Women in Oil Country were celebrated Sunday at Edmonton’s Rogers Place.
Two of Canada’s top-ranked under-18 female AAA teams battled it out on the same ice as the National Hockey League’s Oilers.
The Edmonton Junior Oilers White faced off against the Lloydminster Steelers in the second annual event at the downtown arena.
Hundreds of young athletes and their families filled the seats.
The game is aimed at inspiring girls and youth in the community by watching females play hockey at higher levels.
“It’s a huge moment for women’s sports to be able to have this event and to show everyone that people are watching the girls, and being able to show the little ones in the stands too, that this is where you can be if you put your mind to it,” Sage Sansregret, a Junior Oilers White assistant coach, told media on Sunday.
The game and event comes after the Junior Oilers competed in Lloydminster at the Esso Cup, in which they won a bronze medal. It was the first time in a decade an Edmonton team had played in the Canadian national women’s under-18 ice hockey club championship.
“This is more than just a game,” Kylee Quinn, the marketing and communications director for Hockey Edmonton and the Junior Oilers, said Sunday. It’s about celebrating girls in hockey, making something exciting for everyone."
Rogers Place will host another major female hockey event next month when the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s Toronto Sceptres and Ottawa Charge face off on Feb. 16.
With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Matt Marshall
