The Esso Women's Nationals is the Canadian women's senior ice hockey championship, established in 1982. The winners of the event receives the Abby Hoffman Cup. The second place team is awarded the Fran Rider Cup, while the third place is given the Maureen McTeer Trophy. Nine or ten teams (depending on the tournament) qualify for the event, with two from the province hosting the event. The event is sponsored by Esso.
Contents |
The split between the National Women's Hockey League and the Western Women's Hockey League in 2004, this is the only event in the professional women's hockey calendar that sees teams from the two leagues play against each other. Although an agreement between the NWHL and the WWHL was reached in 2006 to merge the two leagues (wherein the latter would be absorbed as a separate division of the former), difficulty in setting up the Nationals alongside an interlocking playoff format prevented the merger from taking place - the Nationals eventually would take place mere days after the WWHL playoffs and before the NWHL playoffs.
With the collapse of the NWHL soon after and the establishment of the Canadian Women's Hockey League in Eastern Canada, the Esso Nationals, which will also serve as a playoff of sorts between the WWHL and CWHL, received a format overhaul starting in 2008, in which the top two teams from the WWHL (representing British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan) and the top two teams from the CWHL (representing Ontario and Quebec) automatically qualifying for the event. Teams representing the provinces without teams in either league fill out the remainder of the field, due to Hockey Canada requirements that every province be represented. The Abby Hoffman Cup will be awarded to both the club pool and the team pool champions. Similarly, the Fran Rider Cup and the Maureen McTeer Trophy (the trophies awarded for the silver and bronze medalists at the Esso Nationals) will be awarded in both the club and team pool tournaments.
To level the playing field (which in recent years had been dominated by club teams) for 2008, the four club teams play in a separate tournament from the four all-star teams (and thus two championships will be awarded at the Esso Nationals), with the intent that the club pool (with the Clarkson Cup as its championship) will be splintered off into its own tournament at some point in the future. The 2008 tournament also saw the first American team to qualify, with the Minnesota Whitecaps joining the Calgary Oval X-Treme in representing the WWHL in the club pool. The format is the same for both the club and team tournaments: after the four teams play a single round robin pool, the four teams are seeded based on their standings and play a single-elimination tournament for the championship.
This arrangement had lasted for only one year; in 2009, the dispute between Clarkson and the Clarkson Cup's artists was settled, and a new championship, the National Canadian Women's Hockey Championship, was created for the professional teams, under the same format. However, this was not without cost: rumours were abound that the Esso Women's Nationals would be discontinued in favor of introducing a midget championship, which was realized with the Esso Cup.
| Year | Host | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Brantford, Ontario | Agincourt Canadians (Ontario) | Team Alberta | Team Quebec |
| 1983 | Brantford, Ontario | Burlington Ladies (Ontario) | Team Alberta | Team Saskatchewan |
| 1984 | Spruce Grove, Alberta | Edmonton Chimos (Alberta) | Team Quebec | Team Ontario |
| 1985 | Summerside, Prince Edward Island | Edmonton Chimos (Alberta) | Team Ontario | Team Quebec |
| 1986 | North Battleford, Saskatchewan | Hamilton Hawks (Ontario) | Team Saskatchewan | Team Alberta |
| 1987 | Riverview, New Brunswick | Hamilton Hawks (Ontario) | Team Alberta | Team Saskatchewan |
| 1988 | Burlington, Ontario | Team Quebec | Team Alberta | Team Ontario |
| 1989 | Coquitlam, British Columbia | Team Quebec | Team Ontario | Team Alberta |
| 1990 | Lloydminster, Saskatchewan | Team Quebec | Team Alberta | Team Ontario |
| 1991 | Verdun, Quebec | Toronto Aeros (Ontario) | Team Quebec | Team Alberta |
| 1992 | Edmonton, Alberta | Edmonton Chimos (Alberta) | Team Ontario | Team Quebec |
| 1993 | Ottawa, Ontario | Toronto Aeros (Ontario) | Team Alberta | Team Quebec |
| 1994 | Winnipeg, Manitoba | Team Quebec | Team Alberta | Team Ontario |
| 1995 | Summerside, Prince Edward Island | Team Quebec | Team Ontario | Team New Brunswick |
| 1996 | Moncton, New Brunswick | Team Quebec | North York Aeros (Ontario) | Maritime Sports Blades (New Brunswick) |
| 1997 | Richmond, British Columbia | Edmonton Chimos (Alberta) | Team Quebec | Team Ontario |
| 1998 | Calgary, Alberta | Calgary Oval X-Treme (Alberta) | North York Aeros (Ontario) | Team Quebec[1] |
| 1999 | Mississauga, Ontario | Team Quebec | Calgary Oval X-Treme (Alberta) | Beatrice Aeros (Ontario) |
| 2000 | Sydney, Nova Scotia | Beatrice Aeros (Ontario) | Team Quebec | Calgary Oval X-Treme (Alberta) |
| 2001 | Summerside, Prince Edward Island | Calgary Oval X-Treme (Alberta) | Team Quebec | Team British Columbia |
| 2002 | Arnprior, Ontario and Renfrew, Ontario | Team Quebec | Beatrice Aeros (Ontario) | Brampton Thunder (Ontario) |
| 2003 | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | Calgary Oval X-Treme (Alberta) | Team Ontario | Team Quebec |
| 2004 | Sherwood Park, Alberta | Toronto Aeros (Ontario) | Team Alberta | Edmonton Chimos (Alberta) |
| 2005 | Sarnia, Ontario | Toronto Aeros (Ontario) | Brampton Thunder (Ontario) | Team Quebec |
| 2006 | Sydney, Nova Scotia | Brampton Thunder (Ontario) | Montreal Axion (Quebec) | Calgary Oval X-Treme (Alberta) |
| 2007 | Salmon Arm, British Columbia | Calgary Oval X-Treme (Alberta) | Etobicoke Dolphins (Ontario) | Mississauga Aeros (Ontario) |
| 2008 | Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (Club) | Mississauga Chiefs | Brampton Canadette-Thunder | Calgary Oval X-Treme |
| Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (Team) | Team Manitoba | Team Prince Edward Island | Team Nova Scotia |