Teams face off for the honor of best in Canada, starting today!
August 15, 2024 by Kelsey Hayden and Theo Wan in Preview with 0 comments
The four day Canadian Ultimate Championships kickoff today, with 52 teams competing across the three divisions for a shot at the coveted title of Best-in-Canada. With many of the country’s strongest teams absent from the tournament, this year’s Senior Nationals promises to be one of the most wide open in recent years, with no team heavily favored. We’ve got the lowdown on each division’s format, top teams, and likely challengers. To hear a full team-by-team breakdown, check out the latest Huckin Eh’ episode.
Tournament Profile
- Dates: Thursday August 15 – Sunday August 18, 2024
- Location: Ultimate Parks Incorporated (UPI), Ottawa, ON
- Weather: Warm, average 27-28 degrees Celsius daily, rain Saturday and Sunday
- Tournament Schedule
- Where to Watch
Open Division
Sixteen teams will compete for the Open Division title at CUC 2024. Initially, teams are divided into four pools of four, with the top two teams in each progressing to a power pool that includes byes to quarterfinals for the top three finishers. The bottom team of each top power pool will face the top team from each lower power pool in a prequarter, while the rest of the lower power pool teams fight for placement.
The Favorites
Ottawa Phoenix
With the notable absence of Toronto GOAT and Vancouver Furious George from the field this year, teams like Ottawa Phoenix, who are often just a half step behind those two perennial favorites, are poised to take the Canadian crown. Last year they finished fourth at CUCs, losing their semifinal against GOAT by only a single point, and their roster is just as impressive, if not more so this season. They have young, up and coming talent in the likes of Logan Keillor and New Brunswick brothers Marty and Andre Gallant, and they have unmatched veteran experience in many players, including Cam Harris, Geoff Bevan, and Alec Arsenault. They already have high level reps in the books this season, finishing 10th at Pro-Elite Challenge East and fifth at Select Flight Invite East, and of course winning Ontario Regionals in convincing fashion. This formidable hometown team should cruise through the first part of the tournament, but things will get tougher in the bracket and they’ll need to be ready to fight.
Montreal Mephisto
Montreal Mephisto made waves in 2021 when they finished second at Ultimate Canada Invitational (UCI) over Toronto GOAT and then went on to finish 10th at WUCC in 2022. But they also made waves later that season when they didn’t even qualify for USAU regionals. Needless to say, Mephisto have had some ups and downs. But this year they seem to be on the up and up. Their fifth-place finish at last year’s event is probably the floor for where they expect to finish this year, with their eyes undoubtedly on the top prize. Having continuity and added chemistry with the Montreal Royal of the UFA should give this Montreal group an advantage over their competitors. Their 2023 leading stat man, Christophe Tremblay Joncas, and their 2023 assist leader Felix-Antoine Daigle are both back along with a selection of recent U24 Team Canada athletes to attempt to get back on the podium in 2024.
The Challengers
Determining who to consider a “favorite” and who to consider a “contender” in this division was particularly difficult as this is the most wide-open field of teams we’ve seen in recent years. Any one of the top 8-10 teams could get hot at the right time and make a deep run in this tournament.
General Strike finished second at CUCs last year, and while they are certainly capable of doing very well again – as their #1 seed suggests – their roster looks notably different from the silver squad of 2023. The significance of losing Quinn Snider, Malik Auger-Semmar, Mark Lloyd, and Stephen Crew can’t be understated, but this is still a talented team with big game experience. Don’t forget, just two years ago, this team won a gold – can the heroics of CUC MVP Devin Cohen and a sprinkle of U24 players like Nick McFaddin and Zach Tottle be enough to bring home another trophy?
Alberta Flatball Club Rumble were top eight last year and return about half of their team, including most of their 2023 stat leaders. Unlike last year when this group were the top team in the province, Rumble have moved back to a local city model, taking the talent from one city in particular – Edmonton. They’ll be able to rely on Dave Hochholter and Brendan Lacy to put up big stats for the squad again and should be able to get through pool play relatively unscathed. The question is, do they have enough firepower to make a large run and return to the final for the second time in three years?
Durham Houndd went through a mass exodus last season with many of the members of the 2022 bronze medal-winning squad heading to other places. This season, a lot of that talent has returned, including Zach Armstrong who finished second in points last year with Too Bad. Add in the infusion of former GOAT handler Ryan Poloz as well as D-III Men’s Rookie of the Year 2nd runner up Rowan Jameison, and this team may have the recipe to crack the top four.
Vancouver Blackfish are reliably in the mix each year and are poised to prove themselves as the best West Coast team for a change. Halifax Red Circus are always a strong middle-of-the-pack team looking to capitalize on the absence of the top talent to crack the top eight. Toronto Grand Trunk and Newfoundland Regiment are strong three seeds in their respective pools and their poolmates should be ready to work against these crews. At the end of the day, in a division this open, looking at rosters, records, and Instagram accounts can only tell you so much – the best prediction to make for the open division is “expect the unexpected.”
Women’s Division
Sixteen teams will compete for the Women’s Division at CUC 2024. Initially, teams are divided into four pools of four, with the top two teams in each progressing to a power pool that includes byes to quarterfinals for the top three finishers. The bottom team of each top power pool will face the top team from each lower power pool in a prequarter, while the rest of the lower power pool teams will fight for placement.
The Favorites
Winnipeg Fusion
Winnipeg Fusion are a perennial team-to-watch at the Canadian Ultimate Championships. Since many of the usual top teams are not in attendance this year (Toronto 6ixers, Vancouver Traffic, Quebec Iris), of the entire 2024 field, Fusion had the highest 2023 finish, coming 4th last year. But this year’s roster is missing many familiar faces, most notably Sarah Jacobsohn, who led the tournament with an impressive 23 assists and 12 goals and was a member of the Team Canada World Games team in 2023. In prep for CUCs, Fusion went south of the border and had a strong showing at Heavyweights in Illinois, finishing with a 6-1 record. They also faced more local competition at Prairie Disc 2024 and finished with a bronze behind Alberta Remix (universe point loss) and Saskatchewan Korra (women’s masters team). No doubt this top seed will be eyeing to peak this weekend and earn a spot on the podium for the first time since their bronze finish at UCI in 2021.
Ottawa Stella
Ottawa Stella are perhaps the most formidable opponent at this year’s tournament. Stella have been a strong presence in Canadian ultimate for years and this year is no exception for this hometown team. They finished first at Ontario Regionals and took home gold at No Borders, even with many players missing. They finished fifth at CUCs last year, right behind Fusion, and have retained much of their roster, though notably lost a commanding handler in Samantha Green to Ottawa StellO. They did however add a strong recruiting class with multiple members from the 2023 silver medal-winning Ottawa junior squad West that played for the Team Canada U20 girls and mixed teams earlier this year. Stella always play with a grit and tenacity that makes them hard to catch once they’re on a roll, and with the hometown advantage too, Ottawa Stella are the ones to watch.
Ottawa StellO
If you’ve been paying attention to the women’s masters scene in Canada, the US, or even internationally over the past few years, you should know Ottawa StellO. StellO have a nearly unblemished record in the masters division in the past three years – they won gold at CUCM in 2021, 2022, and 2023, they recently won gold at USAU Masters Nationals in Colorado, they won gold at PAUC 2023, and they won silver at WMUCC in 2022. This is their first time entering senior nationals as a team, but clearly their players are used to a big stage. Watch out for Jessie Brown, StellO’s ever-steady center handler, and Melissa Dunbar, who is in her third cycle with the senior national team, to lead this squad in their quest for more gold.
Halifax Salty
Halifax Salty come into CUCs with an impressive 2024 resume – they had a top finish at Jazzfest in Montreal in June and a second-place finish at No Borders in Ottawa in July, losing only to Ottawa Stella in the final. Salty have historically been a strong middle-of-the-pack team in the Canadian scene – but they seem to have the pieces together this year to make a deeper run in the tournament. Without the regular powerhouses in the mix and with Salty being tested and experienced, it looks like this squad is ready to try to earn their first CUC medal and bring some hardware to the East Coast.
The Challengers
While most people would probably hedge their bets that one of the top four seeds will take home the crown, there are plenty of other teams looking to upset that narrative, and many have a great reason to believe they can do so.
Toronto Incognito are a club you should never count out. The Toronto ultimate pipeline is strong and while this team is relatively new on the scene, many of their players arrive with plenty of experience. They’ve been quietly having a great season – they went 7-0 to win TUX, they won Scinny 2024 in Ohio, and they finished third at Ontario Regionals with respectable scores against Stella and StellO.
Alberta Remix are another relatively new-to-the-scene team building momentum into something special. Their seventh-place finish last year at CUCs was impressive considering it was only the team’s second season. We shouldn’t be too surprised though, because while the club itself is new, the players are not. Remix enter CUCs with the knowledge that they have already beaten the number one seed Fusion once earlier in the season at Prairie Disc 2024, and are no doubt hoping to prove they can do it again. They picked up the legendary Terri Whitehead this season too, so perhaps an upset is brewing?
Without 6ixers, Traffic, and Iris in attendance, there truly is more parity in the field this year than ever before. Gatineau Agwata, another women’s masters team entering the senior division, gave Stella a close scare at No Borders, losing by only one point in their semifinal. Vancouver Drift are the top seed from the far west and could definitely make some noise. Newfoundland Tempest are a gritty squad who should never be counted out. The women’s division is sure to be exciting and every team should arrive ready to work because in 2024, anything could happen.
Mixed Division
The mixed division has 20 teams this year, and they will start in pools of five teams each. The top seed from each pool will be granted a bye to quarterfinals, while the second and third finishers from each will have to play crossovers to determine the last four quarter spots. The bottom finishes from each pool will move into placement games.
The Favorites
Toronto Union
The story in this division is much the same as the others. The recent top dogs are not playing – Vancouver Red Flag – and that means the opportunity for success for other teams, like the ever-reliable and 2022 gold medalist Toronto Union, is high. While they may have lost some stars from last year’s squad, Union invigorated the team with a lot of young university talent, including Harry Norris of Team Canada U20 Mixed and Huckin’ Eh D-I College Women’s DPOTY Sam Mok. Union are having a stellar season so far, showing they’ve made great strides incorporating all these new members, winning Ontario Regionals and then following up that performance with a gold at Select Flight Invite East, taking down tournament favorite Durham Toro on their way. The only thing that could make this season sweeter would be another W, on the country’s biggest stage, in their home province.
Winnipeg PBHG
If last year’s second place team is a favorite, it is probably safe to say last year’s third place team, Winnipeg Pretty Boys and Handsome Girls, are too. And PBHG certainly are a favorite. Like Union, they’ve also got a USAU tournament win under their belt this season, from Heavyweights in Illinois in July where they went 6-0 and generally rolled their competition on the way to the top. They have seven of their eight double-digit scorers from 2023 back on the roster this year, including the dangerous thrower Tom Boyle and deep threat Matthew Pagé as well as all four captains. You can bet their chemistry won’t be in short supply, nor their motivation to get back in the final. After coming second in 2022 to Union, this team is on a crash course for a rematch where they hope for a better result – leaving Ontario with a gold medal.
The Challengers
The mixed division is often the most volatile and unpredictable division at CUCs and 2024 is no exception – there are numerous teams hoping to crack into the top four and beyond.
The challengers list starts with the third-seeded hometown group in Ottawa Crank. After finishing a program-high fifth last year, this team is certainly hungry for more in 2024, but they will have to do it without last year’s leading assist-getter in the division in TJ Reeds. Crank had a strong showing at Mixed Easterns, losing to perennial USAU Nationals qualifier Sprocket in the final by one point and placed second in the Ontario region behind Union. Can this team bring home a trophy on home turf?
In their way will be multiple newer British Columbia teams who are hoping to make a strong showing in their CUC debuts. The Royals from Richmond have multiple members of recent TC U23 and U20 teams and are hoping to carry over momentum from the TC U20 mixed team victory at Disc Flicker earlier this summer. Super Dumplings on the other hand, have firepower of their own, with multiple former Traffic and Red Flag members on their squad. An undefeated BC Regionals demonstrates the high ceiling for the top seed in Pool D.
Much like BC, Quebec also has two teams that could make shockwaves at Nationals, albeit coming from two different paths. Harfang won both Jazzfest and Quebec Regionals during the year and followed that with a third-place showing at a very competitive No Borders tournament. But let’s not forget, this Saint-Jean-Sur Richelieu squad placed 16th a year ago, so we have yet to see if they can put it all together on the biggest stage.
Not often do we hype up a #16 seed, but the mixed division is no stranger to a low seed darling making it to semis.1 This year, that darling could be Quest. Though they finished third in their province, the Quebec City group had a season-defining result at No Borders, besting Team Canada Mixed Masters by three en route to a second-place finish at the tournament. Quest’s quest this weekend will be to build on that momentum and make a deep run to the bracket.
tobe! are a new team with a lot of talent from GOAT and see the return of Bretton Tan on the Canadian national stage. Add in Tiffany Zhang who will be in Australia later this month with the Senior Women’s team and former 6ixers stalwarts in Cindy Truong and Laura Kinoshita, and you can definitely see the potential of this Toronto-based team. Their pool play matchup with Union is one of the most anticipated pool play matchups of the entire tournament, with the loser of that matchup having to go through a much tougher path to the top through prequarters.
Other potential challengers are Crash, who played a lot of the top teams in Ontario close, including beating Crank earlier in the year at TUX, as well as Laxx, a veteran-laden Montreal squad that has last year’s top open division scorer in Zakarie Massi.
With so many possible potential semifinalists, it’s safe to say this is one of the most unpredictable divisions to call in recent memory.
Look no further than #15 Fredericton Spawn and #19 Ontario Danger Noodle who made it to semis in 2023 and 22, respectively. ↩
