Esso Cup
Current season, competition or edition:
2022 Esso Cup
Sport
First season
2008-09
Most recent
champion(s)
Durham West Lightning
(2022)
Most titles
St. Albert Slash (3)
TV partner(s)
Sponsor(s)
Official 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 CupinOkotoks, Alberta.[1]
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.
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.
Esso Cup
Year
Gold Medal
Silver Medal
Bronze Medal
Location
Westman Wildcats
Scarborough Sharks
Calgary Flyers
Thunder Bay Queens
Edmonton Thunder
Notre Dame Hounds
Edmonton Thunder
Toronto Aeros
Pembina Valley Hawks
Thunder Bay Queens
Edmonton Thunder
LHFDQ North
North Bay Ice Boltz
Edmonton Thunder
Weyburn Goldwings
Edmonton Thunder
Sudbury Lady Wolves
Sudbury Lady Wolves
Red Deer Chiefs
Saskatoon Stars
Brantford Ice Cats
Express du Richelieu
Rocky Mountain Raiders
St. Albert Slash
Harfangs de Triolet
Durham West Lightning
St. Albert Slash
Saskatoon Stars
Pionnières de Lanaudière
St. Albert Slash
Sudbury Lady Wolves
Stony Creek Sabres
cancelled [a]
cancelled [a]
Durham West Lightning
Fraser Valley Rush
Medals by Region
Region
Branches
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Ontario
Ontario, Eastern Ontario, Northwestern Ontario
4
3
4
Western
4
2
1
Pacific
3
3
4
Québec
1
2
1
Host
0
2
1
Atlantic
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador
0
0
0
Member branches
Associate bodies
Interbranch events
Women's
Regional
National teams
International events
IIHF organized
Other
National
Championships
Leagues
Central
Quebec
Pacific
West
Invitational
Tournaments
