Saint Mary’s forward Ben Boyd celebrating a goal against the Acadia Axemen in a 3-2 victory on January 28th, 2026 in Halifax, NS. Photo by Mona Ghiz

This weekend will be an exciting time for university hockey in the Maritimes, as the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax will play host to the Men’s University Hockey National Championships, courtesy of the host team Saint Mary’s Huskies. The event marks the 3rd time Halifax has ever hosted the tournament and the first since 2016. Saint Mary’s will enter this weekend with one of the most high-powered offences in the nation, and will join seven of the top teams in the country in what should be one of the most competitive pools of teams we’ve seen participate in this tournament in years. For a full breakdown on each of the 8 teams (3 AUS teams) participating in this weekend's festivities, including a breakdown of SMU’s high-powered offence, we broke down the storylines to watch for each team heading into the most exciting weekend of the year in University hockey.

Saskatchewan Huskies (CW Champions)

Coming in as the #1 seed in the country for the first time since 2000, this Huskie team will go into the University Cup as the hottest team in the country, having won 6 straight games en route to an undefeated Canada West playoff run, becoming the first team in Canada West conference history to accomplish such a feat. First-year goaltender Nolan Maier was awarded Canada West championship MVP after allowing only 2 goals in 63 shots faced over two championship games. This is a team led by a high-powered offensive unit, which ranks in the top 5 nationally in nearly every offensive statistic, and has a hunger to make history this weekend. They will attempt to win their second national championship in program history, and their first since 1983.

2. University of New Brunswick Reds (AUS Champions)

At the beginning of January, the national powerhouse UNB REDS seemed to be having an off year, that is, until the second half of this year saw the REDS win 14 out of their last 16 games en route to an 8th straight AUS championship for the storied program. The REDS are one of the favourites to win an 11th national championship in program history this weekend. Their Goaltender, Remi Delafontaine, ranks third in the country in GAA (2.13) and will play a huge role in the team's success this weekend. The REDS also lead the nation with the fewest goals against by a wide margin this season. They’ll need to rely on this incredible defence on Friday night against a scrappy, underdog Queens team, and won’t want to risk falling victim to a first-round upset as they did in last year's University Cup, which they entered as the #1 seed before falling to the #8 seed UOttawa Gee Gees.

3. UQTR Patriotes (OUA Champions)

In dramatic fashion, last week the UQTR Patriotes took home their 4th OUA hockey banner in the past 5 seasons after a 5-4 Overtime victory against the Windsor Lancers, thanks to heroic performances from star forwards Felix Lafrance and Kassim Gaudet. In Marc-Étienne Hubert’s 10 years at the helm of this program, he’s led the team to two national championship game appearances and one national championship. In fact, the last time the University Cup was hosted on Nova Scotian soil in 2022, the Patriotes took home a national championship. This weekend, the Patriotes will hope that history repeats itself as they look to win their sixth national championship in program history.

4. Windsor Lancers

The OUA Champions and the OUA runners-up being only one seed apart speaks to the competitiveness of this Windsor team, who rank in the top 10 nationally in both goals and assists. Forwards Keegan McMullen and Colton Smith have quietly cemented themselves as one of the nation’s most feared offensive duos this season, both ranking in the top 5 in goals nationally. Their goaltender, Max Donoso, was also one of the best in the country this season, earning himself Second-Team All-Canadian honours and OUA West Goaltender of the Year after ranking fifth nationally in GAA and total saves in 2026. The Windsor Lancers have never won a hockey national championship in school history, and with their best team in school history, the Lancers are a dark horse contender to win it all this weekend in Halifax.

5. Mount Royal Cougars

Despite falling short in the Canada West finals, this Mount Royal Cougars team are also 3 wins away from doing something that has never been done in their school’s history, winning a national championship, and it’s not unreasonable to think that this team, despite being a 5-seed, has all the components necessary to do so. An experienced group headlined by 2024 national points leader Connor Bouchard and 2025 National Player of the Year Clay Hanus, Mount Royal bested the #1 seed Saskatchewan Huskies in 4 of their 6 match-ups against the Huskies heading into the playoffs. Furthermore, the Cougars rank as the second-highest scoring team in the country going into this weekend, only behind a UBC Thunderbirds team that they swept in the Canada West regular season. Their quarterfinal matchup against Windsor on Thursday afternoon will open the tournament and showcase two teams who would likely be in contention for the #1 seed if their conference championships had gone differently. This will also mark just the second time the Cougars have ever made the University Cup, and Thursday’s quarterfinal will represent an opportunity for the program to win its first-ever game in the national spotlight.

6. Moncton Aigles Bleus

This Moncton team might be the most exciting in the tournament. Led by AUS MVP and national player of the year Mika Cyr, 2026 was a historic year for an Aigles Bleus team that was one win away from dethroning UNB as AUS Champions. Head coach Derek Cormier was the National Coach of the Year in 2026 after back-to-back AUS Coach of the Year awards, but accolades will be much, much sweeter if coupled with a successful weekend at the University Cup. Les Aigles Bleus will enter this tournament with what could be their best team since their 1995 national championship team, and will hope to make up for a heartbreaking AUS Championship with a national title in Halifax this weekend.

7. Queen’s University Gaels

Team Record: 20-16-0
Top Players: Jack Duff, Nolan Hutcheson, Derek Hamilton
Goaltender: Tanner Wickware (.919 SV%)

The Gaels snuck into this year's national championships after a third-place finish in the OUA championships. Led by OUA all-stars Jack Duff and Nolan Hutcheson, the Gaels defeated #3-seeded UQTR three times this past season, and have proven that they’re capable of beating any team in the country on any given night. The Gaels' weak point is their goal-scoring ability, as the team ranks 27th nationally in goals scored this season out of only 35 teams, and 31st in assists. This is the lowest out of any team participating this weekend. However, the Gaels are a well-disciplined group who are 13-3 this season in games where they’ve held opponents to two goals or less. Queen’s will look to win their first hockey national championship in school history this weekend, but will need to go through a heavily favoured UNB REDS team in the quarterfinals to do so.

8. Saint Mary’s Huskies

This SMU Huskies team is absolutely not your typical #8 seed. They might be the best offensive scoring team in the country, with their two forwards sitting at #1 and #2 in the country in points, an incredible feat. Ben Allison is the nation's point leader, while Reid Valade is second and the national leader in goals scored. SMU also ranks as a top 5 overall offence nationally and will, of course, be playing with home-ice advantage this weekend. Despite six national championship game appearances in program history, SMU won their lone University Cup back in 2010, and will look to do the same this weekend in front of what should be a packed crowd at the Scotiabank Centre. While the Huskies may be one of the best offences in the country, they’ll be up against a mighty Saskatchewan team on Thursday night, who gave up the fifth fewest points in the nation in 2026. If there is one thing to be certain about, it’s that Thursday night has all the makings of an all-time match-up between the two teams, certainly not your typical #1 vs #8 seed match-up. Last year, the #8 seed Ottawa Gee Gees found a way to overcome the odds on home ice and win a national championship. This SMU team will attempt to do the same thing this weekend, and based on the talent on this roster, there is no reason to believe they can’t.

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