On Sept. 25, U Sports announced that the University of New Brunswick will host two national hockey events.
In 2027, UNB will host the U Sports Women’s Hockey National Championship. In 2028, they will host the U Sports Men’s Hockey National Championship.
“U Sports is excited to be bringing both of our hockey championships to Fredericton. This City loves university sport, as [seen] by the tremendous crowds UNB draws for both women’s and men’s hockey programs,” said CEO of U Sports, Pierre Arsenault, during a press conference on the day of the announcement.
Both tournaments will take place at the Aitken Centre, the site of UNB men’s and women’s home games.
Bringing U Sports Hockey Nationals back to Fredericton is a historic moment for the decorated program. The 2027 tournament will mark the first time the women’s team has hosted the event.
Meanwhile, the UNB men’s team has hosted the U Sports Hockey Nationals six times, the most recent in 2018.
In those six experiences, the team won the event twice on home ice, first in 2007 and then again in 2017. Both times former head coach Gardiner MacDougall was behind the bench.
“It’ll just be an exciting time and it means a lot that U Sports trusted us with these championships, but it means a lot for us as an athletic department to give this reward to our two hockey programs and create a special experience and memory for them,” said UNB Athletic Director Jeff Speedy on what it means to the university to host the events. “It’s exciting for our fans. It’s exciting for our student-athletes,” he said.
According to Speedy, the school has a “long history” of hosting hockey Nationals. However, the school decided to “pump the breaks” after hosting Nationals in 2018, resuming last season when those in athletics decided to put in a bid to host the women’s tournament in 2027.
“About a year ago, we made the decision that we would put in a bid to host the Women’s Hockey National Championship and it evolved into an opportunity to host both the women’s and the men’s on consecutive years,” said Speedy. “So, we decided to go for it and started working hard last winter, early spring and it all came to fruition in the summer.”
When it was announced that UNB would host the twin tournaments, Speedy said that it was “nice” to finally announce the events, as those in athletics at the school had to keep it a secret.
“It was a great day and it’s always nice when the Reds are in the news for positive things like that,” he said. “But it was just nice to not have to try and keep the secret anymore,” he said.
