Sudbury will welcome some of the best young female hockey players in the nation in April as the Sudbury Lady Wolves host the 2019 Esso Cup.
The Esso Cup brings together the top five female Midget hockey teams from across the country (Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, West and Pacific) plus the host team, the Sudbury Lady Wolves, for seven days of hockey action.
This is the 11th anniversary of the Esso Cup and this edition of the tournament will be hosted April 21-27 at the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex in Sudbury.
For the first time since 2014 the championship will be held in Ontario and the Sudbury Lady Wolves will be looking to make history as the first ever host team to win the Esso Cup.
In fact, the host team has only made the final once in the championship's nine year history, when the 2015 host Red Deer Chiefs finished in second place, losing out in the gold medal game to the Sudbury Lady Wolves.
The St. Albert Slash from Alberta have won the last two Esso Cups and the Pacific region sits second for most Esso Cup medals with eight, while Ontario leads the way with medals nine medals, three each of gold, silver, and bronze.
On the Sudbury side of things, this is the team's first time back in the tournament since their 2015 gold medal run, which followed a silver medal performance in 2014.
Much is still to be decided as far as who will be joining the six-team field along with the Lady Wolves, as regional playdowns are ongoing across the country.
The Red Deer Chiefs won the Alberta championship and are awaiting the winners of the British Columbia finals between the Northern Capitals and the Fraser Valley Rush to determine who will represent the Pacific region.
The Westman Wildcats will be representing Manitoba after winning their provincial championship and await the Saskatchewan champs to see who will represent the Western region here in Sudbury next month.
You can stay up to date on who will be headed to Sudbury on the Esso Cup page on Hockey Canada's website.
