Slash provincials
The St. Albert Slash are the team to beat at the Final Frozen Four this weekend at Go Auto Arena.
The back-to-back winners of the Esso Cup national championship host provincials as the first-place 26-3-1 (119 GF/26 GA) finishers in the midget AAA Alberta Female Hockey League.
Friday the Slash plays the Red Deer Chiefs (9-18-3) at 12 noon and the Calgary Fire (19-8-3) at 8:15 p.m.
The opening ceremonies are 11:30 a.m. Friday.
Saturday the Slash and Lloydminster Steelers (22-7-1) square off at 3:15 p.m. in a possible preview of Sunday’s 1 p.m. final.
The round robin will also determine the teams for the third-place match at 10 a.m. Sunday.
The provincial champion hosts the best-of-three Pacific Region series against the B.C. rep for qualification at the Esso Cup, April 21 to 27 at Sudbury, Ont.
Among the nine returnees on the Slash roster are third-year players Isabelle Lajoie, Makenna Schuttler, Taylor Anker, netminder Brianna Sank and captain Madison Willan, the AFHL’s top scorer with 24 goals, including a league-high seven on the power play, 27 assists and 51 points for her second scoring title in three years.
A trio of teammates ranked second behind Willan in AFHL scoring: Jaden Bogden with 32 points, Mackenzie Kordic with 20 goals and Jenna Goodwin with 18 assists.
Sank (13-2-1,0.81 GAA) and Holly Borrett (13-1, 0.86 GAA) also combined for 15 shutouts with Sank leading the way with nine.
The Slash are the first Alberta team to win the Esso Cup and the first team to capture consecutive championships in the tournament’s 10-year history.
Junior bonspiel
The fourth annual Marc Kennedy Junior Bonspiel, presented by The Co-operators, will bring together 56 rinks this weekend at the St. Albert and Crestwood curling clubs.
The breakdown of teams are eight in both the U21 male and female divisions, as well as the U18 male and female divisions, plus 12 teams in each of the intermediate and recreation divisions.
The opening draw is Friday morning and Sunday’s finals are 2 p.m. in St. Albert.
The Junior Classic will feature one male and one female team from Sweden through the Over The Pond Junior Curling Exchange, a second-year joint venture by Kennedy and the Nordic Junior Curling Tour.
The male and female winners on the Ontario Junior Curling Tour are also competing in the Junior Classic for the first time.
