MYHockey News
Players from Highly Ranked Teams Dominate Canadian National U18 Women's Championship
Updated Sunday, November 10 at 6:45 p.m. EST
In Canada, there are two U18 women’s hockey national championships. The ESSO Cup is the U18 Club National Championship, and it is played every spring. The other tournament, the Hockey Canada U18 National Championship, is for provincial and regional bragging rights, and it is being held this week.
The Hockey Canada National Women’s U18 Championship got underway Nov. 3 in Quispamsis, New Brunswick, as all-star teams representing various Canadian provinces and regions traveled to the Maritimes in hopes of proving that their home area produces the top talent in the world’s premier hockey-playing nation.
Being held in the Atlantic region for the first time, the U18 National Championship features eight teams divided into two four-team pools. Each team played the other teams in its pool once during the preliminary round Nov. 3-5 to determine quarterfinal seeding. Quarterfinals are Nov. 7, semifinals are Nov. 8 and the gold- and bronze-medal games will be contested Nov. 9.
Here are the competing teams:
Group A Pool Play Standings
Ontario Red – 3W, 0L 9 pts
Saskatchewan – 1W, 1OTW, 1L, 5 pts
Alberta – 1W, 2L, 3pts
Atlantic – 0W, 2L, 1OTL, 1pt
Group B
Quebec – 2W, 1L, 6 pts
British Columbia – 1W, 1OTW, 1L, 5 pts
Ontario Blue – 1W, 1L, 1OTL, 4pts
Manitoba – 1W, 2L, 3pts
CLICK HERE for the top plays of Day 1
CLICK HERE for the top plays of Day 2
CLICK HERE for the top plays of Day 3
Quarterfinals – Nov. 7, 2024
9 a.m. EST – Atlantic (1), Quebec (5)
Quebec scord twice in the opening period and responded to a second-period goal by Atlantic with three scores in the final 20 minutes to put away the game and advance to the semifinals. Madison Levesque scored once in each period and assisted on another goal for the winners, with Renee Bishop adding a goal and an assist and Rosalie Tremblay handing out a pair of assists. Marilou Grenier made 29 saves to earn the win in goal. Brooke Williams had the lone Atlantic goal.
12 p.m. EST – Manitoba (0), Ontario Red (6)
Ontario Red broke open a tight 1-0 game with five third-period goals as Amelia Wilkinson recorded a 17-save shutout. Caileigh Tiller and Molly Farace each scored a pair of goals in the decisive third-period run. Doroth Copetti scored the first and last goals for the winners. She and Farace also added an assist apiece, with Cheyenne Degeer picking up a pair of helpers.
3 p.m. EST – Alberta (1), British Columbia (6)
BC scored twice in each period and cruised into the semfinals with four goals after an opening frame that ended 2-1. Callie Rice scored twice for the victors and added an assist. BC jumped out to a 2-1 lead before Paige Smith scored for Alberta with 3:39 left in the first period. Kennedy Sisson, Taya Lonsdale, Ava McLeod and Tiani Makokis scored for BC, while winning netminder Maisie Cope made 26 saves. Lonsdale and McLeod each dished out a pair of assists.
6 p.m. EST – Ontario Blue (2) vs. Saskatchewan (5)
Saskatechwan sprinted to a 4-1 lead through two periods and held off Ontario Blue in the final frame after Taia MacDonald cut the lead to 4-2. Claire Moorman's empty-net tally iced the victory as Saskatchewan advanced to the semifinals. Stryker Zablocki scored twice for the victors, with Ayden Kehrig and Halle Duchene each adding single tallies. Duchene dished out a pair of assists, while Zablocki contributed a single helper. Ava Drabyk stopped 33 shots to earn the win in goal.
CLICK HERE for the 3 Stars of the Day for Quarterfinal Thursday
CLICK HERE for the top plays for Quarterfinal Thursday
Semifinals – Nov. 8, 2024
3 p.m. EST – Saskatchewan (1), Quebec (2) - SO
Regulation and overtime weren't enough in this one after Quebec's Florence Bourque and Saskatchewan's Stryker Zablocki traded first-period goals. The teams failed to manage another goal through the rest of regulation and overtime as Quebec's Marilou Grenier (33 saves) and Saskatchewan's Ava Drabyk (35 saves) stood tall in goal. The goalies went on to thwart nine of the 10 shooters they faced in the shootout, with Quebec's Renee Bishop scoring the only goal to send her team to the gold-medal game.
6 p.m. EST - British Columbia (1), Ontario Red (4)
Molly Farace scored twice, including an insurance goal with less than five minutes to play, as Ontario Red moved on to the championship game on its quest for a 14th gold medal. Riley Sorokan and Lexie Berteisen also scored to stake Ontario to a 2-0 lead before Anna McKee pulled her team within a goal early in the second period. It was all Farace from there, though, as she scored the final two goals of the game to lift her team to victory. Amelia Wilkinson made 18 saves to earn the win in goal.
CLICK HERE for the top 5 plays of Semifinal Friday
CLICK HERE for the 3 Stars of the Day for Semifinal Friday
Bronze Medal Game – Nov. 9, 2024
1 p.m. EST – Saskatchewan (2) vs. British Columbia (4)
London McDavid and Anna McKee scored in a 2:54 spand late in the third period to break a 2-2 tie and lift B.C. to the silver medal. McDavid scored with 4:58 left in the final fream, and McKee found an empty net with 2:04 remaining. Marisa Cope stopped 27 shots to earn the victory in goal, with Taya Lonsdale and Callie Rice providing the other two goals. B.C. takes home a bronze medal for the
Gold Medal Game – Nov. 9, 2024
6 p.m. EST – Quebec (0), Ontario Red (1)
Dorothy Copetti scored exactly halfway through the third period, and Amelia Wilkison continued to stonewall Quebec, finishing with a 35-save shutout, as Ontario Red skated to a 1-0 victory to capture the gold medal. It was Ontario Red's 14th gold medal, while Quebec finished second for the ninth time in nine trips to the finals. Marilou Grenier made 22 saves in a losing cause for Quebec.
CLICK HERE for the top five plays from Championship Saturday
CLICK HERE for highlights of the Gold Medal Game
CLICK HERE for the full tournament schedule and all the game results.
CLICK HERE to see the player named tournament MVP
CLICK HERE to see the tournament individual award winners
All games can be viewed via webstream at NHLIVE.ca.
The hockey-playing population in a province or region determines whether a province sends one team or multiple teams, while the provinces in the Atlantic Region pool their resources and send one team to ensure competitive balance. Ontario has two entries in the event, which has been held since 2001.
Ontario Red now has won 14 of the 15 championships contested since 2001, with Ontario Blue capturing the 2012 tile while also earning three silver medals. Quebec has advanced to the gold-medal game nine times, including the last two years, without ever taking home the gold. Manitoba has claimed a pair of silver medals to go along with three bronze medals. Saskatchewan took home silver in 2019 but never has won bronze. British Columbia now has finished third five times, while Quebec has earned two bronze medals and Alberta captured bronze once. Ontario Red placed third in 2012, and the Atlantic Region won a bronze medal in 2005.
In 72 tournament games all time, Ontario Red has 64 wins, 9 overtime wins, 1 overtime loss and 4 regulation losses. Red has outscored its opponents, 311-99. Quebec has the next-best all-time record with 41 victories, 6 overtime wins, 9 overtime losses, 18 regulation losses and 1 tie.
Play got underway on Sunday, Nov. 3, at the qplex in Quispasmis, with four games being contested, starting at 9 a.m. EST. Ontario Blue knocked off Quebec, 2-0, in the tournament opener, with Ontario Red skating to an 8-2 victory against Alberta, British Columbia rallying for a 4-3 win against Manitoba and Saskatchewan handing the host Atlantic team a 2-1 overtime setback.
While it’s easy for many folks to question the validity of hockey rankings, it’s always interesting to examine events such as the National U18 Women’s Championship, the composition of national-team rosters and an organization’s record of sending players on to compete at higher levels and compare the data with where teams are ranked.
Every player on the roster for Ontario Red, the traditional tournament favorite and winningest side, plays for a team ranked among Canada’s top 16 U22 clubs. Five of the players come from the top-ranked Etobicoke Dolphins, with three coming from both the No. 3 Stoney Creek Sabres and No. 4 Durham West Lightning. Two players compete for the fifth-ranked Mississauga Jr. Hurricanes.
Likewise, Ontario Blue’s roster is stocked with players from teams ranked among the nation’s top 16, with only two players coming from outliers – one from the 20th-ranked Waterloo KW Rangers and another from the No. 30 Cambridge Rivulettes. The No. 8 U22 Ottawa Lady Senators, No. 5 Mississauga Jr. Hurricanes and No. 16 Nepean Wildcats each have three players on the Ontario Blue roster.
Quebec is another team that regularly competes for a gold medal at the tournament. This year’s Quebec roster features 13 players on the rosters of teams ranked among Canada’s top 20 at the U22 or U18 levels. No. 7 U22 Stanstead College has four players on the team, while three play for the ninth-ranked U22 Limoilou Titans.
British Columbia has placed third more times than any other team at the National Women’s U18 Championship. For B.C. in 2024, nine players have been plucked from the roster of Rink Hockey Academy Prep, the top-ranked Canadian Prep program and No. 2 U22 team, with five more coming from No. 3 Canadian Prep Delta Hockey Academy (U22 No. 13). Three more come from top 25 U22 rosters, with another playing for the U18 No. 3 Greater Vancouver Comets.
With five medals all time, Manitoba traditionally has been one of the more competitive teams at the U18 National Championship. This year’s Manitoba roster includes 11 players from teams ranked among Canada’s top 27 at the U22 or U18 levels. Three additional players come from 33rd-ranked Balmoral Hall U22.
Saskatchewan’s roster includes 10 players currently playing at the U18 level for teams ranked among Canada’s top 13 – four each from the No. 4 Saskatoon Stars and No. 13 Regina Rebels and two from the second-ranked Battlefords Sharks. Two more players come from the prestigious Rink Hockey Academy Kelowna program. Saskatchewan also has a player from USA’s second-ranked Bishop Kearney Selects 18U team.
Alberta has nine players representing U18 teams ranked among Canada’s top 11 along with four more from U22 teams in the top 11. Six members of the Alberta team play for the top-ranked Edmonton Jr. Oilers U18 program, with two coming from sixth-ranked St. Albert Slash U18 and two from second-ranked U22 Rink Hockey Academy Kelowna.
The Atlantic roster features a number of players who have left home to compete in other regions of North America. Two Atlantic players are on the roster for the USA’s top-ranked 19U program at Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Minnesota. Three are in Quebec playing for the Stanstead College, the No. 7 Canadian U22 team. Two more play for Canada’s top-ranked U22 Etobicoke Dolphins, with one on the rosters of the No. 3 Stoney Creek Sabres, No. 8 Ottawa Lady Senators, No. 19 Bourget College and No. 20 Waterloo KW Rangers U22 teams. Three more Atlantic players remained local and play for Rothesay Netherwood School, the 10th-ranked Canadian Prep team, with one playing for the No. 14 Prep King’s-Edgehill School. Five more players are on rosters for top 35 U18 Canadian teams.
CLICK HERE for all team rosters
CLICK HERE for tournament standings
CLICK HERE for player stats
CLICK HERE for team stats
