TORONTO, ON — The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) is proud to announce that 176 CHL alumni (see complete list below) will compete in the 2025 U SPORTS Men’s Hockey Championship from March 20-23 at TD Place in Ottawa, which begins later today at 1 p.m. ET. The 176 CHL graduates, which represent close to 80% of the players competing at the 2025 U SPORTS University Cup, are the most of any development league in the world.
Among the alumni from the CHL participating in the tournament, there are 80 graduates from the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), 49 from the Western Hockey League (WHL), and 47 who hail from the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The CHL and its Member Leagues (WHL, OHL & QMJHL) are committed to the academic development of its athletes, investing roughly $10 million annually on the education of current and former players, a group that includes the 176 CHL alumni who will be competing at the 2025 University Cup over the coming days.
Looking to be the first school in 45 years to win a third straight David Johnston University Cup, the University of New Brunswick (UNB) Reds lead the way with 24 CHL graduates on their roster, along with the Concordia University Stingers and the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus who also have a couple of dozen CHL alumni.In search of their 11th national title in school history, the UNB Reds enter the tournament as the top seed having won 21 straight games and suffered just two losses in 2024-25. Their squad is highlighted by defenceman Kale McCallum (Saint John Sea Dogs/Val-d’Or Foreurs/QMJHL), who was selected as a U SPORTS’ First Team All-Canadian this season, while UNB forwards Benjamin Corbeil (Drummondville Voltigeurs/Blainville-Boisbriand Armada/Baie-Comeau Drakkar/QMJHL) and Emmett Sproule (Erie Otters/Peterborough Petes/OHL) earned Second Team All-Canadians honours.
The University of Saskatchewan (USask) Huskies earned the No. 2 seed after they won their 12th Canada West title in school history and their first since 2020. Chosen as a U SPORTS Second Team All-Canadian, Huskies goaltender Roddy Ross (Seattle Thunderbirds/Regina Pats/WHL) recorded a 30-save shutout in Game 3 of the Canada West Finals to help punch the Huskies ticket to the 2025 U CUP Championship as they search for a second national title in school history.
The No. 3 seed belongs to Concordia University Stingers after they captured their first-ever OUA Championship in program history by defeating Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) 4-1 in the Queen’s Cup final. Having been one of 22 CHL alumni to win gold for Canada earlier this year at the FISU Winter World University Games, defenceman Simon Lavigne (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada/QMJHL) capped off his 2024-25 campaign as the lone Concordia player to receive All-Canadian honours by being selected to its Second Team.
Rounding out the field are TMU as the No. 4 seed, Mount Royal University at No. 5, the Université de Moncton hold the No. 6 seed, Queen’s University is ranked No. 7, while the University of Ottawa rounds out the tournament as the No. 8 seed and hosts of the championship.
In men’s hockey, the three conference champions are seeded in the top three based on their final national ranking, while the OUA finalist is automatically placed in the No. 4 spot. The remaining teams are then placed to avoid intraconference matchups in the first round.
Taking place at TD Place in Ottawa, the 2025 University Cup quarterfinals will be played today and tomorrow, while the semifinals will take place on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. ET. On Sunday, the bronze medal game will start at 11 a.m. ET with the championship game scheduled for 5 p.m. ET later that same day.
For more information about the 2025 U SPORTS Men’s Hockey Championship, please visit U SPORTS’ official championship website.
Complete list of 176 CHL Alumni competing at the 2025 U SPORTS University Cup in Toronto
Players are listed alongside the CHL club they’ve played the most games with
OHL Writers 