OUA men's ice hockey tournament

The Ontario University Athletics ice hockey tournament is an annual conference championship held between member teams. The winner receives an automatic bid to the U Sports men's ice hockey championship.

History

Four division league

In 1997, the OUAA changes its name to Ontario University Athletics (OUA). Coinciding with the rebranding was a change to the playoff format. The OUA used the same qualifications as the OUAA had; the four division winners received byes into the quarterfinal round while the second- and third-place teams met in the first round. The first round was changed to a two-game series where if the teams remained tied after the two matches than a 20-minute mini-game was used as a tiebreaker (mini-games are unofficial matches that are not counted for any statistical category). The Divisional Finals were also altered, becoming a best-of-five series. This format lasted for only one year and the following season the mini-game was replaced by a regular best-of-three series while the second round went from best-of-five to best-of-three.

The playoff format remained constant for several years but saw a small change in 2005. The OUA paired the eastern and western divisions for the postseason. The four division champions were still given byes into the second round, however, the remaining four teams for each bracket were selected based upon their regular season record and seeded accordingly. Additionally, the division final round was now also changed to a best-of-three series.

Two division league

In the later half of the 00s, OUA added three more schools to the lineup. After the arrival of Nipissing, the league abandoned the cumbersome four division format and switched to eastern and western halves. Additionally, the tournament was expanded to 16 teams with all beginning play in the division quarterfinal round. The league also would hold a third place game in alternating years starting with 2012. When the national tournament expanded to 8 teams in 2015, it began offering three automatic bids to the OUA, causing the conference to make the third place game a permanent fixture.

As a result of the restrictions during the 2021Ã¢ÂÂ22 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the league was temporarily rearranged into four division. Additionally, all rounds were switched to single-elimination for this season. Furthermore, the teams were not reseeded after the first round due to the short time between matches. After the COVID restrictions ended, the league contracted its tournament, limiting entry to 12 teams and giving byes to the top two teams from each division.