TORONTO – U SPORTS, in conjunction with hosts University of Prince Edward Island, Acadia University and Sports & Entertainment Atlantic, announced Thursday evening the cancellation of the 2020 U SPORTS men's and women's hockey championships.
The decision was made following Hockey Canada's announcement to cancel all sanctioned activities due to the evolving global situation regarding COVID-19. The news broke around 10 p.m., followed two hours later by another announcement from the national office that both the men's and women's volleyball championships were canceled as well.
The first two women's hockey quarter-finals were already in the books, a 2-1 victory for Mt. Royal over Toronto and a 3-2 victory for St.FX over the Montreal Carabins, with both games ending in overtime. The fourth-seeded McGill Martlets were slated to play No.5 York in another opening round game on Friday the 13th, along with top-seeded Alberta scheduled to meet host UPEI.
"We're disappointed that the tournament has been canceled," said Lisen Moore, manager of varsity sports programs at McGill. "We do recognize the importance of this health issue. We thank UPEI, the host team for the second consecutive year, for their commitment to women's hockey."
The erasure of McGill's three tournament games capped a strange schedule that featured a school record five canceled games, including one slated to be played at Harvard on Oct. 11 when the team bus broke down and a home contest against Bishop's on Sept. 27 that was wiped out by the traffic chaos as the result of a massive climate change march in downtown Montreal.
The Quebec-champion Martlets, who left Montreal for Charlottetown on Monday evening, were entering the nationals on a six-game win streak and a 23-12 record overall. The tourney was to be the final appearance in a McGill uniform for five graduating seniors:
Emilia Cotter,
Zoe Todd,
Shana Walker,
Olivia Ramos and
Nicole Howlett.
"As proud partner of Hockey Canada, we understand how difficult a decision this was to make," said
Lisette Johnson-Stapley, U SPORTS chief sport officer. "We understand the disappointment felt by our student-athletes, coaches, officials and wonderful hosts, however the decision was made with the best interest of all participants in mind."
Chris Huggan, UPEI director of athletics and recreation, said "On behalf of UPEI, we are disappointed that the participating teams will not have the opportunity to complete the... (women's) championship, but we understand the reasoning behind this announcement. We thank Islanders for their support throughout the season and towards this event."
Kevin Dickie, Acadia executive director of athletics & community events added, "We're terribly disappointed that we cannot conclude the (men's championship), but we respect the difficult decision Hockey Canada made. I've been doing this for 16 years as an athletic director and have never felt sadder for coaches, student-athletes and a committee that cared so much."
This is the first time in the 58-year history of the David Johnston University Cup that the men's title will not be crowned. Similarly, the women's Golden Path Trophy will not be awarded for the first time in its 24-year history.
U SPORTS and the host organizations would like to thank the fans in Halifax and Charlottetown for their support through the first day of competition.
For fans who have purchased tickets, a full refund will be issued in the coming days.
SOURCE:
John Bower
Director, Marketing & Communications
U SPORTS
Cell:
780-667-5646
jbower@usports.ca
Eric Cederberg
Sports Information
Acadia University
Off:
902-585-1465
Cell:
902-698-2090
eric.cederberg@acadiau.ca
Nicole Phillips
Acting Director, Marketing and Communications
University of Prince Edward Island
902-388-1832
nphillips@upei.ca
Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
Off:
514-398-7012
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
