Banner Season: Division leading TMU, Concordia collide for Queen’s Cup title

Burlington, Ont. (via Ben Steiner) – It’s a final that has never happened before, and it will pit a new superpower against one of the most successful programs in Canadian university hockey history.

For the second time in as many years, the TMU Bold will host the Queen’s Cup Championship against an OUA East program from Québec, welcoming the Concordia Stingers to the Mattamy Athletic Centre after both topped their respective divisions in the OUA regular season.

While success in the OUA playoffs is still relatively fresh for the Bold, they’re heading back to the U SPORTS Men’s Hockey Championship for the third time in four years and the Queen’s Cup finale for their second time ever. Yet, they’re still looking for their first OUA banner.

Concordia, though, has enjoyed plenty of success, just not in the OUA and not in over 40 years.

Before Québec schools joined the OUA in 1987, the Stingers dominated the Québec university hockey circuit. From 1975 to 1984, they won nine straight Québec titles, and then head coach Paul Arsenault put together a career that still sees him ranking in the top five in all-time wins for U SPORTS men’s hockey.

Since then, the team has experienced a dry spell championship-wise. Since Marc Andre-Element took over as head coach in 2015, meanwhile, they have qualified for the University Cup twice but will enter the Queen’s Cup showdown for the first time in program history.

The 2024-25 season was exceptional for the Stingers, who saw key pieces from the last several years hit a new level while taking the reins from the previously dominant UQTR Patriotes in the OUA East.

Through 28 regular season contests, the Stingers scored 121 goals, ranking as the sixth most in Canada and most in the OUA, while conceding just 57, best in the OUA and second nationally only to the reigning champion UNB Reds.

Mathieu Bizier, Mikael Huchette, and Nicholas Girouard have been the driving offensive forces, each posting 24 or more regular season points. Bizier is leading the team through this quest for the Queen’s Cup with eight points in five games, helping the Stingers push past the McGill Redbirds and Queen’s Gaels, respectively, in the OUA East.

Coming up against the Bold, they face a group powered by heartbreak and sharpened by a feisty playoff series win over a rival in the Toronto Varsity Blues, two teams which had some of the most intense games this season.

Last year, expectations were sky-high for TMU and they came within a goal of lifting the Queen’s Cup on home ice, ultimately falling to UQTR in overtime.

A year later, with significant turnover but some key returning pieces, head coach Johnny Duco and the Bold are back, with an identical home-ice final opportunity in front of them.

Last year may have had a “last dance” vibe, and the team only won one of its first five games this season, but they’ve quickly built their way back to title contention.

Veteran forward Kevin Gursoy, set to head to his third U CUP, scored the goal that sealed the semifinal series win over Toronto and the chance to host the final on home ice. He did so after enjoying another season of at least a point-per-game output, racking up eight goals and 20 assists in 28 games to lead TMU in scoring.

Close behind him as a key offensive driver was Russian youngster Daniil Grigorev, who scored a career-high 13 goals and 26 points. Last year, he committed to the program while following his friend, and Utah Hockey Club prospect Artem Duda, and this year, he’s taken on a starring role.

“We talked about how proud we are with the group, how resilient they've been all year, and how much adversity they faced,” Duco said after the OUA West Final win over Toronto. “It would have been easy to just be like, ‘It's a rebuilding year, and we got all these new players,’ but they came together and weren't satisfied.”

“They knew what they were capable of, and to see them now, OUA West champions with the chance to host the Queen's Cup, I couldn't be prouder of this group.”

After years of playing the underdog, the Bold are the battle-tested program in this final, facing a Concordia team that would bet on themselves against any conference foe.

Each division’s best team from the regular season have made it to the final, and both undoubtedly fancy themselves on Saturday night as they get ready to write the latest chapter in the storied hockey history that has come through the former Maple Leaf Gardens.