Re: 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George, B.C.
This is a nice event for the girls to participate in and helps give some exposure to the game but the level of competition is extremely poor. Half the teams would be lucky to compete against Midget Tier-2 teams in Ontario or Quebec. Imagine Ontario playing Yukon. Yikes! There are only 35000 people living in Yukon and they have only 1 competitive midget team in the entire territory. Just imagine if Team Minnesota played against Team Louisiana and you get the picture.
You've hit the nail on the head. It's all about population. Ontario, Quebec, B.C. and Alberta usually scoop up the hardware because they have by far the largest talent pools to draw from. This happens consistently in soccer as well. The competition is poor when mismatched (size wise) talent pools are facing each other...when they are matched it is usually competitive.
This is why it was such a big deal when Team Manitoba played Team Ontario for Gold in Whitehorse in 2007...a semi David vs Goliath with respect to the size of each province's respective talent pool. And, if I recall correctly, Manitoba was up on the scoreboard and the play at the end of the first period. Ontario hadn't seen this level of competition and it gave them great pause...the Ontario fans in the stands were certainly concerned and their singing sure stopped. However, for whatever reason and having every reason to do the opposite, Manitoba came out flat in the second period...the team didn't seem afterward to even be aware of it. It was a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. And that, combined with the Manitoba goalie that day not having her best game and Ontario's continually grinding away, was that. Still, an extremely competitive game.
A huge number of players on both teams went on to play D1 with several moving on to Canada's senior team...some of them are presently on that roster. Quite an honour to watch so many talented players square off against each other just when the limelight is about to really shine on them. So, it can happen but the numbers aren't in favour of it occurring...meaning somewhat mismatched (size wise) talent pools resulting in a great or competitive game.
However, many good things can happen for individual players even in mismatched games. Team Manitoba's first game in Whitehorse was vs Team Northwest Territories. Manitoba won 6-0 but the game in addition to showcasing some of Manitoba's abilities certainly showcased that of NWT goaltender Leah Sulyma. Manitoba had 96 shots on her and only beat her 6 times! She stood on her head and got a D1 scholarship to NU where she played for four years and, I assume, got a degree. She took lemons and turned them into lemonade for herself. It happens.
As a matter of fact, Lana Steck, Team Manitoba's goaltender in that same game had just done the same thing for herself a few months earlier in Wilcox, Sask. at their Annual North American Female Midget Showcase Tournament. Similar story, she was barraged with shots and under siege for the whole game, as was Sulyma, and stood on her head keeping her team in the game and the scholarship offers started pouring in...she had two scouts approach her before she could even get on the bus an hour later to head back home. So, with these tournaments crawling with scouts lots of good things can happen for players. It's a big deal and a huge opportunity for the players to force the scouts to pay attention and take notice.
Here's a history of the Medal Winners...scroll down to the bottom. What's interesting is that Quebec is almost always in the running but has never won Gold.
http://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/National-Championships/Women/Canada-Winter-Games.aspx
