University Cup begins Thursday

Some of the best hockey of the year will be played this week in Charlottetown - and the action will feature plenty of Saint John Sea Dogs alumni.

The University Cup tournament gets started on Thursday afternoon at Eastlink Centre with the first quarterfinal. Following Friday's quarterfinal games, the semifinals will be played Saturday and the bronze and gold medal games on Sunday.

U SPORTS MHKY: It's that time again.

The 2023 U CUP Bracket Challenge is ahead of the U CUP later this week.

Fill out the bracket and DM it to me or @49SPORTNET for a chance to win a small U SPORTS prize. #USPORTS pic.twitter.com/iilexMezEO

— Ben Steiner (@BenSteiner00) March 13, 2023

The Concordia Stingers grabbed the final spot at the eight-team tournament with a 4-0 win over the Lakehead Thunderwolves in the Ontario University Athletics bronze medal game last Saturday.

The Stingers' roster includes Sea Dogs alumni Christopher Inniss, Marcus Tesink, Nicholas Girouard, Isiah Campbell and Jonathan Lemieux. Girouard, with a goal and an assist, was named the game's first star on Saturday while Lemieux, with a 21-save shutout, was named second star.

The Thunderwolves, meanwhile, featured former Sea Dog Ben Badalamenti.

In the OUA gold medal match, Julien Tessier and the UQTR Patriotes defeated Robbie Burt and the Windsor Lancers 3-2 in triple overtime to win a second straight Queen's Cup title.

The Stingers, Patriotes and Lancers will join the UNB Reds, Saint Mary's Huskies, UPEI Panthers, Calgary Dinos and Alberta Golden Bears at this year's University Cup.

Here's a look at the Sea Dogs alumni listed on each team's roster. Teams are ranked by their tournament seeding.

1. Calgary Dinos (Canada West champions): None 

2. UQTR Patriotes (OUA champions): Julien Tessier 

3. UNB Reds (AUS champions): Kale McCallum and Nick Blagden 

4. Windsor Lancers (OUA silver medalists): Robbie Burt 

5. Alberta Golden Bears (Canada West finalists): None 

6. Concordia Stingers (OUA bronze medalists): Christopher Inniss, Marcus Tesink, Nicholas Girouard, Isiah Campbell and Jonathan Lemieux 

7. Saint Mary's Huskies (AUS finalists): Dawson Theede 

8. UPEI Panthers (hosts): Ian Smallwood

The Reds, of course, also feature Sea Dogs Memorial Cup coach Gardiner MacDougall behind the bench.

At Wednesday's awards ceremony, Lemieux was a finalist for U Sports rookie of the year but lost to UNB's Samuel Richard. 

The Patriotes are the defending national champions and will look to become the first team to win back-to-back titles since UNB did so in 2016 and 2017.

The tournament will be streamed by CBC Sports.