2015 CIS University Cup

Main article: CIS University Cup
2015 CIS University Cup
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Host team St. Francis Xavier X-Men
Champions Alberta Golden Bears
Venue Scotiabank Centre
Duration March 12–15, 2014
Number of games 8
Number of teams 8
Television Sportsnet 360
CIS University Cup Tournaments

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The 2015 CIS Men's University Cup Hockey Tournament (53 Annual) was held March 20–23, 2014. It was the first of two consecutive CIS Championships to be held at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax jointly hosted by the St. Francis Xavier University & Saint Mary's University. Each school would be a designated 'host' for one of the events; St. Francis Xavier would be the 2015 host while Saint Mary's would be the host in the second year (2016).

The defending champions were the Alberta Golden Bears who advanced to the tournament as the Canada West Champions and #1 seed.

Tournament format

This 2-year bid included a format change that would see 8 teams compete as well as the re-introduction of the bronze medal game.[1] Previous tournaments were a 6-team 2-Pool format that would see one team from each pool advance to the Championship final. This 2-Pool format was introduced in 1998 and had been used for the past 17 years. Instead of a Pool format, a tradition single elimination 8 team bracket would be used and the teams seeded 1-8. The tournament length would be the same (4 days) with two games on each day. The losers of Saturday's Semi-finals would play in the Bronze game - held prior to the Championship final on Sunday.

Tournament ranking

In the previous 6-team 2-Pool format, the conference champions were seeded 1-3 and the remaining three teams were shuffled between the pools based on the CIS balancing criteria to reduce intra-conference match-ups (e.g. when there were only two teams from one conference - they would be placed in separate pools. The lower seeded team, if a conflict arose based on 1-4-6 vs 2-3-5 placement, would be swapped with a lower seeded team in the other pool to maintain the integrity of the draw).

In the new format, the teams would be seeded based on the last CIS Top 10 Poll (the Saturday/Sunday prior to the tournament). The three conference champions would be seeded 1-3 with the order based on their rank. The OUA Runner-up (loser of the Queen's Cup) is seeded 4th, regardless of their rank. The remaining four teams are seeded based on their rank. Teams in the bottom half can be shuffled by 1 spot, up or down, to reduce intra-conference match-ups in the first round (Quarter Finals) while maintaining the integrity of the draw (e.g. if the AUS Champion is seed #1 and the host is an AUS team seeded #8, the AUS host would swap seeds with #7 to avoid an AUS-vs-AUS first round match).

The format change would be reevaluated after the 2-year run in Halifax for subsequent years.[1]

Team selection

The 8 particaptaing teams and their selection criteria are listed below. Each conference will qualify two(2) teams - Champion and Runner-up. The OUA Conference will have an additional selection (3rd-place finisher) and the final selection is the designated host.

Conf. Criteria
AUS Champion
AUS Finalist
Canada West Champion
Canada West Finalist
OUA Champion
OUA Finalist
OUA 3rd Place
Host

University Cup tournament

The eight teams to advance to the tournament are listed below.

Seed Team Qualified
1 Alberta Golden Bears Canada West Champion
2 UNB Varsity Reds AUS Champion
3 Guelph Gryphons OUA Champion
4 UQTR Patriotes OUA Finalist
5 Acadia Axemen AUS Finalist
6 Calgary Dinos Canada West Finalist
7 Windsor Lancers OUA Third Place
8 St. Francis Xavier X-Men Host

Tournament format

The tournament is a traditional 8 team - Single Elimination ladder with Bronze Medal game between the two Semi-final losers. Games that are tied after regulation play a 10min Overtime period following the 3rd period. If there is no score after the first overtime, the ice is cleaned and they will play 20min periods (with ice cleaned between periods) until there is a winner.

The higher seed is the 'Home' team for each game (the home team must wear their 'white' jerseys and will get the last change during stoppages of play).

Quarter-finals
(Single Game) 		Semi-finals
(Single Game) 		Championship Final
(Single Game)
         
3 Guelph Gryphons 3
6 Calgary Dinos 1
2 UNB Varsity Reds 5
Thursday
3 Guelph Gryphons 2
2 UNB Varsity Reds 6
7 Windsor Lancers 2
2 UNB Varsity Reds 3
1 Alberta Golden Bears 6
4 UQTR Patriotes 6 OT1
5 Acadia Axemen 5
1 Alberta Golden Bears 5
Friday
4 UQTR Patriotes 1
1 Alberta Golden Bears 5
8 St. Francis Xavier X-Men 1
Bronze Medal (Single Game)
   
3 Guelph Gryphons 3 OT1
4 UQTR Patriotes 2

Overtime

Games that ended in a regulation tie would be resolved solely on 5-on-5 overtime (5 skaters and a goalie for each side) until one team scored. The first overtime period would be 10mn and would start after a 3min rest. Following this period, the ice would be cleaned and subsequent 20min periods would be played.

Bronze game

March 15, 2015
14:00 (local)		 Guelph Gryphons 3-2 OT1
(1-1, 0-1, 1-0, 1-0)		 UQTR Patriotes Scotiabank Centre, Halifax
Attendance: 2,175 (20.7%)
Game MVPs: Kyle Neuber - (GPH) & Guillaume Asselin (UQTR)

Championship final

March 15, 2015
18:30 (local)		 Alberta Golden Bears 6-3
(2-0, 1-1, 3-2)		 UNB Varsity Reds Scotiabank Centre, Halifax
Attendance: 4,404 (41.9%)
Game MVPs: Levko Koper - (ALB) & Dylan Willick (UNB)

Record 15th Title

Alberta's victory would be their 15th, the most by any team to date - 5 more than University of Toronto Varsity Blues. It also marked the 5th time they had defended a Championship title (1979, 1980, 2000, 2006 & 2015). The University of Toronto Blues holds the current record for title defenses at 6.

Tournament All-Stars

Kruise Reddick, from the Alberta Golden Bears, was selected as the Major W.J. 'Danny' McLeod Award for CIS University Cup MVP.[2] Reddick had 3 goals (1 in each game) and 1 assist for 4 points and a +3 rating in the tournament.

Joining Reddick on the tournament all-star team were:
Forward Jordan Hickmott (Alberta Golden Bears)
Forward Cam Braes (UNB Varsity Reds)
Defenceman Jesse Craig (Alberta Golden Bears)
Defenceman Jordan Murray (UNB Varsity Reds)
Goalie Andrew D’Agostini (Guelph Gryphons)

References

  1. 1 2 "CIS National Championships: Format Changes". Canadian Interuniversity Sport. March 27, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  2. ↑ http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mice/2015/releases/final Golden Bears capture back-to-back CIS University Cup crowns

External links

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