Esso Cup
Current season, competition or edition: 2017 Esso Cup
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| Sport | Ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Inaugural season | 2008-09 |
| Most recent champion(s) |
 Brantford Ice Cats |
| TV partner(s) |
TSN (English) RDS (French) |
| Sponsor(s) | Hockey Canada |
| Official website | Esso Cup Website |
The Esso Cup is the Canadian national women's midget ice hockey championship, sponsored by Esso. It is an annual event, sanctioned by Hockey Canada, that takes place each April. The current champions are the Brantford Ice Cats of Ontario, who won the 2016 Esso Cup in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. The 2017 Esso Cup will be played in Morden, Manitoba from April 23-29, 2017.
The forerunner to the Esso Cup was the Esso Women's Hockey Nationals, which was the Canadian senior women's championship from 1982 to 2008. With the evolution of the Nationals into a professional tournament, Hockey Canada elected to discontinue it in 2008 and replace it with a national female midget championship known as the Esso Cup.
The inaugural Esso Cup was played in April 2009 in Calgary, Alberta. The Westman Wildcats from Souris, Manitoba were the first gold medalists. To date, no team has won the Esso Cup more than once.
The Esso Cup follows Hockey Canada's standard six-team national championship format. Branch champions compete in regional playoffs; the winners, together with a predetermined host team, then compete for the national championship.
The Esso Cup uses the IIHF points format for the round robin, which awards three points for a win in regulation time. If the game goes to overtime and/or a shootout, the winning team receives two points and the loser receives one. After the round robin is complete, the top four teams (by points) qualify for the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-final games move on to play for the gold medal.
Each year's gold medal game is televised nationally on TSN and RDS. All other tournament games are streamed live by FASTHockey.com.
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