawa bid would be nice.

Who sponsored in Lethbridge? Cavendish Farms? whose president is Robert Irving, you know how often he is on PEI? He loves PEI, I was talking to him about it before. Government of Canada? why do they care where it is held? As for accommodations, you know how big tourism is in PEI, there are at least 10 hotels more than capable than handling a hockey team, that I could name right now. Four of them are within walking distance of the Eastlink arena and Charlottetown is an international airport. For the record, the CIAU championship of 1969, was held at UPEI..

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

Not to mention the tournament is not exactly held in prime tourism season and they just hosted eight women’s teams...I’m sure there are (and would have) plenty of hotel options.

I think UPEI and Charlottetown would do a good job with it.

 

[AUS Fan]

I stand corrected......

 

[RED ARMY EAST]

Final
I think the Red Army's intensity and strength down low was something the Bears aren't accustomed to playing, on the other hand Alberta's speed and transition was quicker than any AUS opponent. Both programs skilled!!
Shots were close at 34-31, but Alberta had much more time on the pp compared to the UNB, an extra 8 minutes.
Dubeau, with his best game of the year.
UNB's win gives them 3 titles in 4 appearances when the West has hosted. (11-1)

 

[cishockeyfan]

UPEI would not have the sponsorship dollars. I'm also unsure if they have enough hotels. Teams would prob have to fly into Halifax and bus over. Calgary or MRU do not have the fan support. neither does most of the places you named. Trois Rivieres has a bunch of peeler bars and not much else. A Carleton/ Ottawa bid would be nice.

We could always bunk the teams up at Green Gables Cottages in Cavendish

 

[cishockeyfan]

Final
I think the Red Army's intensity and strength down low was something the Bears aren't accustomed to playing, on the other hand Alberta's speed and transition was quicker than any AUS opponent. Both programs skilled!!
Shots were close at 34-31, but Alberta had much more time on the pp compared to the UNB, an extra 8 minutes.
Dubeau, with his best game of the year.
UNB's win gives them 3 titles in 4 appearances when the West has hosted. (11-1)

Agreed, Alberta looked fantastic when on the powerplay extremely dangerous. But UNB looked better 5 on 5.

Ironically despite Alberta getting that powerplay goal on their first shot, they were having a ton of issues trying to get something going with the puck, until Philip went down. They played better after the injury, mostly on the powerplay though.

Probably the first time I've ever watched UNB not attack with the Puck the last 5 minutes, content to protect the lead and dumping, icing the puck

 

[Drummer]

* The allocation of a berth for the RSEQ is a joke, and has been for years. If they want a berth, they should be ineligible for OUA playoffs and their top two teams should meet the teams eliminated from the CW and AUS semi-finals.

The RSEQ doesn't get an allocated berth.

There are only 3 teams in Quebec; Concordia, McGill and UQTR and they play out of OUA-East with six teams from Ontario. This year, none of them advanced.

The comment by another contributor here or on twitter had a screen capture of a manual, but it is not reflective of the current process.

 

[Drummer]

I agree. However, when the same two teams play each other in the finals year after year it doesn't create a lot of buzz in the hockey community.

I think what you're trying to say - one of these two is always in the finals and the tournament comes across as a 'rehash' or 'stale' due to their constant appearance in the finals.

I'm sure this was the sentiment when UoT was winning all the time.

 

[Drummer]

What happens if no one puts in a bid to host? Does it just fall on U Sports shoulders?

I suspect as much, which means it would likely lead to them making some concessions to get someone to take it because they don't have the manpower to run it themselves.

 

[Drummer]

When Marchand is ON, the X offence counter-attacks and takes advantage of their opportunities. Shots on goal mean nothing. We've seen this movie so many times before.

Yup - seen this movie and happy to retire it and move on.

 

[Drummer]

Anyone else surprised at the Clapperton & McIvor selections for the All-Star team?

I know that McIvor was blocking a lot of shots, but I thought Murphy had a better tournament. As for Clapperton, his numbers were low, but maybe he was a sentimental pick as he did play well and had to deal with each team's best checkers.

 

[MiamiHockey]

The RSEQ doesn't get an allocated berth.

There are only 3 teams in Quebec; Concordia, McGill and UQTR and they play out of OUA-East with six teams from Ontario. This year, none of them advanced.

The comment by another contributor here or on twitter had a screen capture of a manual, but it is not reflective of the current process.

RSEQ does get an allocated berth ... they've simply given it to the OUA because the RSEQ teams play in the OUA.

The fact that McGill / UQTR / Concordia are RSEQ and NOT OUA is reflected in the fact that the OUA Championship (Queen's Cup) is always hosted in Ontario. The RSEQ teams are not permitted to host the Queen's Cup.

 

[FreddyFoyle]

More hockey teams play in the OUA (including the 3 RESQ teams) than the AUS and CanWest combined, so I don't really see the big deal in having an OUA East and OUA West rep treated on par with the AUS and CanWest champs when it comes to championship allocations. If anything, they are under served, as AUS and CanWest get two spots each, and the OUA gets three (when it probably should be four).

Now, that is equity based on math, not strength of conference. I would sooner seen 1+1+2 in a final four than 2+2+3+host in the current final 8 format, but it is what it is.

What might make the Final 8 format more palatable is if it was more like basketball - allocate 4 spots to AUS, CanWest, OUA East and OUA West, one to the host, and the remaining three as true wildcards (which probably would be AUS and CanWest teams).

 

[MiamiHockey]

More hockey teams play in the OUA (including the 3 RESQ teams) than the AUS and CanWest combined, so I don't really see the big deal in having an OUA East and OUA West rep treated on par with the AUS and CanWest champs when it comes to championship allocations. If anything, they are under served, as AUS and CanWest get two spots each, and the OUA gets three (when it probably should be four).

Now, that is equity based on math, not strength of conference. I would sooner seen 1+1+2 in a final four than 2+2+3+host in the current final 8 format, but it is what it is.

What might make the Final 8 format more palatable is if it was more like basketball - allocate 4 spots to AUS, CanWest, OUA East and OUA West, one to the host, and the remaining three as true wildcards (which probably would be AUS and CanWest teams).

The big issue here is that USports is trying to be the NCAA. Canadian sports culture is much different than US sports culture, and USports' insistence on pursuing these types of tournaments does more to hurt its image than help it. How many decades have they been chasing host venues, and we've come to Lethbridge?

It's inaccurate to believe that the quality of hockey should sell USports. 95% of the Canadian population doesn't know enough about hockey to assess its quality, and 99% of the population would much rather watch an exciting hockey game than a well-played one.

What's going to make USports more compelling is to have exciting games in front of large, energetic crowds. The only way to do that is to have the Championship be a series hosted by one of the teams involved.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

UPEI would not have the sponsorship dollars. I'm also unsure if they have enough hotels. Teams would prob have to fly into Halifax and bus over. Calgary or MRU do not have the fan support. neither does most of the places you named. Trois Rivieres has a bunch of peeler bars and not much else. A Carleton/ Ottawa bid would be nice.

Why on Earth would you bus people from Halifax with Moncton next door?

 

[AUS Fan]

Couple of things. Philip has signed a 2 year ELC with Calgary for next year. He has a high ankle sprain only.
Also, hearing a rumor that Marchand will sign contract soon. Any help on the story....

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

The announcers on Saturday kept on saying Marchand was moving on after this year when they were talking about graduating players...not sure if they knew something regarding a contract though.