1978 CIAU University Cup
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Venue(s) | Jean-Louis Lévesque Arena, Moncton, New Brunswick |
| Dates | March 16–19 |
| Teams | 6 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Alberta Golden Bears (4th title) |
| Runners-up | Toronto Varsity Blues |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Games played | 7 |
| Awards | |
| MVP | Kevin Primeau (Alberta) |
The 1978 CIAU Men's University Cup Hockey Tournament (16th annual) was held at the Jean-Louis Lévesque Arena in Moncton, New Brunswick. The Moncton Aigles Bleus served as tournament host.
Road to the Cup
| Semifinals | Championship | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | Saint Mary’s | 6 | 6 | — | |||||||||||
| 4 | Moncton | 5 | 3 | — | |||||||||||
| 1 | Saint Mary’s | 8 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | |||||||||
| 2 | St. Francis Xavier | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||
| 2 | St. Francis Xavier | 8 | 7 | — | |||||||||||
| 3 | Prince Edward Island | 4 | 5 | — | |||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
| Championship March 10-12 | ||||||
| 1 | Alberta | 4 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 2 | British Columbia | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
| Championship March 3-5 | ||||||
| 1 | Regina | 4 | 3 | 9 | ||
| 2 | Lakehead | 5 | 1 | 7 | ||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
| Quarterfinals February 24 | Semifinals February 28 | Championship March 4, 11 | ||||||||||||||
| E1 | Toronto | 11 | ||||||||||||||
| C2 | Ryerson | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| E1 | Toronto | 8 | ||||||||||||||
| Eastern | ||||||||||||||||
| E2 | York | 6 | ||||||||||||||
| E2 | York | 8 | ||||||||||||||
| E3 | Laurentian | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| E1 | Toronto | 3 | 4 | — | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Wilfrid Laurier | 2 | 1 | — | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Wilfrid Laurier | 5 | ||||||||||||||
| C1 | McMaster | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| W1 | Wilfrid Laurier | 6 | ||||||||||||||
| Western | ||||||||||||||||
| W2 | Western Ontario | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| W2 | Western Ontario | 9 | ||||||||||||||
| W3 | Windsor | 4 | ||||||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
| Semifinals February 21-24 | Championship March 1-10 | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | Concordia | 8 | 8 | — | |||||||||||
| 4 | Bishop's | 5 | 1 | — | |||||||||||
| 1 | Concordia | 4 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 7 | |||||||||
| 2 | Quebec–Trois-Rivières | 6 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | |||||||||
| 2 | Quebec–Trois-Rivières | 4 | 5 | — | |||||||||||
| 3 | McGill | 2 | 4 | — | |||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
University Cup
The tournament continued the policy of inviting two teams from the conference that served as host. However, as a change from previous seasons, rather than give the hosting conference byes into the semifinal round, all entrants into the tournament were placed into two round-robin groups. The six teams were sorted by a committee prior to the tournament and arranged so that the two AUAA teams would be in opposite brackets.
In the round-robin groups, the teams that finished with the best record would advance to the championship game. If there was a tie for the best record, the first tie-breaker was goal differential. If there was a tie in goal differential, the teams would play sudden death overtime for the advantage.
| Team | Qualification | Record | Appearance | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta Golden Bears | West: Canada West Champion | 22–5–0 | 11th | 1977 |
| Concordia Stingers | Quebec: QUAA Champion | 17–6–0 | 3rd | 1977 |
| Moncton Aigles Bleus | Atlantic: Host | 11–11–0 | 2nd | 1976 |
| Regina Cougars | Plains: GPAC Champion | 19–7–0 | 1st | Never |
| St. Francis Xavier X-Men | Atlantic: AUAA Champion | 18–6–3 | 6th | 1976 |
| Toronto Varsity Blues | Ontario: OUAA Champion | 22–1–1 | 12th | 1977 |
Bracket
| Group 2 | TOR | CON | MON | Overall | |
| 1 | Toronto | W 7–3 | W 7–3 | 2–0 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Concordia | L 3–7 | W 7–3 | 1–1 | |
| 5 | Moncton | L 3–7 | L 3–7 | 0–2 |
| Group 1 | ALB | SFX | REG | Overall | |
| 2 | Alberta | W 7–3 | W 7–3 | 2–0 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | St. Francis-Xavier | L 3–7 | W 5–0 | 1–1 | |
| 6 | Regina | L 3–7 | L 0–5 | 0–2 |
| Championship March 19 | ||||
| Toronto | 5 | |||
| Alberta | 6 | |||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: round-robin games were played on consecutive days March 16–18[1]
Championship final
| March 19, 1978 | Toronto Varsity Blues | 5–6 | Alberta Golden Bears | Jean-Louis Lévesque Arena, Moncton, New Brunswick |