For the first time since the Toronto Young Nationals edged the Cantonniers de Magog 2-1 in double overtime to win the TELUS Cup on April 28, 2019, Canada’s National Men’s U18 Club Championship is back up for grabs.

The Notre Dame Hounds secured the final spot over the weekend, claiming the West Region title with a 4-3 win over the Southwest Cougars. They’ll join their counterparts from the Hounds’ women’s program, who are competing at the 2022 Esso Cup.

They’ll join the Sydney Rush (Host), Vancouver North East Chiefs (Pacific), Cantonniers de Magog (Quebec), Mississauga Reps (Central) and Moncton Flyers (Atlantic) in Okotoks, Alta., beginning May 16.

Here’s a quick look at the teams competing:

HOST TEAM – SYDNEY RUSH

While originally set to host the tournament, COVID-19 challenges will bring the Rush to the national championship more than 5,000 kilometres from home. Its 17-15-2 record had Sydney fifth in the NSU18MHL, but a roster that includes league MVP Logan McNeil and Top Defenceman recipient Preston Pattengale ensures the Rush will be competitive on the national stage.

This will be the first TELUS Cup appearance for Sydney, which is trying to end 31 years of futility – no host team has won the national title since the Calgary Northstars in 1991.

ATLANTIC REGION – MONCTON FLYERS

It’s a return engagement for the Flyers, who will represent the East Coast for the ninth time. After topping with NBPEIU18MHL with a 25-3-2 record, Moncton has been absolutely perfect, sweeping through the New Brunswick playoffs with a 7-0 mark before going unbeaten at the Atlantic Regional. The Flyers are dominant at both ends, posting a +116 goal differential in the regular season and a +29 mark in the playoffs.

While they’re frequent competitors at the national championship, the Flyers are still looking to get out of the preliminary round – in their eight previous appearances, they’ve never finished better than fifth.

CENTRAL REGION – MISSISSAUGA REPS

Regular-season champions in the GTHL with just three losses in 28 games, the Reps came up a win short of a playoff title, falling 3-2 to the Toronto Young Nationals – the defending TELUS Cup champions – in the championship game. But Mississauga got its revenge when it mattered most, ending the Young Nationals’ hopes of back-to-back national titles with a 3-1 victory in the Central Region final.

This will be the second TELUS Cup appearance for the Reps, who were backstopped to the national final by current Buffalo Sabres goaltender Malcolm Subban in 2010. They’ll look to continue a run of success by Central teams, who have won three of the last five TELUS Cups.

PACIFIC REGION – VANCOUVER NE CHIEFS

The Chiefs have gone where few from their province have gone before. The best in the BCEHL in the regular season with a 26-4-1 record, Vancouver NE followed up its league title with a thrilling victory over the Calgary Buffaloes in the Pacific Regional, staying alive with a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 2 before eking out a 2-1 win in Game 3 to become just the third B.C. team since 1993 to beat the Alberta champs.

The Chiefs will make their TELUS Cup debut, looking to join the 1982 Burnaby Winter Club Travellers as the only team from the westernmost province to claim a national championship.

QUEBEC REGION – CANTONNIERS DE MAGOG

Will it be third time a charm for the Cantonniers? After losing in the TELUS Cup final in 2018 and 2019, the Cantonniers are back, finishing the LDHM18AAAQ regular season with the league’s second-best record (29-9-3) before going 13-3 in the playoffs, capped by a five-game victory over the Chevaliers de Lévis. Magog had four of the top five playoff scorers – the quartet combined for 94 points in 16 games.

The first team to qualify for three-consecutive national championships since the 1995-97 Thunder Bay Kings, the Cantonniers – who are making a fifth appearance overall – will look to add a second TELUS Cup to the one they earned in 2000.

WEST REGION – NOTRE DAME HOUNDS

It’ll be a Hound-heavy week in Okotoks, with Notre Dame earning berths at both the TELUS Cup and Esso Cup. Champions of the SMAAAHL in the regular season with a 35-8-1 record and a league-high 233 goals scored, the Hounds dropped just two games in their league playoff run, sweeping aside Warman in the final, before going to Virden, Man., and claiming yet another West Region title.

This will be the 12th TELUS Cup appearance for the Hounds – the second-most ever – and they’ll look to add to their record-setting haul of five national titles (1980, 1986, 2009, 2010, 2018).