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Host Huskies draw No. 8 seed at U SPORTS Men's Hockey National Championship
Posted: Mar 15, 2026

Host Huskies draw No. 8 seed at U SPORTS Men's Hockey National Championship

The Saint Mary's Huskies will host the 2026 U SPORTS Men's Hockey National Championship as the #8 seed, taking on the #1 seed Saskatchewan Huskies in the quarterfinal on Thursday, March 19 at 7 p.m. ADT at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax. GET TICKETS

Saint Mary's automatically qualified as tournament hosts and will take on the Canada West Champion Saskatchewan Huskies in the quarterfinal. This will be the third all-time meeting between the two Huskies men's hockey teams, with Saint Mary's defeating Saskatchewan 5-2 at the 2016 U CUP Bronze Medal game, and 3-1 in the 2002 Round Robin.

After a 16-10-1-3 regular season, good for a fifth place finish in the AUS, Saint Mary's were upset in the AUS Quarterfinal. With their last game being played on Feb. 20, the Huskies enter the single elimination tournament as healthy and rested as they've been all season. Saint Mary's are led by the two top leading scorers in the country - forwards Reid Valade (Caledon, ON) and Ben Allison (Halifax, NS), who were both named AUS All-Stars - and a deep and talented supporting cast.

The Saskatchewan Huskies, who swept Alberta, UBC and Mount Royal to win the Canada West title, are the top head heading into the 2026 U SPORTS University Cup, presented by Steele Mazda. U SPORTS announced the seeding on Sunday for the 2026 men's hockey championship, which runs from Thursday to Sunday at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax. 

Championship website 

Saskatchewan is the top seed for the first time since 2000, and the third time since seeding was adopted in men's hockey in 1998. The Huskies are looking to win the David Johnston University Cup for the second time, with their only previous banner coming in 1983. The Huskies join UNB, Mount Royal, Moncton and Queen's as repeat participants at this year's event. 

The complete field, in seeding order, is as follows:

  1. Saskatchewan Huskies (CW champions: 19-7-1 regular season, 6-0 playoffs)
  2. UNB REDS (AUS champions: 20-8-2, 5-1)
  3. UQTR Patriotes (OUA champions: 20-5-3, 5-1)
  4. Windsor Lancers (OUA finalists: 18-7-3, 4-1)
  5. Mount Royal Cougars (CW finalists: 20-6-0, 2-3)
  6. Moncton Aigles Bleus (AUS finalists: 19-9-2, 4-2)
  7. Queen's Gaels (OUA bronze medallists: 14-13-1, 6-2)
  8. Saint Mary's Huskies (hosts: 16-14-0, 4-3)

In men's hockey, the three conference champions are seeded in the top three based on their final national ranking, while the OUA finalist is automatically placed in the No. 4 spot. The remaining teams are then placed to avoid intraconference matchups in the first round. 

The quarterfinals will be played on Thursday and Friday, as follows: (all times Atlantic)

  • Thursday, 1 p.m.: No. 5 Mount Royal vs. No. 4 Windsor
  • Thursday, 7 p.m.: No. 1 Saskatchewan at No. 8 Saint Mary's
  • Friday, 1 p.m.: No. 6 Moncton vs. No. 3 UQTR
  • Friday, 7 p.m.: No. 7 Queen's vs. No. 2 UNB 

The semifinals will take place on Saturday at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. On Sunday, the bronze medal game is set for at 9 a.m. with the championship game at 1 p.m. 

Tickets for the event are currently on sale at usportstickets.ca. 

All games will be broadcast live on CBC Sports digital platforms in English. In French, all games will be on Radio Canada's digital platforms, with Sunday's gold medal game also being aired on CBC and TVA Sports