The UNB men's hockey team won 43 straight games to win the Canadian University Cup.

J

jimintoronto

Senior Member
The University of New Brunswick's men's hockey team, the Reds, has won ALL of their 30 regular season games, plus all 13 games in the playoff series. In the cup final of best of 3 games The Reds scored 15 goals and did not allow ANY goals by their opponent team. A total season with NO losses.

I bet the NHL scouts have been attending some of the UNB hockey games, this year. It is all ways said that you need good goalies to win championships in any league. In Canada Universities do NOT offer sports scholarships to students, only academic scholarships. So playing University sports in Canada is not the breeding ground that the US colleges are for the NFL NBA and MLB. I expect some of the UNB hockey players are going to be offered NHL entry level contracts soon. JimB.
 

WhatInThe said:
That's impressive in any sport. Almost seems unfair.
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It is Hockey, not Badminton. Its not supposed to be "fair ". The league has 18 University teams in it from all ten Provinces in Canada. UNB beat every one of them during the season's 30 regular season games, plus they won all 13 post season games. A no loss season. Jimb.
 

stretch5881 said:
Wow, every member must click with each other. That's super impressive.
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Yes the most impressive point is that unlike in the USA, Canadian Universities don't award sports scholarships, only academic scholarships. So those UNB hockey players were playing because they love the game, not because they were trying to land an NHL contract. Some Canadian hockey players do go to US Universities like Harvard and Cornell, knowing that the NHL scouts will see them during their college playing time period, but the much more common pathway to the "Big Show " is by playing in the Canadian junior pro leagues starting at age 16. Gretzky, Orr, Howe, and most of the best Canadian NHL players started out as 14 or 15 year olds, playing against men five or ten years older than them.

The Ontario Hockey Association has 43 teams in it, divided into 5 levels of skill. OHA Junior A is one step below the American Hockey League, which is one step below the NHL. Every one of the AHL teams is owned by a NHL team, and they bring up AHL players to fill in for injuries, or to bolster the roster just before the NHL post season playoffs start . The Toronto Maple Leafs have the Toronto Marlies as their AHL team, and they play in the second largest arena in Toronto to full house crowds. If the Leafs need to bring up a Marlie's player it only takes a phone call.

Hockey in Canada is a religion, not just a sport. The new Professional Women's Hockey League is in it's first season, and they are filling every one of the six arenas where they play in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Boston, New York, and Minnesota. The PWHL has secured 4 national sponsors in Canada . Air Canada, Bank of Montreal, Canadian Tire, and Molson's Brewery. In the USA Coke, and Visa, are league sponsors, so the financials are in good order. National TV coverage in Canada on TSN, and ESPN in the USA for every game. The women are fast and skilled, most of them have played on either Team Canada or Team USA at the Olympics or the World's Championships.

JimB.
 

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