Fifty years ago, teams from seven provinces set their sights on one of the four berths at the inaugural CCAA National Hockey Championship in 1975. After a number of tweaks to the format, teams from a record seven provinces gathered at nationals in the mid 1980s.

For the first two CCAA National Hockey Championships, representatives from Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario were joined by a tournament champion from Western Canada.  The 4-West Championship started in 1972 with squads from the four westernmost provinces participating through 1979. (British Columbia did not send a team to the qualifier in 1980.)

With British Columbia's Selkirk College Saints winning the 4-West Championship in 1976, a team from the host province of Alberta did not compete at the national event. Thereafter, at least one team from the host province participated in the CCAA National Hockey Championships.

The number of competitors at nationals increased with the inclusion of a host team in 1977 and a wild card team in 1978 before decreasing. Quebec did not participate in the 1980 CCAA National Hockey Championship reducing the number of entrants to five from six the previous two years.

Modifications to the qualifying process for nationals followed.  While the host team received a free pass to the event in 1981 and 1982, three qualifiers determined the remaining participants. Instead of teams from the western provinces vying for one berth, Alberta battled Saskatchewan while Manitoba faced Ontario. The victor of the Quebec and Nova Scotia qualifier filled out the field of four.

The uncertainty of a Quebec team participating in 1983 gave way in a revamped format with teams from at least five and possibly six provinces converging for nationals. Six teams were at the 1983 CCAA National Championship as Quebec opted to send a team.

With the inclusion of British Columbia, the 1984, 1985 & 1986 CCAA National Hockey Championships featured teams from seven provinces. Although participation was at its peak, a wide disparity existed between the provincial representatives. The average margin of victory for the three events was over five goals per game. More contests were won by double digits than by a single tally. Teams from British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Nova Scotia did not win a game against their counterparts from Quebec, Ontario and Alberta.

Of the 13 programs to participate at nationals during the peak, four were in the midst of the longest championship runs in the history of their conference. Following the resanctioning of the sport in British Columbia for the 1982-83 campaign, the Cariboo College Chiefs from Kamloops won six straight titles and competed at nationals from 1984 through 1988. The (University) College of Cape Breton Capers from Sydney captured the final eight Nova Scotia titles from 1980 through 1987 and competed at the national event every season during their reign except 1982. The Humber College Hawks from Etobicoke went on an unmatched five season run as Ontario champions and punched their ticket to nationals from 1986 through 1990. The NAIT Ooks from Edmonton started an unprecedented four season reign as Alberta champions at the national event beginning with the 1983-84 campaign.

The program with the most championships during the peak was also triumphant beyond the CCAA. Between gold medals at the Viking Cup International Hockey Tournament in 1984 and 1986, NAIT captured the Altjahres Cup. Both the 1984-85 and 1985-86 Ooks downed the eventual University Cup champions in exhibition action on their way to raising the CCAA Championship Bowl after winning all their post season contests.

The dwindling number of conferences participating in hockey led to a pause in competition at the national level. Representatives from Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Quebec and British Columbia made their final appearances at nationals in 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989 respectively. Only Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario teams were vying the 1990 CCAA National Hockey Championship which was the last in the level one championship era.

More Articles