Alberta Winter Games
The Alberta Winter Games is a multi-sport event for developing athletes, aged 11-17 years old. The Winter Games were first hosted in 1976 in Banff, and occur each even-numbered year. The athletes are selected to represent the eight zones in Alberta in 20 sports such as hockey, badminton, gymnastics, skiing and skating.
Hockey Alberta coordinates the ice hockey portion of the Winter Games, as a core segment of its Development Program. The Winter Games provide players, coaches, trainers and referees an opportunity to discover the great qualities of competitive hockey starting with the region camp and selection process, through to competing in the Games.
The 2024 Alberta Winter Games took place February 16-19 in Grande Prairie.
The championship in the Female Division featured the top two teams from Pool A - Lloydminster and the St. Albert Raiders Bolts (Zone 5). Lloydminster continued its tournament long dominance with a 7-2 victory to earn the gold medal. Lloydminster went a perfect 3-0 in the round robin, outscoring its opponents 25-6 before defeating Rocky Mountain Raiders (Zone 2), 11-2, in the semi-finals. St. Albert (1-1-1) defeated Central Alberta Twins (Zone 4), 3-2, in the semi-finals. Central Alberta, who had finished first in the other pool, and Rocky Mountain faced off in the bronze medal match with the Raiders winning 1-0 in a shootout.
The Male Division final had a similar setup with the top two teams in Pool A also facing off for the gold medal. This time, though, it was the second-place team from Calgary (Zone 3) playing a near-perfect final to blank the Lakeland Panthers (Zone 7), 4-0, to capture the gold. Lakeland (2-0-1) finished first in its pool in round-robin, with the tie coming against Calgary. Calgary (1-0-2) finished second. Lakeland defeated Peace River, 9-1, in the semi-finals, while Calgary punched their ticket to the final, 6-3, over the Okotoks Oilers (Zone 2). Okotoks had finished first in the other pool. Peace River Sabres (Zone 8) edged Okotoks, 6-5, in overtime, to earn the bronze medal.
RESULTS SUMMARY
The 2020 Alberta Winter Games ran in Airdrie with Zones 4 and 7 winning gold in Female and Male hockey, respectively.
The female gold medal game went back and forth for the entire 60 minutes where Zone 3 and Zone 4 would need extra time to find a winner. Zone 4 scored the gold medal clinching goal just 1:41 into the extra frame, making the final score 2-1. Zone 7 claimed bronze with a 2-1 victory over Zone 5.
On the Male side, Zone 7 broke away from Zone 3 in a tightly contested game for a 6-4 victory to earn gold. Meanwhile, Zone 2 completed a late comeback in the bronze medal game, defeating Zone 4 by a score of 7-5.
RESULTS SUMMARY
Zone 2 swept the gold medals in the hockey competition at the 2018 Alberta Winter Games in Fort McMurray.
In the Female Division, Zone 2 eked out a 3-2 victory over Zone 6 in the gold medal game. Meanwhile, in the Male Division, Zone 2 blanked Zone 3, 2-0, to capture the gold.
In the bronze medal games, it was also a sweep, as Zone 7 captured third place honours in both divisions. On the Female side, Zone 7 defeated Zone 3, 3-1. In the Male Division, Zone 7 defeated Zone 6, 7-2.
In the Male Division, Zone 7 finished first and Zone 3 second in Pool A, while Zone 6 and Zone 2 were tied atop Pool B, with Zone 6 being awarded top spot. In the semi-finals, both first-place finishers were upset, as Zone 2 defeated Zone 7, 8-1, and Zone 3 defeated Zone 6, 5-2.
In the Female Division, Zone 2 finished first and Zone 3 second in Pool A, while all three teams in Pool B tied with 2 points. Zone 7 was awarded first, and Zone 6 second. In the semi-finals, Zones 2 and 6 emerged victorious with identical 3-1 wins, to advance to the gold medal game.
After three days of intense competition, Zone 6 Male (Edmonton) and Zone 5 Female (Yellowhead/ Blackgold) proved to be the best in province at the 2016 Alberta Winter Games.
After going a perfect 3-0 in round-robin play in Pool B, Zone 6 Male cruised to a 10-4 win over Zone 2 (Big Country) Tuesday morning to claim the gold medal and finish the tournament undefeated.
On the female side, Zone 5 battled back from a 1-1-1 record in Pool B to take it all with a narrow 3-1 win over Zone 3 (Calgary).
Earlier in the day, Zone 3 (Calgary) edged Zone 4 (Parkland) by a score of 4-3 in an overtime thriller to land a bronze medal on the Male side, while Female bronze went to Zone 6 (Edmonton) after a 2-1 win over Zone 4 (Parkland).
Zone 5 Male and the Zone 2 Female hockey team captured gold medals Sunday at the 2014 Alberta Winter Games.
Male Results:
- Bronze Medal Game – Zone 2 (6) vs. Zone 6 (5)
- Gold Medal Game – Zone 5 (6) vs. Zone 3 (0)
Female Results:
- Bronze Medal Game – Zone 3 (1) vs. Zone 6 (5)
- Gold Medal Game – Zone 2 (4) vs. Zone 5 (0)
