| 2015 CIS University Cup | |
| Venues: | Scotiabank Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| Winners: | Alberta Golden Bears |
| Count: | 15 |
| Second: | UNB Varsity Reds |
| Third: | Guelph Gryphons |
| Fourth: | UQTR Patriotes |
| Games: | 8 |
| Num Teams: | 8 |
| Attendance: | 30703 |
| Award Title: | MVP |
| Award: | Kruise Reddick |
| Prev Season: | 2014 |
| Next Season: | 2016 |
The 2015 CIS Men's University Cup Hockey Tournament (53rd Annual) was held March 20–23, 2014. It was the first of two consecutive CIS Championships to be held at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax jointly hosted by the St. Francis Xavier University and Saint Mary's University. Each school was a designated 'host' for one of the events; St. Francis Xavier was the 2015 host while Saint Mary's was the host in the second year (2016).
The defending champions were the Alberta Golden Bears which advanced to the tournament as the Canada West Champions and #1 seed.
This two-year bid included a format change that saw eight teams compete and the re-introduction of the bronze medal game.[1] Previous tournaments, going back to 1998 (17 seasons), were a 6-team 2-pool format (3 teams per pool) where one team from each pool would advance to the championship final (in some seasons, the runner-up in each pool would play for Bronze). Instead of a pool format, a tradition single elimination 8-team bracket was chosen and the teams seeded 1–8. The tournament length was the same (4 days) with two games on each day (the same half of the bracket per day; 1–8 & 4–5 versus 2–7 & 3–6 with Thursday's winners playing Saturday afternoon and Friday's winners playing Saturday night). The losers of Saturday's semi-finals play in the bronze medal game held prior to the championship final on Sunday.
USPORTS announced they would reevaluated the format after the two-year run in Halifax for subsequent years.
In the previous six-team two-pool format, the conference champions were seeded 1-3 and the remaining three teams were shuffled between the pools based on the CIS balancing criteria to reduce intra-conference match-ups (e.g., when there were only two teams from one conference, they were placed in separate pools, and if a conflict arose based on 1-4-6 vs 2-3-5 placement, the lower seeded team was swapped with a lower seeded team in the other pool to maintain the integrity of the draw).
In the new format, teams were seeded based on the last Top 10 Poll (the Saturday/Sunday prior to the tournament). The three conference champions were seeded one through three, with the order based on their rank. The OUA Runner-up (loser of the Queen's Cup) was seeded 4th, regardless of their rank. The remaining four teams are seeded 5-to-8 based on their rank. Teams in the bottom half could be shuffled by two spots, up or down, to reduce intra-conference match-ups in the first round (quarterfinals) while maintaining the integrity of the draw (e.g., if the AUS Champion was seed #1 and the host is an AUS team seeded #8, the AUS host would be swapped with #7 to avoid an AUS-vs-AUS first round match). The Tournament Committee does not have to swap teams to avoid intra-conference matchups in the 1st round, but it is expected and they are afforded the opportunity. An example of not swapping – in 2019, tournament host Lethbridge, chose to remain seed #8 and play #1 Alberta in their first game of the tournament rather than be seed #7 and play #2 UNB.
The 8 participating teams and their selection criteria are listed below. Each conference would qualified two teams – champion and runner-up. The OUA Conference had an additional selection (3rd-place finisher) and the final spot was the designated host. Where the host has qualified as one of the other 7 spots, the 'host' would be replaced with another team from that conference.
| align=left | Conf. | align=left | Criteria |
|---|---|---|---|
| AUS | Champion | ||
| AUS | Finalist | ||
| Canada West | Champion | ||
| Canada West | Finalist | ||
| OUA-East | Champion | ||
| OUA-West | Champion | ||
| 3rd Place | |||
| Host |
The eight teams to advance to the tournament are listed below.
| align=center | Rank | align=center | Seed | align=left | Team | align=left | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center | 1 | align=center | 1 | Alberta Golden Bears | Canada West Champion | ||
| align=center | 2 | align=center | 2 | UNB Varsity Reds | AUS Champion | ||
| align=center | 3 | align=center | 3 | OUA-West and Queen's Cup Champion | |||
| align=center | 4 | align=center | 4 | UQTR Patriotes | OUA-East Champion (Queen's Cup Finalist) | ||
| align=center | 5 | align=center | 5 | Acadia Axemen | AUS Finalist | ||
| align=center | 6 | align=center | 6 | Calgary Dinos | Canada West Finalist | ||
| align=center | 7 | align=center | 7 | Windsor Lancers | OUA Third Place | ||
| align=center | 8 | align=center | 8 | St. Francis Xavier X-Men | Host |
The tournament was a traditional 8 team - single elimination ladder with a bronze medal game between the two semi-final losers. Games that were tied after regulation played a 10-minute overtime period following the third period. If there was no score after the first overtime, the ice was cleaned and they play 20 minute periods (with ice cleaned between periods) until there was a winner.
The higher seed was the 'home' team for each game (the home team had to wear their 'white' jerseys and got the last change during stoppages of play).
Games that ended in a regulation tie were resolved solely on 5-on-5 overtime (5 skaters and a goalie for each side) until one team scored. The first overtime period was 10 minutes and started after a three-minute rest. Following this period, the ice was resurfaced and subsequent 20 minute periods were played.
Alberta's victory was their 15th, the most by any team to date, and five more than University of Toronto Varsity Blues. It also marked the 5th time they had defended a championship title (1979, 1980, 2000, 2006, and 2015). The University of Toronto Blues held the record for title defenses at the time, with 6.
Kruise Reddick, from the Alberta Golden Bears, was selected as the Major W.J. 'Danny' McLeod Award for CIS University Cup MVP.[2] Reddick had 3 goals (1 in each game) and 1 assist for 4 points and a +3 rating in the tournament.
Joining Reddick on the tournament All-Star team were:
Forward: Jordan Hickmott (Alberta Golden Bears)
Forward: Cam Braes (UNB Varsity Reds)
Defenseman: Jesse Craig (Alberta Golden Bears)
Defenseman: Jordan Murray (UNB Varsity Reds)
Goalie: Andrew D'Agostini (Guelph Gryphons)