Ringette westerns
The Western Canadian Ringette Championships are good to go next week in St. Albert.
The 25-team tournament starts Thursday morning and consists of 66 games at the Go Auto, Mark Messier, Akinsdale and Kinex arenas. There is no admission charge.
The breakdown of teams from Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are 10 in U14AA, including four Alberta reps, and five in the U16A, U19A and 18-plus A divisions.
The 2019 Ringette Alberta champions at westerns are the U14AA Zone 2 Blaze (Alberta 1), U16A Calgary Northwest Nova, U19A South Calgary and 18-plus A Edmonton Last Call.
The host St. Albert Ringette Association teams are the U14AA Mission (Alberta 2), U16A Saints, U19A Select and 18-plus A Crew.
At provincials, the Mission were the runners-up for the second year in a row while the Saints and Select both placed sixth and the Crew didn’t qualify.
The Mission’s 4-2 record at provincials included the 7-2 loss to Zone 2 in pool play and in the final led 3-1 at the break but penalty trouble and unlucky bounces resulted in the 5-3 loss to the Blaze.
The only win against Zone 2 this season was in the semifinals of the Esso Golden Ring in Calgary as Jazzi Fevin sniped the deciding 3-2 overtime goal and the Mission went on to capture the Calgary tournament title.
The Mission’s overall record is 32-14-3 entering westerns.
Last year at westerns, the Mission were silver medallists and this year’s U14AA lineup includes six returning players.
Game times for the St. Albert teams are as follows.
U14AA Mission
Pool A
Thursday: 9:45 a.m. vs. B.C. 2, Kinex.
Thursday: 6:45 p.m. vs. Alberta 4, Go Auto.
Friday: 9:45 a.m. vs. Saskatchewan 1, Kinex.
Friday: 6:30 p.m. vs. Manitoba 1, Mark Messier.
Saturday: semifinals 8 & 8:15 a.m.
Third place: 12:45 p.m. Akinsdale.
Final: 12:30 p.m. Go Auto.
U16A Saints
Thursday: 12:30 p.m. vs. Manitoba, Mark Messier.
Thursday: 5 p.m. vs. Alberta, Mark Messier.
Friday: 9:45 a.m. vs. Saskatchewan, Go Auto.
Friday: 3:30 p.m. vs. B.C., Mark Messier.
Saturday: playoffs 8 & 11 a.m.
Final: 2:15 p.m. Go Auto Arena.
U19A Select
Thursday: 12:30 p.m. vs. Manitoba, Akinsdale.
Thursday: 5:15 p.m. vs. Alberta, Go Auto.
Friday: 8:15 a.m. vs. Saskatchewan, Go Auto.
Friday: 2 p.m. vs. B.C., Mark Messier.
Saturday: playoffs 8 & 11 a.m.
Final: 12:30 p.m. Mark Messier.
18-plus A Crew
Thursday: 12:45 p.m. vs. Manitoba, Go Auto.
Thursday: 6:45 p.m. vs. Alberta, Kinex.
Friday: 2:15 p.m. vs. B.C., Kinex.
Friday: 6:45 p.m. vs. Saskatchewan, Kinex.
Saturday: playoffs 9:30 & 11 a.m.
Final: 2:15 p.m. Mark Messier.
Visit www.2019wcrc.com for the schedule and results
