2022 University Cup

[AUS Fan]

A Quebec team has a 30% chance of getting to the Nationals as there are 9 teams in OUA East and 3 of them from PQ.

If you look at UQTR this past season, they were the 3rd best team in the OUA (point wise), in an unbalanced schedule for number of games played.

 

[cishockeyfan]

The Best Pure format would obviously be the 4 Team format of all Conference Winners, but that will never happen again.

The Best Format they could do that will never happen is copy the Memorial Cup Format the 4 Conference winners with the Host, best 4 teams and proper hosting of the tournament. The Host team gets min 3 games. But its not possible for Students to get off a full week or more for play and prep.

I preferred the 6 Team format over the current 8, although I hated the possibility of a Pool going 1-1.

8 teams is just too much to me, it used to be a big deal to make the UCup, now not so much.

 

[Rob]

The Best Pure format would obviously be the 4 Team format of all Conference Winners, but that will never happen again.

The Best Format they could do that will never happen is copy the Memorial Cup Format the 4 Conference winners with the Host, best 4 teams and proper hosting of the tournament. The Host team gets min 3 games. But its not possible for Students to get off a full week or more for play and prep.

I preferred the 6 Team format over the current 8, although I hated the possibility of a Pool going 1-1.

8 teams is just too much to me, it used to be a big deal to make the UCup, now not so much.

Yes. I remember when winning the conference championship had significance.

I guess the counter argument is that the current format is better for the promotion of Usports hockey as it allows more teams in the Nationals.

 

[Hollywood3]

Yes. I remember when winning the conference championship had significance.

I guess the counter argument is that the current format is better for the promotion of Usports hockey as it allows more teams in the Nationals.

There is the matter of consistency across sports. I would say that hockey, basketball, and volleyball should have the same number of teams. If USports has trouble finding hosts, I could see the advantage of a 4 team national, hosted by one of the qualifiers.

 

[MiamiHockeyII]

There is the matter of consistency across sports. I would say that hockey, basketball, and volleyball should have the same number of teams. If USports has trouble finding hosts, I could see the advantage of a 4 team national, hosted by one of the qualifiers.

Disagree.

Volleyball and Basketball rosters are half the size of hockey rosters, so hockey's got ~ double the costs for travel and accommodation. That is why we see so few schools applying to host an 8-team hockey tournament.

You've also got the issue of the number of games. Basketball and Volleyball games are much less physically demanding than hockey games, and they don't destroy the playing surface each match. So in their 8 team tournaments they can have 4 games each day, and they have a Consolation bracket. This makes it much more palatable for an athletic department to send a team knowing they're guaranteed 2 games.

You can't do that in hockey ... you can't have 4 games per day, so now half the teams are traveling for a week for one game. That's tough to justify in your budget.

Post automatically merged: May 2, 2022

A Quebec team has a 30% chance of getting to the Nationals as there are 9 teams in OUA East and 3 of them from PQ.

If you look at UQTR this past season, they were the 3rd best team in the OUA (point wise), in an unbalanced schedule for number of games played.

I'll tweak your math a bit ...

Nipissing, RMC, and Ontario Tech are not going to Nationals. So, give the Quebec teams a 50% chance.

 

[MiamiHockeyII]

I agree that the point now isn't that Quebec schools/conference are 'guaranteed' a spot at UCup. Rather it is simply a case that the OUA is a double-conference; it has more teams than the AUS and CanWest combined.

I respectfully disagree.

RSEQ is a large organization. Note that in Women's Hockey RSEQ has a conference that includes Ottawa and Carleton.

In Men's Hockey, the RSEQ and OUA used to battle for the Queen's Cup. The OUA is two conferences ... the RSEQ and the OUA ... that co-habitate. with an agreement in place for how the Queen's Cup will be decided. If it could get more Men's Hockey programs it would go independent again.

 

[AUS Fan]

"I'll tweak your math a bit ...

Nipissing, RMC, and Ontario Tech are not going to Nationals. So, give the Quebec teams a 50% chance."

Since you put it that way, I have to agree with you. You 'could' almost add York, Laurier and Waterloo to the mix.

If we were doing CW or AUS I would say MAN, TWU, MacE and in the AUS, DAL and UPEI.

 

[AdamMcg83]

"I'll tweak your math a bit ...

Nipissing, RMC, and Ontario Tech are not going to Nationals. So, give the Quebec teams a 50% chance."

Since you put it that way, I have to agree with you. You 'could' almost add York, Laurier and Waterloo to the mix.

If we were doing CW or AUS I would say MAN, TWU, MacE and in the AUS, DAL and UPEI.

This is an absurd take, re: the OUA teams that have "no chance." RMC makes sense, since the nature and size of their school provides a very real boundary to competitiveness within the OUA. But for every other team you named, it's just cyclical: in the late 2000s and early 2010s, Laurier and Waterloo were OUA powerhouses alongside Western. Nipissing and Ontario Tech are one good recruiting class or one hot goalie away from regular competitiveness, and York won the Queen's Cup as recently as 2017.
If you made this list a decade ago, Ryerson would be on it. If you made it 6 years ago, Toronto would be on it. And if you want to look at only the last 3-4 years, Lakehead should be on it. But the truth is that, outside of signing up for a very different life as a Paladin, any OUA team has a chance to reach nationals on any given season.

 

[AUS Fan]

"But the truth is that, outside of signing up for a very different life as a Paladin, any OUA team has a chance to reach nationals on any given season."

While I don't totally agree with you, I do see the "Any Given Sunday" philosophy, because there is some parity in the OUA.

But I'll stand by my CW/AUS thoughts on this.

 

[MiamiHockeyII]

This is an absurd take, re: the OUA teams that have "no chance." RMC makes sense, since the nature and size of their school provides a very real boundary to competitiveness within the OUA. But for every other team you named, it's just cyclical: in the late 2000s and early 2010s, Laurier and Waterloo were OUA powerhouses alongside Western. Nipissing and Ontario Tech are one good recruiting class or one hot goalie away from regular competitiveness, and York won the Queen's Cup as recently as 2017.
If you made this list a decade ago, Ryerson would be on it. If you made it 6 years ago, Toronto would be on it. And if you want to look at only the last 3-4 years, Lakehead should be on it. But the truth is that, outside of signing up for a very different life as a Paladin, any OUA team has a chance to reach nationals on any given season.

Any team in the OUA West can make it, indeed. They are all large, comprehensive universities in decent-sized communities, although I think Lakehead's competitive era has passed. It was good while it lasted, but there is limited appeal due to its remoteness and limited programs.

Nipissing and Ontario Tech are simply inferior universities that will always struggle to recruit.