The Rundown - Finals

Six teams. Three games. Three medals. One trophy. Three teams will finish their seasons with a win while three will go home and try to erase a final loss from their memories over the summer. It's the final day of the 2024 U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship and the 2023-24 season in Canadian university women's hockey, so let's get to the action here on The Rundown!

There isn't much setup needed for the this fifth-place game as the consolation final featured the second-seeded UBC Thunderbirds and the eighth-seeded Saskatchewan Huskies. These two teams know one another thanks to their annual battles in Canada West, so adding another chapter on the final day of the season will only give the winner a little more material for bragging rights about the 2023-24 season. Camryn Drever was in the Huskies' net while Elise Hugens stood in front of the iron in the UBC end.

The pace was solid in the early going of this game, but Ashton Thorpe would put the UBC Thunderbirds on the board after she banged in a rebound at 6:19. Kennedy Brown would get one back when she fired a puck on net that Elise Hugens appeared to misplay with her glove as the puck found twine rather than leather, and the game was tied 1-1 at the 10:29 mark as the crowd was buzzing.

Following a collision between Grace Elliott and Isabella Pozzi moments later that left the Huskies defender in some discomfort as she left the ice, a power-play was awarded to UBC thanks to the extracurricular activity. Makenzie McCallum would make the Huskies pay for that when she found room through Drever's five-hole at 12:25, and the UBC Thunderbirds carried a 2-1 lead into the break.

The physical play would continue through the remainder of the game as a general sense of dislike between these two teams became apparent, and a deflection on a power-play late in the middle frame by Grace Elliott put the Thunderbirds up 3-1. Add in an empty-net goal by Cassidy Rhodes with 1:34 remaining, and the UBC Thunderbirds would leave Saskatoon with a 4-1 win over the Saskatchewan Huskies. Elise Hugens stopped 17 shots for a final win this season while Camryn Drever's university career would come to an end with a 23-save performance.

UBC finishes in fifth-place while Saskatchewan finishes in sixth-place. Thanks to this result, we can also note that UNB finishes in seventh-place while StFX finishes in eighth-place on the consolation side.

CBC still isn't doing highlight reels. Feel free to watch the whole game in its entirety if you have two hours to kill.

The bronze medal game at the 2024 U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship featured the seventh-seeded Montreal Carabins and the fourth-seeded Waterloo Warriors. Montreal was looking to capture their third bronze medal at Nationals and its seventh medal since 2012, so they had some motivation to finish the season with a win. Waterloo was looking for its first medal ever at Nationals in its first-ever appearance as they had some motivation as well. Aube Racine was guarding the Montreal cage while Mikayla Schnarr was tasked with stopping the Carabins.

These two teams matched up very well as they kicked this bronze medal game off with some good pace. Brooklyn Cole would open the scoring midway through the first period when she found some open space on the left side of the slot, beating Racine with her shot to make it 1-0 for Waterloo 10:41 into the frame. From that point, the goaltenders put on a show until late in the third period when Racine went to the bench for the extra attacker. Montreal pressed, and Juliette Rolland was setup in the slot for the tying goal with 25 seconds to play as the Carabins pulled even at 1-1! We'd need extra time to determine a winner in this one, and it would be the second-straight game that went to extra time for Montreal!

Overtime would once again solve nothing, so we'd have ourselves a shootout to determine which team would go home with medals. Nothing like having individual skills determine medal winners, but a scoreless first round would be upstaged by a Kelly-Ann Nadeau goal in the second round as Montrea took a 1-0 lead after Leah Herrfort was stopped. In the final round, neither side could score, and the Montreal Carabins would prevail 2-1 in the shootout over the Waterloo Warriors! Aube Racine stopped 23 shots plus three more in the shootout in her final university game while Mikayla Schnarr made 31 saves and two more in the shootout loss in her final game.

The Montreal Carabins are the 2023 U SPORTS bronze medallists while the Waterloo Warriors finish in fourth-place.

The full game for this extended contest is below.

The sixth-seeded Toronto Varsity Blues got by one Montreal team last night, but they were in tough against another Montreal-based team in the top-ranked Concordia Stingers who were playing in their third-straight final and looking for their second gold medal in three years. The last time these teams met for the gold medal was in the very first National Championship where Concordia beat Toronto 4-1, and they were looking for that same result this year. Could Toronto do what Mount Royal did last year? We were about to find out as Erica Fryer was the starter for the Varsity Blues while Jordyn Verbeek was in the Stingers' net for this gold medal game.

Concordia got the party started 69 seconds into this game when a turnover at the Toronto blue line led to Émilie Lussier getting the puck in the right face-off circle. She skated it to the slot where her initial shot was blocked, but she got her own rebound and found room through Fryer as the Concordia Stingers took the 1-0 lead. That would turn into a 2-0 lead at 8:19 when another turnover at the Toronto blue line allowed the Stingers to find Jessymaude Drapeau down low, and she'd find space between the wickets of Fryer as the Stingers took control of this game.

After 36 minutes of goalless hockey, the Stingers made it a three-goal deficit for Toronto when Rosalie Bégin-Cyr was the beneficiary of a drop-pass from Zoé Thibault on the power-play, and Bégin-Cyr's shot from the slot beat Fryer on the glove side at 5:10 of the third period. I'll give Toronto credit for never giving up in this game despite the score, and they'd be rewarded late when Emma Potter's shot from the left face-off dot found room through traffic to get by Verbeek with 46.8 seconds remaining, but it was too little and too late for the Varsity Blues as the Concordia Stingers claimed the 3-1 victory. Jordyn Verbeek made 19 stops in Concordia's final game this season while Erica Fryer stopped 22 shots in her final university game.

The Concordia Stingers are the 2023 U SPORTS gold medallists while the Toronto Varsity Blues take home the silver medals.

The full gold medal game is below!

The Champs

A huge congratulations goes out to the Concordia Stingers, your 2024 U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Champions, RSEQ champions, and the best team in Canadian university women's hockey this season!

For those wondering, the Stingers went 39-3-1 this year in all of their games, and they were a perfect 25-0-0 in regular-season play. They were a dominant force all season long, and they earned that top-seeding. I know I complain about the rankings a lot, but it's hard to argue that the Stingers weren't the best team in Canadian university women's hockey this season. And now they have the hardware to prove it! Congratulations on an amazing season, Stingers!

The Men's Tournament

There shouldn't be any surprise here, but the UNB Reds finished off their perfect season with a trophy hoisting and gold medals in Toronto after defeating the UQTR Patriotes by a 4-0 score. For those asking, that's 43-0-0 this season in Canadian university men's hockey which is simply unfathomable. Congratualtions to the Reds on winning the U Cup for the tenth time since 2007!

Here's head coach Gardiner MacDougall speaking about their win.
If this man isn't a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee when he finally decides to retire from hockey, something is very wrong with the Hall of Fame selection process. He's officially surpassed Clare Drake, who is already a Hall of Famer, in all measurable achievements, so let's clear a spot for Gardiner MacDougall!

More Perfection

The UNB Reds' record is rather incredible, but they weren't the only team who went perfect this season and finished with a championship. Allow me to introduce you to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons who went an amazing 31-0-0 this season to capture the NCAA Division-III Women's Ice Hockey Championship tonight!

UWRF defeated Elmira College by a 4-1 score tonight to capture the championship, ending their season with 31-straight wins this season. It was the first time that Wisconsin-River Falls had won a championship, and they also became the first team from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to win a championship.

It isn't often we see two perfect seasons in hockey anywhere, let alone in the same season on opposite sides of the border, but congratulations to the Falcons for their championship tonight!

The Green Army

Eleven games were played in Saskatoon, and I have to say that I had a blast attending and working at the event. I went out to Saskatoon to volunteer at the event, and I had a blast working alongside some amazing people, interacting with some incredible fans, and watching that phenomenal action on the ice. All of this was made possible thanks to the team of volunteers and staff who kept the event rolling and kept people happy.

A big shoutout to Cheri and Meghan who led the volunteer army each and every day with their positivity and fun, and the many people I got to know and chat with over the four days will be remembered fondly. We often forget that there are so many people who blend into the background when events like the 2024 U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship are being run, but it was nice to see everyone treating the volunteers with respect.

The Last Word

Something that hit home for me at the event was following the Saskatchewan-UBC game where I happened to be mingling where the players were meeting their parents in the lobby of Merlis Belsher Place. As we know, there was a moment in that fifth-place game where Grace Elliott fell on top of Isabella Pozzi, and it seemed like Pozzi was seriously hurt. That caused a lot of unsavoury things to be shouted from the stands about both UBC and Elliott, and I understand this rivalry will always be heated no matter what happens.

During this time in the lobby, though, one UBC player mentioned that Grace took the comments very personally as they were hurtful, and this player stated that Elliott never intended for Pozzi to be hurt. Honestly, I believe this to be true, and I think we need to remember that these women are still people who often are living out a dream. I get the rivalry and the emotions involved, but Grace didn't deserve some of the comments hurled at her from the stands. Yes, the moment with Pozzi threw some gas on an already-burning emotional fire, but Grace is a 20 year-old Arts student first and a hockey player second as per the term "student-athlete".

Sometimes, we let the jerseys and logos cloud our vision when it comes to rivalries, but we should remember that these young women are students at a university who have earned their way there because of their hockey skills. Grace Elliott isn't a terrible person by any measurement, and some of the things shouted about her didn't need to be said out loud. I'm sorry you had to endure that abuse, Grace.

I guess what I'm saying now that all of the hockey is over is be kind to one another, folks. Tomorrow is a travel day for me, so we'll get caught up when I land back at HBIC Headquarters, but enjoy the offseason, be kind, look out for one another, and have a great summer. Once more, congratulations to the Concordia Stingers, your 2024 U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Champions!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!