The Foxes faceoff with Warman at Kinsmen Arena. (Prince Albert Female Hockey/Facebook)

By Logan Lehmann

Female Hockey

Puck set to drop at P.A.’s largest minor hockey tournament

Jan 5, 2024 | 12:41 PM

The hockey rinks in Prince Albert will be full this weekend as games get underway at the 23rd annual Prince Albert Foxes Female Hockey Tournament.

45 teams from U9 to U18 skill levels have come from across the prairie provinces, including 34 from Saskatchewan, eight from Alberta, and three from Manitoba.

Tournament organizer Taryn Svenson said it has been all hands on deck trying to get everything tournament ready with work beginning as early as May.

“There’s been a lot leading up to this tournament,” she said. “We start booking the hotels in May – June where we have to place all these teams and a lot of work is involved – every Foxes team is involved. Having an ambassador in all eight rinks, there’s sponsorships to be sold and welcome gifts for the [teams] too. Everybody has been working a lot and now I think everybody is very excited to play some hockey and have a fun time.”

The tournament was created back in 2000 to showcase the diverse talent in the sport as well as to promote female hockey among the youth.

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Five teams will compete in the combined U9 B and C division featuring both P.A. U9 Foxes, the Saskatoon U9 C Comets Crushers and Attack, and the Regina U9 B Rebels.

In the U11 division, the B and C Foxes teams will battle alongside the Saskatoon Comet U11 C Knights, Thompson U11 B Vipers, and Warman U11 B Bengals.

The U13s will play in separate ‘AA’ and ‘A’ divisions with the AA Foxes hosting the Warman Wildcats, Western Prairie Thunder, Northwest Sharks, Northeast Aces, Lumsden Lynx, and Saskatoon Comet Fury. Meanwhile, the A Foxes will play against the Lloydminster Blazers and Lakeland Panthers, both from Alberta.

Like the U13s, the U15 tournaments will be played separately with the ‘AA’ division consisting of the Foxes, Western Prairie, Lumsden, Regina Rebels, and Lloydminster Jr. Steelers, while the ‘A’ Foxes will play host to the Lakeland Jaguars, Northeast Aces, Regina Rebels Gold, Saskatoon Comet Inferno, and Edmonton Kaos.

Finally, for the U18s, the ‘AA’ Foxes are up against Regina, Warman, Lloydminster Steelers, Eastman Sharks, and St. Albert Sharks. The ‘A’ Foxes will welcome Warman, Lumsden, Saskatoon Comet Destroyers and Sting teams, Delisle Bruins, Grand Plains Ice Dogs, and Red Deer Chiefs.

Svenson said it was one of the largest tournaments in the province and the largest for the year in Prince Albert.

“It keeps getting bigger every year,” she said. “We do have a max capacity that we want to reach, maybe we’ll do that for the 25th anniversary, but every year does get more and more leverage as I do believe this is the largest [tournament] we’ve ever had.”

She said the maximum number of teams they could host is around 60.

Additionally, the 50-50 Progressive Jackpot is just over $60,000 with a cap of $75,000. Tickets can be bought in person at one of the eight participating rinks in the city.

Games for the U9s and U11s will begin Saturday morning while the U13s, U15s, and U18s began play on Friday.

A full tournament schedule and booklet can be found by clicking here.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com