2023 WRBHA PROVINCIALS WOMEN'S PREVIEW
15 women's teams are split across three divisions for this years WRBHA Provincial Championships. While there is no "A" division this year, the "D" division has made it's return after a 4-year hiatus.
*regular season record in brackets
B DIVISION
EDM POOL
ASYLUM WBHE/A (9-7-0-2 20pts) - The Asylum would have to be considered the favorite out of the Edmonton Pool, the Asylum took Gold in this very same division last year. They also captured Gold at the 2018 Provincials in the "C" Division.
HAVOC WBHE/A (8-8-0-2 18pts) - The Havoc dropped both games to the Asylum in the regular season this year, but won 2 out of 3 versus the Storm. While these teams won't face each other in the round robin, the top two teams will square off in the first round of playoffs. The Havoc won "B" Division Gold in 2018.
STORM WBHE/A (7-9-1-1 16pts) - The Storm were the Gold medal winners of the "C" Division in last year's provincials, improving on a Silver medal finish from the tournament before (2019). They won't be an easy out.
CGY POOL
TUNE SQUAD SLCGY/COMP (3-5-2 8pts) - Regular season success does not always indicate tournament success. The CGY Tune Squad are the perfect example of that. Despite rolling to a rather mediocre regular season record in the Superleagues Calgary Women's Competitive division, the Tune Squad took their show on the road to Mississauga and rolled to a "B" National Gold medal. Add "B" National Bronze in '22, as well as "B" Division Provincial Silver in each of the last two tournaments ('22 & '19) and you've got a dangerous team heading into this years event.
PUMAS SLCGY/COMP (5-3-2 12pts) - The Pumas only lost once in four combined regular season games versus the Tune Squad and Vipers (2-1-1). The Pumas will be looking to improve on last year's Silver medal performance in the "C" division in which they lost in the finals in heartbreaking fashion, dropping a 4-3 ot decision to the EDM Storm.
VIPER SLCGY/COMP (4-4-2 10pts) - After getting blown out in their opening game of last year's Provincials in the "B" Division (5-0 vs Asylum White), the CGY Vipers locked down their net and earned back to back shutouts over the CGY Tune Squad (1-0) and EDM Havoc (3-0). But after opening up a 1-0 lead vs the Tune Squad in the semi-finals...they couldn't finish the deal and fell 2-1 to the eventual Gold Medal Champions. The Vipers previously won Silver in "B" Natinals in '21 and a number of Viper players joined Tune Squad for this summer's "B" National Gold medal performance. Most recently, the Vipers earned the Superleagues Calgary Women's Competitive division "B" championship by knocking of the Pumas 5-2 in the final.
C DIVISION
ASSASSINS WBHE/C (4-12-1-1 10pts) - There's not a lot of information on the Assassins, however, in their most recent games versus the Stilletto's and Lockdown the Assassin's came out victorious.
STILETTO'S WBHE/C (8-5-3-2 21pts) - The Stilett's are making their return to the WRBHA Provincial Championships. Last year they ended the round-robin at 2-1, but eventually fell to the CGY Pumas in the semi-finals 4-0.
DUMPLING CHASE SLCGY/COMP (0-10-0 0pts) - Although the Dumpling Chase had a challenging schedule this regular season as the only "C" team registered in the Superleagues Calgary Competitive division, which meant playing against A/B level teams, they definitely finished the season strong with some close games...including a hard-fought 2-1 loss to the Tune Squad in the B/C Bronze medal game. In their previous appearance in '19, the Dumpling Chase won "C" Provincials, beating the EDM Storm in the finals.
LOCKDOWN WBHE/C (4-12-1-1 10pts) - Another team that appears to be making its WRBHA Provincials debut. They had a bit of a tough regular season, but the good news is...they went 2-0 against the Stiletto's in regular season league play.
D DIVISION
GUMBALLS SLCGY/REC (8-0-2 18pts) - The first action in the Women's D Division since 2018, and it's full of Provincial newbies. The Gumballs rolled up an undefeated regular season record in the Superleagues Calgary Women's Recreational division this past season.
NARWHALS SLCGY/REC (7-2-1 15pts) - The Narwhals lone tie this season came versus the Gumballs, and their two losses came at the hands of teams not at the Provincial Tournament. The "Unicorns of the Sea" could be in the hunt for Gold.
NATURAL DISASTERS SLCGY/REC (1-7-2 4pts) - Judging by their record, one might say that the season somewhat of a natural disaster...but everyone starts the tournament with a clean slate...get hot at the right time, and who knows!
WILDCATS SLCGY/REC (5-5-0 10pts) - The Wildcats handed the Natural Disasters a 4-0 defeat during league play, but fell 3-1 and 6-2 respectively to the Narwhals and Gumballs. They'll need to get the claws out this weekend.
CHIX WITH STIX WBHE/D (14-3-1-0 29pts) - Winning the WBHE division D regular season title, and following it up by going 3-0 in the playoffs to win the division.
