Esso Cup
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2022 Esso Cup
SportIce hockey
Inaugural season2008-09
Most recent
champion(s)		Durham West Lightning
(2022)
Most titlesSt. Albert Slash (3)
TV partner(s)
Sponsor(s)
Official websiteEsso Cup Website

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 Durham West Lightning, who won the 2022 Esso Cup in Okotoks, Alberta.[1]

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 event multiple 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. The exception to this was in 2022 when regional playoffs were cancelled and all branch champions were promoted directly to the national championship.[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.

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
2022 Durham West Lightning Fraser Valley Rush Okotoks, AB
Notes
  1. 1 2 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
Ontario Ontario, Eastern Ontario, Northwestern Ontario 4 3 4
Western Manitoba, Saskatchewan 4 2 1
Pacific British Columbia, Alberta 3 3 4
Québec Quebec 1 2 1
Host 0 2 1
Atlantic New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador 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. ↑ "2022 Esso Cup - Women's U18 Club Championship". Hockey Canada.
  2. 1 2 "NR.156". Hockey Canada. 2008-12-01. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
  3. 1 2 "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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