The Atlantic Cup is used as the Atlantic Canada Senior Championship/Qualifier from the realignment of Allan Cup qualifying after the 2002-03 playing season.
Previous qualifying[]
A previous award had been the Starr Shield which was last used in 1948 as a Maritimes Senior Championship trophy.
The Maritime Amateur Hockey Association discontinued the Maritimes Senior Playoffs after the 1965-66 season. The MAHA began to fall apart when New Brunswick broke away to form the New Brunswick Amateur Hockey Association, now known as Hockey New Brunswick. The MAHA continued until at least 1974, the year the Hockey PEI broke away.
During the interim period teams from the Atlantic Canada region had participated in the Eastern Canada Allan Cup playoffs. as either provincial champions or Independent teams when there were no leagues in the province.
Due to a decline in senior hockey in the region the event has not been needed very often.
Champions[]
| Year | Winning Team | Losing Team | Series Score |
| 2003 | Lancaster Aquarius ThunderCats | PEI Stars | 3 games to none (5-4(ot)[1], 4-3[2], 7-4[3] |
| 2004 | Saint John Thundercats | Brudenell Rangers | 4 games to none[4] |
| 2005 | Can-Am Cobras | Brudenell Rangers | default - Brudenell folded prior to series |
| 2006 | N/A | N/A | No Atlantic Canada teams registered at Senior AAA level |
| 2007 | Halifax Molson Canadians | only team in region | default |
| 2008 | N/A | N/A | No Atlantic Canada teams registered at Senior AAA level |
| 2009 | N/A | N/A | No Atlantic Canada teams registered at Senior AAA level |
| 2010 | Clarenville Caribous | only team in region | default |
| 2011 | Clarenville Caribous | only team in region | default |
| 2012 | Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts | only team in region | default |
| 2013 | Clarenville Caribous | only team in region | default |
| 2014 | Clarenville Caribous | only team in region | default |
| 2015 | N/A | N/A | Event not needed; 2015 Allan Cup held in Clarenville, Newfoundland and Labrador |
| 2016 | Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts | Lameque Au Ptit Mousse | 2 games to none (9-5, 4-0) |
| 2017 | N/A | N/A | Event not needed; 2017 Allan Cup held in Bouctouche, New Brunswick |
| 2018 | Elsipogtog Hawks | Montague Stallions and Clarenville Caribous | (See note 1 below) |
| 2019 | Haut-Madawaska Panthers | N/A | (See note 2 below) |
| 2020 | Haut-Madawaska Panthers | Only team in region | default |
| 2021 | No senior hockey in region due to COVID-19 pandemic/2021 Allan Cup cancelled | ||
| 2022 | 2022 Allan Cup cancelled by Hockey Canada | ||
| 2023 | No regional qualifying for 2023 Allan Cup touranment | ||
Notes:
- The 2017 Herder Memorial Trophy champion Harbour Grace Cee Bee Stars declined to represent the province in Allan Cup qualifying for 2018. The runner-up Clarenville Caribous originally accepted to represent the province. However, Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador asked Clarenville to withdraw from the tournament. The Montague Stallions tried to withdraw from the North East Senior Hockey League in favor of Allan Cup qualifying; but Hockey PEI rejected the request and the Stallions subsequently folded.
- Not needed as no teams from Newfoundland and Labrador had committed to qualifying, HNL reserved a spot for a single team at the Senior AAA level for 2018-19, but announced it would not be used.. HNL has been trying to reorganize in an attempt to save teams in several markets and senior hockey in the province in general.
After Winning the Atlantic Cup[]
2003 Lancaster Thundercats[]
- host and defeat the Central Canada champion, Cambridge Hornets 2 games to none in the 2003 Bolton Cup to advance to the 2003 Allan Cup. The Hornets had defeated the Quebec representative Saguenay Paramedic 2 games to none in the 2003 Renwick Cup.
- finish second in the round robin portion of the Allan Cup tournament with a 2-1-0 record losing to the Île-des-Chênes North Stars 6-3[5], defeating the Stony Plain Eagles 6-4[6], and defeating the Dundas Real McCoys 6-5[7]. They would lose in the semifinal 3-0 to Stony Plain[8].
2004 Saint John Thundercats[]
- lose to the 2004 Allan Cup host Saint-Georges Garaga 9-3, defeat the Bentley Generals 2-1[9] to finish the round robin portion with a 1-1-0 record and finish in 2nd place in their pool. They would lose to the Laval Chiefs 5-3 in the quarterfinals.[10]
2016 Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts[]
- defeat the South East Prairie Thunder 4-3 and the Shellbrook Elks 3-2, to finish 2-0-0 and finish in 1st place in division 1. The Cataracts would lose to the South East Prairie Thunder 2-1 in the semifinals
References[]
- ↑ http://www.allancup.ca/LancasterGame%20OneThursFeb20,2003.htm
- ↑ http://www.allancup.ca/GameSummaryLancasterPEIGameTwoSatFeb22,2003.htm
- ↑ http://www.allancup.ca/LancasterPrinceEdwardIslandGameThreeThursFeb27,2003.pdf
- ↑ http://www.allancup.ca/Atlantic03-04.htm
- ↑ http://www.allancup.ca/GameSummaryAllanCupGameOneIDC-LancasterApr15,2003.htm
- ↑ http://www.allancup.ca/GameSummaryLancasterStonyPlainApr16,2003AllanCupGameThree.htm
- ↑ http://www.allancup.ca/GameSummaryAllanCupGameSixDundasLancaster-ThursApr17,2003.htm
- ↑ http://www.allancup.ca/GameSummaryAllanCupSemiFinalLancasterStonyPlainApr18,2003.htm
- ↑ http://www.allancup.ca/2004AllanCupSummaryGameThree.htm
- ↑ http://www.allancup.ca/2004AllanCupSummaryGameSeven.htm