OUA men's ice hockey tournament

The Ontario University Athletics ice hockey tournament is an annual conference championship held between member teams. The winner receives an automatic bid to the U Sports men's ice hockey championship.

Four division league
In 1997, the OUAA changes its name to Ontario University Athletics (OUA). Coinciding with the rebranding was a change to the playoff format. The OUA used the same qualifications as the OUAA had; the four division winners received byes into the quarterfinal round while the second- and third-place teams met in the first round. The first round was changed to a two-game series where if the teams remained tied after the two matches than a 20-minute mini-game was used as a tiebreaker (mini-games are unofficial matches that are not counted for any statistical category). The Divisional Finals were also altered, becoming a best-of-five series. This format lasted for only one year and the following season the mini-game was replaced by a regular best-of-three series while the second round went from best-of-five to best-of-three.

The playoff format remained constant for several years but saw a small change in 2005. The OUA paired the eastern and western divisions for the postseason. The four division champions were still given byes into the second round, however, the remaining four teams for each bracket were selected based upon their regular season record and seeded accordingly. Additionally, the division final round was now also changed to a best-of-three series.

Two division league
In the later half of the 00s, OUA added three more schools to the lineup. After the arrival of Nipissing, the league abandoned the cumbersome four division format and switched to eastern and western halves. Additionally, the tournament was expanded to 16 teams with all beginning play in the division quarterfinal round. The league also would hold a third place game in alternating years starting with 2012. When the national tournament expanded to 8 teams in 2015, it began offering three automatic bids to the OUA, causing the conference to make the third place game a permanent fixture.

As a result of the restrictions during the 2021–22 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the league was temporarily rearranged into four division. Additionally, all rounds were switched to single-elimination for this season. Furthermore, the teams were not reseeded after the first round due to the short time between matches. After the COVID restrictions ended, the league contracted its tournament, limiting entry to 12 teams and giving byes to the top two teams from each division.

1998
Mini-games in italics. Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1999
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2000
Note: York forfeited six wins during the season for using an ineligible player.

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2001
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2002
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2003
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2004
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2005
Note: Scores for individual games in the first three rounds are mostly unavailable. The aggregate results presented are for the series. Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2006
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2007
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2008
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2009
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2010
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2011
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2012
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2013
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2014
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2015
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2016
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2017
Note: In January 2018, Quebec–Trois-Rivières was ruled to have used an ineligible player and required to forfeit a total of 7 games from this season. The records here are what the standings were at the beginning of the tournament.

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2018
Note: In January 2018, Quebec–Trois-Rivières was ruled to have used an ineligible player and required to forfeit a total of 11 games from this season.

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2019
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2020
Note: Windsor was required to forfeit two games during the season for using an ineligible player.

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2021
Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

2022
Note: Due to unbalanced schedules, the teams were sorted based upon winning percentage rather than points. Note: Guelph was required to forfeit three games due to violating OUA rules governing team composition.

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2023
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)