The Dalhousie Tigers came up short again in their bid to host the University Cup national men’s hockey championship.
But Tigers head coach Pete Belliveau wasn’t disappointed yesterday, saying Canadian Interuniversity Sport’s decision to award the 2013 and 2014 events to the University of Saskatchewan came as no surprise to him.
“I knew it was going to be tough and I was ready for this result so I wasn’t surprised,” said Belliveau. “It was the West’s turn. We just wanted to throw our hat in the ring.”
The Tigers were also rebuked in their attempt to host the 2011 and 2012 events, which went to the University of New Brunswick.
The event hasn’t been hosted by a Canada West team since the University of Alberta held it in Edmonton in 2005 and 2006.
CIS chief executive officer Marg McGregor said geography was one of several reasons that tipped the scales in favour of Saskatchewan. She also listed “fan enhancements” as another reason Saskatchewan had a “slight edge” over five other bids.
Belliveau, who took over Dalhousie’s struggling program two seasons ago, is trying to get the Tigers back to the Atlantic University Sport playoffs for the first time since 2004.
He has already had a big summer of recruiting with eight newcomers announced and said two more high-impact players could be on the way this week.
