The Rundown - Elite Eight

There are no more second chances. The final eight teams were known for a week, but there was still some shuffling to do in terms of who would be seeded where for the 2024 GFL U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship, presented by Connect Energy, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan beginning on Thursday. Everything is single-elimination from this point forward, so the team that executes its game plan best while making the fewest mistakes will stand atop the mountain in Saskatoon. Getting there, though, is entirely why this tournament is must-watch action! Let's find out who is playing whom in the opening round taking place on Thursday and Friday, and take a deeper look into the matchups here on The Rundown!

The Final Game

The OUA's McCaw Cup needed to be decided, and that game was played last night. The Toronto Varsity Blues hosted the Waterloo Warriors in the final, and both teams were looking to lockdown a top-four seed at the National Championship. These two teams came into the single-game, winner-takes-all game with impressively-low goaltending numbers as they've gone all-in with the "defence wins championships" idea. Mikayla Schnarr got the start for the Warriors while the Varsity Blues had Erica Fryer defending their cage.

This won't be your normal recap as I'm condensing it, but the teams traded first period goals as Toronto's Juliette Blais-Savoie opened the scoring at 6:03 before Waterloo's Carly Orth tied the game at 14:04. From there, it was the goaltender show as both Schnarr and Fryer put on a show in their respective creases making saves, at times, they had no business making. Breakaways were stopped. Goalmouth scrambles were denied. Robberies were happening all over the ice.

Because of Schnarr's and Fryer's performances, this game hit overtime tied at 1-1 and with Toronto leading 21-17 in shots. Toronto took immediate control of overtime with a handful of good chances that were denied, but they kept coming as they looked to be in complete control. That was the case until a turnover at their own blue line.
Carly Orth stripped the puck off Juliette Blais-Savoie's stick at the blue line, setting up the odd-player rush, before feeding Paige Rynne driving the net who buried the puck for Waterloo's first OUA championship in the program's 22 year history! The overtime victory will give Waterloo a top-four seeding at Nationals after being ranked as high as tenth this season, so the Warriors finished this season strong. Mikayla Schnarr stopped 25 shots in the championship win while Erica Fryer made 16 saves in her silver-medal performance.

With that win, we now know who should be ranked higher and lower from each conference. Creating the matchups at Nationals can now be done, and we can play a tournament next week.

The Brackets

All eight teams have been sorted and placed into the bracket. The 2024 National Championship looks like the image below:

There's no doubt that Concordia will have a target on them no matter who they play, and they get the hosts in the Saskatchewan Huskies first. Concordia is 2-0 all-time against Saskatchewan at National Championships including a 4-2 win for the bronze medal in 2018, but Saskatchewan will likely be watching the Ottawa and Montreal games where Concordia was defeated in the playoffs. The other meeting was in 2022 when Concordia beat Saskatchewan in the semifinal to advance to the gold-medal game.

If there is a bonus for the Huskies, the Stingers play a similar style compared to UBC, so there may be some opportunity where the Huskies have experience against that style of play. Saskatchewan can't worry about the shot counter as Concordia will pepper the net with pucks, but they can worry about converting the chances they'll find. Concordia isn't perfect defensively, so getting chances and scoring on those chances - including the power-play - could force an upset in this game. If the Huskies can capitalize on chances while playing their normal brand of suffocating defence, they can win.

On the other hand, the Stingers can score at will at times, and that's no better exemplified in the Stingers outscoring their opponents 23-4 in Game Three situations. The Stingers will jump all over mistakes like sharks in chum-filled waters, and that can help if their speed can pressure the Huskies into mistakes. If the Stingers can convert turnovers and use their speed to create chaos, they should advance.

UBC and Montreal will get reacquainted after UBC defeated Montreal in the bronze-medal game last season. That was the only victory for UBC in the three meetings these teams have had historically as Montreal crushed UBC 8-0 in 2016 gold-medal game and won 5-3 at the 2013 Nationals. There won't be any love lost between these two teams as they write another chapter into their history in Saskatoon.

If Montreal wants to win, they need to recreate the game they played against Concordia where they closed gap space quickly, defended the net with everything they had, and capitalized on the few chances they were given. UBC will likely outshoot and outskate the Carabins in this game, so they'll need a big effort defensively. The Carabins can find themselves in good standing if they remain disciplined as they do have a decent power-play. Stopping UBC will be tough, but they've dealt with Concordia all season so they can pull off the upset.

The Thunderbirds will look to create chaos in the offensive zone with their speed and passing, but they are effective in getting players to the front of the net where Montreal likes to collapse. If they can get pucks through the humanity that ends up in front of the Montreal net, the Thunderbirds will find themselves in good standing. UBC can't be frustrated by the traffic, and they'll have to be disciplined defensively because Montreal's power-play did strike against Concordia. If they can play their brand of hockey, UBC should be skating in a semifinal.

The Toronto Varsity Blues have met the UNB Reds only once at Nationals, and that was last season when the Blues beat the Reds by a 4-1 score on the consolation side of the tournament. This year's game will send one team to the consolation side, so there's a little more on the line for this second chapter in these teams' histories.

Toronto has shown a dedication to defence throughout the OUA playoffs, surrendering three goals only once in the seven games they've played. That defence will need to continue to be stout in Saskatoon, but they will get a boost with the return of Emma Potter following her suspension. The offensive rearguard should help Toronto push the play more than what was seen against Waterloo, so that could benefit the Varsity Blues against a solid Reds squad. If Toronto's defence can play as well as it has while the offence capitalizes on chances, Toronto could record a second win against the Reds.

The Reds have been on a tear through the AUS Playoffs with a 5-1 record, and that one loss was a double-overtime 2-1 loss to the Saint Mary's Huskies. The StFX X-Women scored just one goal in two games, so the Reds have cranked up their defensive play in the weeks leading up to the Nationals. Where things need to be boosted might be in the offensive side of the puck where they've scored three goals twice in six games. They'll still need to capitalize on chances they get because they haven't scored a ton of goals, but the Reds could conceivably defend their way into a semifinal berth.

The fourth game that will take place in the quarterfinal pits the newcomers in the Waterloo Warriors against one of the most frequent visitors at Nationals in the StFX X-Women. Waterloo has never been to a National Championship, so they're writing history with every minute they play. The StFX X-Women have played 45 games at Nationals, and they haven't experienced a lot of success based on their 11-34 record. They do have a 2011 silver medal and a 2013 bronze medal, but it should be noted they've finished in the lowest spot seven times at Nationals.

StFX's record against OUA teams is actually pretty incredible as they're 8-8 at Nationals against teams from Ontario. They did lose to Toronto in the fifth-place consolation final last year, but they beat Queen's in 2018 and Guelph in 2015. StFX can score against teams who don't put up a wall as they showed against St. Thomas, but they ran into UNB's wall in the final. They'll need to find ways to get pucks on net against Waterloo, but they should be able to use their speed to beat the Warriors' defensive system to get to the front of the net where they'll find chances. Defensively, they need to lock down their zone, but the X-Women could make noise if they can light the lamp.

Waterloo's run has seen the Warriors beat unranked Laurier and unranked York before winning a single game against Toronto. That's not to say they can't beat good teams, but they may benefit from a single-elimination game because they only have to win three periods. In much the same way that Nipissing had a deep run in 2022, Waterloo is looking for the same magic as they got incredible goaltending, defence that held the fort, and some key scoring at times through the OUA playoffs. If they can withstand StFX's offensive push and get to the X-Women's net, Waterloo could earn a semifinal berth to confirm their standing as the fourth-seeded team.

I'm not making any predictions here because I'm going to be in Saskatoon, but let me just say that this field is wide open for any of these eight teams to make a push for a gold medal. Winning that first game will put those teams in line for a medal of some colour, but it's true that winning that first game may be the toughest for all these teams. We'll see how everything goes!

The Radio Show

Thursday's edition of The Hockey Show will be recorded in Saskatoon as I'll be sitting down with three former Huskies to discuss their careers and experiences at Nationals. The fun part is that all three players have played at a National Championship in different years and under different circumstances, so the discussion could be very interesting to hear their perspectives on what they experienced. I'm already excited to chat with these individuals, so make sure you have the radio tuned to UMFM on Thursday while you watch the action on CBCSports.ca! Keep an eye out for the schedule!

The Last Word

All eight teams who will play in Saskatoon deserve some kudos for their outstanding seasons. Yes, one team will be crowned as the National Champions next week on Sunday, but these eight teams have overcome adversity, found ways to win, executed their systems, and now stand three wins from immortality. All of them have sought this opportunity, and now it stands before them.

There will be heartbreak for seven teams at some point, but none of those teams should feel like they didn't accomplish something special. There are 27 other teams who are watching from home, and all of them would trade their seasons to be where these eight teams currently stand. All eight teams playing this week have proven that they're the best eight teams when the chips are on the table, and they deserve to be competing for Canadian university hockey's greatest honour. They are our best and brightest student-athletes!

Cheer loudly if you're at the games. Watch on CBCSports' website as much as you can. Witness the great moments of this tournament like the overtime goal scored by Mount Royal to win it all last season and the game-tying goal with seconds to play to push the game to overtime. This week is the last chance for you to show your support for Canadian university women's hockey, so be noisy about it. The women will hear you in Saskatoon one way or another, and I know they appreciate your support.

I have some kilometers to cover as I'm heading out to the 2024 GFL U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship, presented by Connect Energy, so we'll see you in Saskatoon, folks!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!