Esso Cup

The Esso Cup is the Canadian national women's under-18 ice hockey club championship, sponsored by Esso. It is an annual event, sanctioned by Hockey Canada, that takes place each April. The current champions are the St. Albert Slash, who won the 2019 Esso Cup in Sudbury, Ontario.[1]

This article is about the Canadian women's ice hockey midget club championship. For men's U18 hockey nations world championship, see Quebec Esso Cup.
Esso Cup
Current season, competition or edition:
2020 Esso Cup
SportIce hockey
Inaugural season2008-09
Most recent
champion(s)		St. Albert Slash
(2019)
Most titlesSt. Albert Slash (3)
TV partner(s)
Sponsor(s)
Official websiteEsso Cup Website

History

The forerunner to the Esso Cup was the Esso Women's Hockey Nationals, which was the Canadian senior women's championship from 1982 to 2008. With the evolution of the Nationals into a professional tournament, Hockey Canada elected to discontinue it in 2008 and replace it with a national female midget championship known as the Esso Cup.[2][3]

The inaugural Esso Cup was played in April 2009 in Calgary, Alberta. The Westman Wildcats from Souris, Manitoba were the first gold medalists. The St. Albert Slash of Alberta are the only team to win the championship three times.

Format

The Esso Cup follows Hockey Canada's standard six-team national championship format. Branch champions compete in regional playoffs; the regional winners and a predetermined host team then compete for the national championship. In years when not all regions have participated in the Esso Cup, another region has been allowed to send a second team to keep the field at six teams.[3]

The Esso Cup uses the IIHF points system for the round robin, which awards three points for a win in regulation time. If the game is decided in overtime or a shootout, the winning team receives two points and the losing team receives one. No points are awarded for losing a game in regulation time. After the round robin is complete, the top four teams (by points) qualify for the playoff round.[2]

Each year's gold medal game is televised nationally on TSN and RDS. All other tournament games are streamed live on Hockey Canada's website.

Winners and hosts
Esso Cup
YearGold MedalSilver MedalBronze MedalLocation
2009 Westman Wildcats Scarborough Sharks Calgary Flyers Calgary, AB
2010 Thunder Bay Queens Notre Dame Hounds Edmonton Thunder Regina, SK
2011 Notre Dame Hounds Edmonton Thunder Toronto Aeros St. Albert, AB
2012 Pembina Valley Hawks Thunder Bay Queens Edmonton Thunder Charlottetown, PE
2013 LHFDQ North North Bay Ice Boltz Edmonton Thunder Burnaby, BC
2014 Weyburn Goldwings Edmonton Thunder Sudbury Lady Wolves Hamilton, ON
2015 Sudbury Lady Wolves Red Deer Chiefs Saskatoon Stars Red Deer, AB
2016 Brantford Ice Cats Express du Richelieu Rocky Mountain Raiders Weyburn, SK
2017 St. Albert Slash Harfangs de Triolet Durham West Lightning Morden, MB
2018 St. Albert Slash Saskatoon Stars Pionnières de Lanaudière Bridgewater, NS
2019 St. Albert Slash Sudbury Lady Wolves Stony Creek Sabres Sudbury, ON
2020 cancelled [lower-alpha 1]Prince Albert, SK
2021 cancelled [lower-alpha 1] Lloydminster, AB
Notes
  1. Hockey Canada cancelled the 2020 and 2021 Esso Cups in response to the COVID-19 pandemic[4][5]

All-time results by region
Medals by Region
RegionBranchesGoldSilverBronze
Western HM, SHA 4 2 1
Ontario OHF, HEO, HNWO 3 3 4
Pacific BCAHA, HA 3 2 4
Québec HQ 1 2 1
Host 0 2 1
Atlantic HNB, HNS, HPEI, HNL 0 0 0
As of 2018-19 season
Note: The Quebec region has not participated every year. In such years, a second team from another region has qualified in their place.

See also

References
  1. "Morden to host first Esso Cup on Manitoba ice". Hockey Canada. July 20, 2015.
  2. "NR.156". Hockey Canada. 2008-12-01. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
  3. "Midget female hockey nationals coming to P.E.I." The Guardian. 2010-06-04. Archived from the original on 2013-01-01. Retrieved 2012-01-20.
  4. "Hockey Canada statement in response to coronavirus (COVID-19)". Hockey Canada. March 12, 2020.
  5. "Hockey Canada statement on spring 2021 national championships". Hockey Canada. February 5, 2021.
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