Area residents are encouraged to come out and cheer the Explorer Dental Hygiene/Lakeland Denture Clippers as they host the 2018 Midget ‘B’ Female Hockey Provincial Championships at the Bold Center March 22-25.
The Clippers had an automatic berth into the provincial championships by virtue of being the hosts, but they earned their way into the tournament by winning the Zone 2 Championships on March 9-10.
"We’re representing our own zone at our own (provincial) tournament, which is good,” said Leslie Cote, who coaches the Clippers with Brad Hutchinson.
Lac La Biche was pitted against Lakeland — a team made up of players from Bonnyville and Cold Lake — in the Zone 2 championship, which was a two-game total-point series.
The Clippers defeated Lakeland 5-2 on March 9 in Cold Lake and then by a score of 4-2 at the Bold Centre on March 10.
It was an impressive win for the relatively young team, which includes 10 Bantam players and about nine Midgets.
"For being such a young team, they played and gelled really well all year,” said Cote.
"I think they’ve … proven themselves, that they can play at that level.”
A full schedule of games from the Midget ‘B’ Female Provincials is available at laclabicheminorhockey.com or midgetfemaleb.haprovincials.ca. Results from the weekend will also be posted on those websites.
However, the Clippers will play at 6:30 p.m. March 22; 11:30 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. on March 23; 6:15 p.m. on March 24. Playoff matches will be held on March 25.
There is no admission charged to attend one of the provincial matches, so Lac La Biche area residents are free to come and cheer on their local team.
"There’s no fee at the door or anything, so they can come and watch any time,” said Cote.
As to how the Clippers will actually perform this weekend, it’s hard to say. They have home ice advantage, but the competition will be stiff regardless, Cote indicated.
"We’re playing some of the best teams in Alberta at that level, so it could go any way, right?” he said.
Besides hockey, the provincial championships will also feature a special appearance by female hockey legend Geraldine Heaney.
After the round robin play on March 23, there will be a banquet at roughly 7 p.m. and then a set of opening ceremonies where Heaney will be the guest speaker.
As a defenceman, Heaney played 18 seasons and more than 1,000 hockey games with the Toronto Aeros, aiding them on the path to winning six Ontario provincial championships and three Most Valuable Defenceman trophies from the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association.
She was also a member of the Canadian national team that went to the first seven Women’s World Championships, where her team netted gold each time. Most notably, she is remembered for scoring the winning goal at the 1990 Women’s World Championship.
Heaney also was part of the Canadian Olympic team at the 1998 Nagano Games and the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, where she netted Olympic silver and gold medals respectively.
In 2008, Heaney became one of the first three female inductees to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Hall of Fame. She was the third woman to be inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2013, followed by her induction into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.
It should be noted that the Clippers are also still involved in the East Central Alberta Female Hockey League championship.
The Lac La Biche squad was going to face off with Irma for the league championship on Saturday and Sunday in Viking and Lac La Biche respectively.
Because this is a best of-three game series, those two games might net a 1-1 tie. If so, Cote suggested a third league playoff game will likely take place after provincials, where Irma is also competing.
"If there is a third game, we’ll probably wait until after provincials, because … it’s just too busy to get that third game in beforehand.”
Results from the league championships were not available due to publication deadlines.
