The Red Deer Chiefs won all five of their preliminary round games at the 2026 Esso Cup. They'll enter Friday's semi-finals as the top seed in Dieppe, New Brunswick.
The Esso Cup wrapped up preliminary round play in Dieppe, New Brunswick on Thursday. The Red Deer Chiefs exited the round robin undefeated winning four in regulation and one in overtime.
Red Deer will play the Northern Selects in the first semi-final on Friday, followed by the Stoney Creek Sabres taking on the Moncton Rockets.
Red Deer Goes Undefeated
The Red Deer Chiefs went undefeated at in the 2026 Esso Cup preliminary round beating the Stoney Creek Sabres 3-1 to cap off their round robin.
Taylor Wasylchew scored the winner, while Rylee Cruse and Violet Green also tallied for the Chiefs in the win.
“I feel really good and my team has been playing strong in front of me, so that helps," said Red Deer netminder Quinn Smith. "I hadn’t played in a long time [coming into the tournament], and I’ve had a chance to get into lots of practice and the girls didn’t let up on me. I just had to stick with all my habits, be consistent and I think that has gotten me to where I am right now.”
Ryleigh O’Brien had Stoney Creek's only goal in the loss.
Moncton Scores The Deciding Win
The Moncton Rockets and As De Québec played with the final playoff spot on the line, and the winner of this game earning that spot. With Moncton's 4-1 win, the Rockets punched their ticket to the Esso Cup semi-finals.
Anabelle Daniel continued to shine for Moncton scoring a goal and adding two helpers in the game. Zoé Allain scored a pair, and Thea MacFadyen iced the game into the empty net.
"You need everyone to win a hockey game. You need players that will play less minutes but will give everything they have. Credit to our players because they gave it their all," said Moncton assistant coach Luc Cormier. "They know they might play less minutes, but they are still such a big part of the team. There are no individuals; people will talk about top scorers, but for us as a team, everyone is equal. Yesterday’s game was a team win, today’s was as well and that’s why this group is special."
Northern Advances Beating Winnipeg
Nova Scotia's Northern Selects capped off their round robin play with a 2-0 shutout over the Winnipeg Ice. Winnipeg
Amy Field stopped 19 shots to earn a shutout for the Northern Selects who advanced to the semi-finals. Hali-Rose MacLean had a goal and assisted on Ana McArthur's first period marker to open the scoring.