MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- Moose Jaw’s Brooklyn Nimegeers and Ashley Breitkreuz are once again off to the Esso Cup national hockey championship.
The former Moose Jaw Mavericks standouts will be making the second-straight appearance at the female U18 AAA tournament with the Regina Rebels after Regina swept the Winnipeg Ice in the West Regional this past weekend.
The Rebels clinched the regional title with a 3-1 victory in Game 2 of the best-of-three series, with Nimegeers picking up an assist in the contest and Stryker Zablocki scoring all three goals for Regina.
Zablocki also had the biggest goal in Game 1, as her overtime marker gave Regina a 4-3 win. Katelyn Marshall, Addison Greve and Kendal Leader also scored for the Rebels.
Regina will now have a couple of weeks off to prepare for the Esso Cup, which runs from Apr. 21-27 in Vernon, B.C. The tournament will see five regional champions from the Pacific, Quebec, Ontario and the Atlantic joining the Rebels and host Thompson-Okanagan Lakers vying for the national title.
Regina defeated the Northern Selects to win bronze in 2023.
That the Rebels got to this point should be of little surprise.
The defending league champions picked up right where they left off the previous season in the Sask Female U18 AAA Hockey League, putting together a 26-3-1-0 record to finish in first place in the seven-team league.
After receiving a first-round bye, Regina kept the roll going, taking back-to-back 5-4 wins over the Battlefords in the league semifinal. The Rebels then defeated Notre Dame 7-3 in Game 1 of the final before claiming the league title with a 4-1 victory in Game 2.
Both Nimegeers and Breitkreuz had solid showings in the regular season.
Nimegeers -- who will suit up for the NCAA Divison I Princeton Tigers next season -- once again led all defencemen in league scoring and was fourth overall with 10 goals and 40 points in 28 games. She added a further five points in the four playoff games.
Breitkreuz -- who has committed to Trinity Western in the USports Canada West Division next season -- finished 18th in scoring with 11 goals and 24 points in 28 games in the regular season but was only able to suit up for a single game in the playoffs.
Be sure to keep an eye on www.hockeycanada.ca for updates on the schedule and other news as the Esso Cup gets closer to puck drop.
