1986 CIAU University Cup
The 1986 CIAU Men's University Cup Hockey Tournament was held at the Varsity Arena in Edmonton, Alberta. The Alberta Golden Bears served as the tournament host.
Road to the Cup
[AUAA men's [ice hockey tournament#1986|AUAA playoffs]]
Note: * denotes overtime periodCanada West playoffs">Canada West men's ice hockey tournament">Canada West playoffs
Note: * denotes overtime periodOUAA playoffs">OUAA men's ice hockey tournament">OUAA playoffs
Note: * denotes overtime periodQUAA playoffs">QUAA men's ice hockey tournament">QUAA playoffs
Note: * denotes overtime periodUniversity Cup
Due to the collapse of the GPAC's ice hockey division, there were now only four conferences playing senior collegiate hockey. Despite this, the selection committee decided to increase the number of bids into the tournament by adding two wild-card spots. The teams were ranked according to the following criteria; the host team received a bye into the semifinals. The four league champions were then ranked 1–4 and placed in the regional brackets accordingly. The two wild-card teams were then seeded so that there would not be any intra-conference games in the regional finals. The teams were re-ranked for the semifinals and arranged so that the top-ranked team played the lowest-ranked team.The regional rounds were played as best of three series while the remainder of the tournament were single elimination matches.
The East regionals were held at the Jean-Louis Lévesque Arena in Moncton, New Brunswick. The Central regionals were held at the York University Ice Palace in Toronto, Ontario. The West regionals were held at the Colisée de Trois-Rivières in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. Because UQTR was seeded higher than Calgary, the Patriotes hosted the West regional.
| Seed | Team | Qualification | Record | Appearance | Last |
| H | [Alberta Golden Bears men's ice hockey|] | Host | 21–10–0 | 16th | 1985 |
| 1 | [Moncton Aigles Bleus men's ice hockey|] | Atlantic: AUAA Champion | 24–5–0 | 7th | 1983 |
| 2 | [York Lions men's ice hockey|] | Ontario: OUAA Champion | 23–6–1 | 3rd | 1985 |
| 3 | [UQTR Patriotes men's ice hockey|] | Quebec: QUAA Champion | 20–7–0 | 2nd | 1984 |
| 4 | [Calgary Dinos men's ice hockey|] | West: Canada West Champion | 23–11–0 | 5th | 1981 |
| WC1 | [Dalhousie Tigers men's ice hockey|] | Wild-card: AUAA Runner-up | 21–10–0 | 2nd | 1979 |
| WC2 | [Laurier Golden Hawks men's ice hockey|] | Wild-card: OUAA Runner-up | 22–5–1 | 2nd | 1983 |