Communities and Teams Across Alberta Gearing Up For Hockey Alberta Provincial Championships

RED DEER - Six months of regular season and tournament action, including up to six weeks of games in Zone playdowns, culminates this month, as teams prepare to “March to a title” at the 2016 Hockey Alberta Provincial Championships, presented by ATB Financial.

Tournament action will determine the majority of the 2016 provincial champions. Twelve titles will be awarded on March 13. March 20 will see another 14 champions crowned. Seven more champions will be determined on March 27, and the final tournament champ will be crowned on April 3. Tournament champions will emerge from a weekend of round-robin pool play and playoff action in their respective tournaments.

The slate of provincial championship tournaments starts this weekend, March 4-6, with Senior Female in Grande Prairie.

Provincial championships set for March 10-13 include: Midget A (Stettler), Midget B (Springbank), Midget C (Oyen), Midget D (Provost), Midget Female A (Olds), Midget Female B (Camrose), Peewee A (Foothills), Peewee B (Drayton Valley), Peewee C (Rimbey), Peewee D (Boyle), Peewee Female A (St. Albert) and Peewee Female B (Edmonton).

Provincial championships set for March 17-20 include: Bantam AA (Taber), Bantam A (Beaumont), Bantam B (Drumheller), Bantam C (High Prairie), Bantam D (High Level), Bantam Female A (Edmonton), Bantam Female B (Hinton), Atom AA Major (Edmonton), Atom AA Minor (Bonnyville), Atom A (Lacombe), Atom B (Vegreville), Atom C (Grimshaw), Atom D (Duchess), and Atom Female (Innisfail).

Provincial championships set for March 23/24-27 include: Senior AA (Nanton), Junior C (Edmonton), Minor Midget AAA (Calgary), Midget AA (Calgary), Midget Female AAA (Grande Prairie), Bantam Female AAA (St. Albert), and Peewee AA (Fort McMurray).

As well, the Junior B champs will be decided March 31-April 3, and four champions will be determined via league playoffs: Senior AAA, Junior A, Midget AAA, and Bantam AAA.

For schedules, arenas, host organizations, and other event-specific information, check the Hockey Alberta website at hockeyalberta.ca or the Provincial Championships website at haprovincials.ca.

Provincial championship host locations were awarded in mid-December, and in the ensuing months, organizing committees in communities across Alberta have been busy securing local sponsors, organizing opening ceremonies, confirming teams and schedules, ordering souvenirs and player gifts, arranging for accommodations, and numerous other tasks to ensure that the participating teams have a memorable experience.

In addition to the on-ice action, several communities will participate in the second year of the Tundra True Spirit of Hockey Day, a partnership between Tundra Process Solutions Ltd. and Hockey Alberta to celebrate a shared love for hockey and the community that supports the sport.

In conjunction with the Provincial Championship tournament hosts in these communities, a local school is hosting a number of fun activities, allowing students to learn about hockey, and the teamwork and friendships that can be generated in the sport. Participating communities are: Springbank, Oyen, Taber, High Prairie, High Level, Fort McMurray, Foothills, Drayton Valley, Grimshaw, Lacombe, Duchess, and Innisfail.

RED DEER - The rosters have been announced for Hockey Alberta’s 2016 Alberta Cup.

Eight teams will take to the ice at the Canmore Recreation Centre April 28-May 1. The teams include two from each of Calgary and Edmonton, and one each representing the South, Central, Northeast and Northwest zones of the province.

Twenty 2001-born players comprise each roster, along with volunteers serving as head coach, assistant coaches, trainer, and director of operations. Rosters were selected based on performances at zone camps held March 25-27 throughout the province.

The 2016 Alberta Cup marks the 30th Anniversary of the very first Alberta Cup which was held in Edmonton in 1986.

2016 Alberta Cup Rosters

The teams will play in a four-day, tournament-format competition. The event also features an education seminar hosted by the Western Hockey League (WHL).

“The coaching staffs were faced with some very difficult decisions when it came to selecting the 20 players for each team. For the athletes who have earned a roster spot, congratulations. But the work is just beginning, not just for this edition of the Alberta Cup, but also in the competition to earn a spot on the Team Alberta squad that will compete later this year,” said Michael Kraichy, Hockey Alberta’s manager of Team Alberta.

Eighty players will be invited to the U16 Male Provincial Camp in July. This year, players are also vying for spots on Team Alberta at the Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup in October in Calgary.

Alberta Cup graduates include Matt Dumba, Braden Holtby, Jay Bouwmeester, Dion Phaneuf, Scott Hartnell, Jordan Eberle, Devan Dubnyk, and Andrew Ference.

Click here for more information on the Alberta Cup.

Hockey Alberta is proud to announce the 12 officials that have been selected to officiate at the Western Canada Bantam Championships this week in Okotoks.

The 12 officials are:

Hockey Alberta and the Officiating Committee would like to congratulate each official on their selection.

The Western Canada Bantam Championships run March 31 - April 3 in Okotoks. Click here for the tournament’s website.

Thursday, March 10

IQALUIT - After another busy day of hockey in Nunavut, Team Alberta North skated away from the 2016 Arctic Winter Games with a pair of medals - a gold for the males, and silver for the females.

After finishing round-robin play in second place with a 3-1 record, the male squad drew Team Alaska in the semi-finals, who had a matching 3-1 record.

Team Alberta North edged Alaska 3-2 in the early-morning tilt, and moved on to face NWT in the gold medal final.

Despite a furious comeback by NWT, Alberta North managed to weather the storm and hold on for the 5-4 win, sealing the gold medal.

On the female side, Team Alberta North found themselves in a similar matchup against Team Alaska in the semi-finals, and came out on the winning side of a 2-1 score.

In keeping with the trend, it was a Team Alberta North and NWT gold medal final once again, but this time it was NWT who came away with gold after a 5-1 win.

In other tournament action, Team Alaska landed a pair of bronze medals, as the male squad took down Team Nunavut 9-1, while the females edged the Yukon 2-1.

For the full Arctic Winter Games ice hockey schedule and results, click here.

For more information on the Arctic Winter Games, click here.

Wednesday, March 9

IQALUIT - After the last day of round-robin play at the Arctic Winter Games, both Team Alberta North squads finished with 3-1 records.

The males lost their first game of the tournament Wednesday morning to NWT by a score of 5-0, but rebounded with a 5-2 over Alaska later in the day. The win set up a three-way tie for first place between Team Alberta North, NWT and Alaska.

Through the tie breaker formula, Team Alberta North finished second, and NWT third, so the two teams will meet again bright and early on Thursday at 6 a.m. (MT).

Meanwhile, the females continued to find their stride, winning their second and third straight games on Wednesday after opening the Arctic Winter Games with a loss.

They started the day with a 3-1 win over Team Yukon Wednesday morning, and finished the round-robin on a strong note with an 11-0 triumph over Nunavut.

The pair of wins gave Team Alberta North sole possession of second place on the female side, setting up a semi-final against third-place Alaska Thursday morning at 8:30 (MT).

The winner of each semi-final game will advance to the gold medal final on Thursday evening.

Tuesday, March 8

IQALUIT - Despite experiencing some lengthy delays due to a massive blizzard in Iqaluit, both Team Alberta North squads came up with wins on Day Two of the Arctic Winter Games.

In a game that was supposed to start at 9 a.m. (ET), Team Alberta North Male finally got things going at 6 p.m. (ET) against the Yukon. The extra rest proved benificial for the males, as they cruised to an 11-0 to start the Arctic Winter Games with a 2-0 record.

The females finally hit the ice to battle Team Alaska at 7 p.m. (ET), about six hours later than the scheduled time. After a 4-2 loss on Monday, the team rebounded well with a 3-2 win, moving to an even 1-1 record so far at the games.

It’s a quick turnaround for both teams, as they’ll hit the ice again at 9 a.m. (MT) Wednesday. The males are set to go against NWT, while the females will go head-to-head with the Yukon.

The females play their second game of the day at 1 p.m. (MT) against Nunavut, while the males hit the ice again at 4 p.m. (MT) to take on Alaska.

Monday, March 7

IQALUIT - An up and down opening day for Team Alberta North at the 2016 Arctic Winter Games on Monday.

The male squad opened their Winter Games Monday morning in Iqaluit with a 10-3 win over the host team.

The females didn’t fare as well, falling 4-2 to Team NWT.

The males are back it at Tuesday morning at 7 a.m. (MT) against the Yukon , while the females hit the ice at 11 a.m. (MT) against Alaska.