Jason La Rose
For the Red Deer Chiefs, it was all about getting hot at the right time.
And now they’re going to the Esso Cup.
The Chiefs were a middle-of-the-pack team in the Alberta Female Hockey League (AFHL) during the regular season, finishing fourth of eight teams with an 18-8-2 record, and they dropped their final two games to enter the postseason on a down note.
But they got a little momentum with a two-game sweep of the Calgary Fire Black in the quarterfinals before stunning the Edmonton Jr. Oilers—the defending national champions and back-to-back Pacific Region titlists who went 23-4-1 in the regular season—in the semifinals by stealing a shootout win in Game 1 despite being outshot 44-21 and winning the deciding Game 3 on the strength of a four-goal third period.
The Chiefs were road warriors again in the AFHL final against the St. Albert Slash, winning Game 1 despite being badly outshot (this time 41-23) and taking Game 3 as the visitor to win the Alberta title for the first time since 2023 and just the second time in the Esso Cup era (since 2009).
Welcoming the Greater Vancouver Comets, the B.C. Elite Hockey League champions, to Central Alberta for the Pacific Regional series, Red Deer found itself in unfamiliar territory, dropping a series opener for the first time in the postseason.
But goaltender Brylee Hull, who was the star of the Chiefs’ AFHL title run, took over from there, keeping the Comets goalless for more than 126 minutes across the three games— she shut out Greater Vancouver in Game 2 and kept it off the board until the final minute of Game 3 to send Red Deer to Canada’s U18 Women’s National Championship for the first time since it played host to the tournament in 2015.
Hull was spectacular in the playoffs; across 10 games, she fashioned a 1.47 goals-against average and .950 save percentage.
The offence was remarkably balanced in the postseason; 10 Chiefs recorded at least five points and none had more than seven—Ceder Thorburn (4-3—7) and Reeca Lacina (3-4—7) led the way.
The next challenge for Red Deer? Keep the national championship in Alberta; the Jr. Oilers became the first team from the Prairie province to win the Esso Cup when it was the last team standing a year ago in Lloydminster.
HOW THEY GOT TO DIEPPE
Alberta Female Hockey League Quarterfinal: defeated Calgary Fire Black 2-0 (4-1, 2-1 OT) Semifinal: defeated Edmonton Jr. Oilers 2-1 (2-1 SO, 0-2, 4-2) Final: defeated St. Albert Slash 2-1 (5-2, 1-2 OT, 3-1)
Pacific Regional Final: defeated Greater Vancouver Comets 2-1 (1-3, 3-0, 3-1)
REGULAR SEASON
Record (W-L-OTL): 18-8-2 (4th in AFHL) Goals for: 98 (2nd in AFHL) Goals against: 69 (4th in AFHL) Longest winning streak: 4 (Jan. 10-24; Feb. 1-16) Top 3 scorers: - Jensyn Stephenson (13G 17A 30P – 4th in AFHL) - Reeca Lacina (9G 13A 22P – 13th in AFHL) - Bria Hull (9G 10A 19P – 20th in AFHL)
PLAYOFFS
Record: 8-3 Goals for: 28 Goals against: 16 Top 3 scorers: - Ceder Thorburn (4G 3A 7P) - Reeca Lacina (3G 4A 7P) - Bria Hull (3G 3A 6P)
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
2015 – Red Deer Chiefs | silver medal | 4-3 | 16GF 16GA
UNIVERSITY COMMITMENTS
Violet Green (Curry College) Bria Hull (Lakeland College) Brylee Hull (St. Thomas University) Lena Loomer (University of Calgary) Bailey Rogers (Red Deer Polytechnic) Ceder Thorburn (Red Deer Polytechnic)