Canada's Esso Cup

[5 4 Fighting]

As to not clog up the UNH thread...

OnMAA, just so I'm clear here...HC must look at the PW the same as they do the JW then. Neither of those leagues eligible for the Esso cup? That leaves a lot of the top players out of their National Championship...

 

[OnMAA]

Re: Canada's Esso Cup

As to not clog up the UNH thread...

OnMAA, just so I'm clear here...HC must look at the PW the same as they do the JW then. Neither of those leagues eligible for the Esso cup? That leaves a lot of the top players out of their National Championship...

Yup, agree. Take the best minor club teams to this event. Ontario has this Int AA = U21 concept that is part of the problem. While the PW is classified as U21, it is in reality a U17 league with a few overagers in it. In an ideal world, the Canuck and US systems would all line up their age categories. U16 and U19 across the board. JMHO.

 

[5 4 Fighting]

Re: Canada's Esso Cup

Yup, agree. Take the best minor club teams to this event. Ontario has this Int AA = U21 concept that is part of the problem. While the PW is classified as U21, it is in reality a U17 league with a few overagers in it. In an ideal world, the Canuck and US systems would all line up their age categories. U16 and U19 across the board. JMHO.

Seems strange that the Notre Dame Hounds would be eligible then. They do play in the SMFHL but have players from Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia on their roster.

 

[OnMAA]

Re: Canada's Esso Cup

Seems strange that the Notre Dame Hounds would be eligible then. They do play in the SMFHL but have players from Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia on their roster.

I think that is an SMFHL eligibility question rather than a Esso Cup question. Seems like each provincial org has their own set of rules. IMHO if the Hounds are eligible, so should the Balmoral Halls, Edge and Warners of the world.

 

[LG4]

Re: Canada's Esso Cup

Notre Dame competes in the sask midget league -- do the teams you mentioned do that as well. Pretty sure POE doesn't nor does Balmoral as they do tourney.s or Jwhl. From the start of the tournament it appears to be three levels of play

 

[rugrats]

Re: Canada's Esso Cup

Notre Dame competes in the sask midget league -- do the teams you mentioned do that as well. Pretty sure POE doesn't nor does Balmoral.

POE is strictly a tournament team; Balmoral Hall as you may know competes in the JWHL. However there is a team (Westman Wildcats) in Manitoba (same province as Balmoral Hall) that does not compete in the Manitoba league, but rather plays exhibition games and tournaments. Westman won the first ever Esso cup in 2009... They are allowed by Hockey Manitoba to compete in the Esso play downs (Provincials).

Some argue that Westman are no different than POE, Balmoral, or Notre Dame in that they players are from all over. Notre Dame of course plays in a Provincial league and should be eligible of the Esso Cup

 

[OnMAA]

Re: Canada's Esso Cup

From the start of the tournament it appears to be three levels of play

And that is what you get if each jurisdiction sends teams based on their rules. As indicated before, under current rules would expect that neither the Ontario nor Quebec squads would be as competitive as they should/could be. In Quebec ALL the 17 year olds play in the CEGEP loop, so their midget teams are younger. In Ontario all the good 16 and 17 year olds play in the PW (about 250 players of that age in the PW). People in Ontario play little to no attention to this event. Everyone over there is involved in the "Tryout" season that is currently underway.

 

[5 4 Fighting]

Re: Canada's Esso Cup

The stage is set for semi-final action today as the Aero's play Notre Dame at 12:00 MST and Edmonton Thunder take on the Kodiaks Lac-St-Louis from Quebec at 4:00MST. I look for an all western final here...unless there is an upset.

 

[5 4 Fighting]

Re: Canada's Esso Cup

As predicted...Quebec plays Ontario in the 3/4 game today at 2:00 MST while the Edmonton Thunder take on the Notre Dame Hounds in the Gold Medal game at 6:00 MST for all the marbles.

The final should be a dandy as these two teams met on day one of the tournament which saw the Thunder defeat ND in a 3-2 shoot out. Both games available on Fasthockey.com.

 

[Stick Boy]

Re: Canada's Esso Cup

Should be an exciting finish to the Canadian Championship Tournament. Wouldn't it be neat if the winner could play the winner of the USA National Championship! Just thinking out loud.

 

[OnMAA]

Re: Canada's Esso Cup

Should be an exciting finish to the Canadian Championship Tournament. Wouldn't it be neat if the winner could play the winner of the USA National Championship! Just thinking out loud.

Problem is which one, U16 or U19 ?. MAA is U17.

 

[5 4 Fighting]

Re: Canada's Esso Cup

Not that I was counting or anything....Edmonton had eight (8) 93's, six (6) 94's, four (4) 95's and two (2) 96's. Notre Dame had nine (9) 93's, nine (9) 94's and one (1) 96.

 

[Choot]

Re: Canada's Esso Cup

As to not clog up the UNH thread...

OnMAA, just so I'm clear here...HC must look at the PW the same as they do the JW then. Neither of those leagues eligible for the Esso cup? That leaves a lot of the top players out of their National Championship...

I would say that the Esso cup is the female version of Jr A and the PW/JW are like Maj. Jr.
Would an average PW/JW team dominate a top end AAA/AA Midget team?

 

[OnMAA]

Re: Canada's Esso Cup

I would say that the Esso cup is the female version of Jr A and the PW/JW are like Maj. Jr.
Would an average PW/JW team dominate a top end AAA/AA Midget team?

Teams like Notre Dame and Edmonton would be mid pack teams in the PW. Top end PW teams like Missy, Aeros, Bluewater are deeper, faster, stronger than top end MAAA teams.

 

[Trillium]

Re: Canada's Esso Cup

Not that I was counting or anything....Edmonton had eight (8) 93's, six (6) 94's, four (4) 95's and two (2) 96's. Notre Dame had nine (9) 93's, nine (9) 94's and one (1) 96.

For comparison, Aeros have two (2) 93's, one (1) 94, eleven (11) 95's, and two (2) 96's.

 

[west]

Re: Canada's Esso Cup

As to not clog up the UNH thread...

OnMAA, just so I'm clear here...HC must look at the PW the same as they do the JW then. Neither of those leagues eligible for the Esso cup? That leaves a lot of the top players out of their National Championship...

The JWHL isn't a Hockey Canada league and thus isn't eligible for Hockey Canada's national championship (the GMHL isn't eligible for the RBC Cup either for example).
The PWHL not considering themselves a Midget league but an Intermediate league instead (Intermediate to what, I don't know) is what disqualifies them. Don't understand why HC and the PWHL would want that kind of arrangement is bizarre in itself but it probably helps the parity of the tournament.

 

[rugrats]

Re: Canada's Esso Cup

It would be great to see a series between the JWHL Champ vs PWHL Champ... Who would win?

 

[west]

It would be great to see a series between the JWHL Champ vs PWHL Champ... Who would win?

I don't even know if champions are needed. We saw what Team Alberta (mostly Edge and Warner) did with the Canadian U18 team at the Canada Winter Games.

 

[LG4]

Re: Canada's Esso Cup

I don't even know if champions are needed. We saw what Team Alberta (mostly Edge and Warner) did with the Canadian U18 team at the Canada Winter Games.

The games were pretty even except the Ontario goaltending wasn`t as strong. I think ND and Edge would be better then midpack. Maybe not top 3 but would more then hold there own vs the others.

 

[rugrats]

Re: Canada's Esso Cup

I don't even know if champions are needed. We saw what Team Alberta (mostly Edge and Warner) did with the Canadian U18 team at the Canada Winter Games.

Good point...