CALGARY, Alta. – For only the second time in the tournament’s history, Ontario Blue will play Ontario Red in the gold medal game at the National Women’s Under-18 Championship, after posting semifinal wins Saturday at Hockey Canada’s home arena, the Markin MacPhail Centre.
Ontario Blue defeated host team Alberta 3-1, while Ontario Red edged Quebec 4-3 in overtime, to advance to the gold medal game at the 2013 National Women’s Under-18 Championship, which will air at 8 p.m. MT/10 p.m. ET on TSN2, official broadcasters of Hockey Canada. The last time Ontario Blue and Ontario Red played for gold was at the 2009 National Women’s Under-18 Championship in Surrey, B.C. Ontario Red beat Ontario Blue 5-1 to win the national championship title.
Earlier Saturday, British Columbia shut out Saskatchewan 5-0 to finish in seventh place and Manitoba topped Atlantic 2-0 to claim fifth place. Alberta and Quebec will face off for the bronze medal game at 12 p.m. MT, with the game airing live on FASTHockey for free at www.hockeycanada.ca/nwu18.
Single-game tickets for the 2013 National Women’s Under-18 Championship are available by clicking HERE. Tickets are $17 each for access to both the bronze medal and gold medal games Sunday, Nov. 10, not including applicable fees. Please email [email protected] for more information.
Award winners for the 2013 National Women’s Under-18 Championship were also announced Saturday. The tournament’s awards committee named five recipients, with the awards based on the preliminary round games played from Wednesday, November 6 through Friday, November 8.
The 2013 National Women’s Under-18 Championship award winners are as follows:
Top Goaltender – Marlene Boissonnault; Dundee, N.B./Rothesay Netherwood, Canadian Prep (Atlantic)
Top Defenceman – Jessica Healey; Edmonton, Alta./Edmonton, AMMFHL (Alberta)
Top Forward – Ève-Audrey Picard; Longueuil, Que./Stanstead College, Canadian Prep (Quebec)
Most Valuable Player – Rebecca Leslie; Ottawa, Ont./Ottawa, PWHL (Ontario Red)
Most Sportsmanlike Player – Alexandra Labelle; St-Louis de Gonzague, Que./St-Laurent, RSEQ (Quebec)
The eight rosters feature all 22 players who played with Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team and defeated the United States in a three-game series in Lake Placid, N.Y., in August, including Karly Heffernan (Sherwood Park, Alta./Edge School, JWHL) and Hannah Miller (North Vancouver, B.C./Okanagan Hockey Academy, JWHL), who helped Canada win the gold medal at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship in Heinola and Vierumäki, Finland, in January.
The 2013 National Women’s Under-18 Championship, hosted in partnership by Hockey Canada, Hockey Alberta, Hockey Calgary and Girls Hockey Calgary, marks the first time Alberta has hosted the event. The National Women’s Under-18 Championship is held annually, although it is replaced by the Canada Winter Games every four years. This year’s tournament will help celebrate the 25th anniversary of Girls Hockey Calgary, which was established in 1988 by local women’s hockey advocates Suzanne Jackett and Shannon Miller. Miller went on to win a silver medal as head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.
The 2013 National Women’s Under-18 Championship brings together the best female hockey players born in 1996 or later. The tournament serves as an important platform for Hockey Canada scouts, led by general manager of National Women’s Team programs Melody Davidson, who will evaluate candidates for the Canadian contingent that will compete at the 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship in Budapest, Hungary, in March.
A number of Canadian women’s hockey stars have competed at the National Women’s Under-18 Championship, including players who are now centralized in Calgary with Canada’s National Women’s Team in preparation for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
NOTE TO MEDIA: Please contact Kristen Lipscombe, Hockey Canada’s coordinator of communications, for any National Women’s Under-18 Championship interview requests at (403) 826-4819 or [email protected].
For more information on Girls Hockey Calgary, please visit www.girlshockeycalgary.com; for more information on Hockey Calgary please visit www.hockeycalgary.ca; and for more information on Hockey Alberta, please visit www.hockeyalberta.ca.
For more information on the 2013 National Women’s Under-18 Championship, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca/nwu18c, and follow via social media at www.facebook.com/womensu18 and www.twitter.com/hc_nwu18.
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