Strathmore Ringette teams had a busy schedule this past weekend, with most teams coming out successful on the other side. Both the U12C Ice Rebels and U14A Jurassic Ice won their Zone 2 Banners this weekend. The Strathmore Ice U19B team were in the provincial playdowns and went undefeated to secure a spot in provincials at the end of the month in Red Deer.

Not only were Strathmore teams winning banners and qualifying for provincials but the Zone 2 U16AA Blaze ringette team was winning their way to represent Alberta in the Canadian Ringette Championships in Ottawa. The Zone 2 team is made up of players under 16 years old from Airdrie, Chestermere, Cochrane, and Strathmore. The team played in the 2020 AA Ringette Provincial Championships in Spruce Grove on the weekend and completed the round-robin undefeated as they beat the Calgary Peak, Sherwood Park, and Spruce Grove.

In the semi-final game, the Blaze found themselves in a battle against the Calgary Tenacity that went back and forth until the game was decided in overtime by Alyssa Bailie from Strathmore, who stole the ring at the blue line, went in on a breakaway and buried the game-winning goal.

The Blaze would faceoff against St. Albert in the gold medal game where St. Albert would jump to an early 2-0 lead but the Blaze would battle back to end the first period 2-2. The second period would be another back and forth battle between the two, ending the period tied again 4-4. Rachel Bushfield from Airdrie scored her fourth goal of the game to give the Zone 2 Blaze the lead with just a few minutes left in the game. With some outstanding goaltending by Carly Crone from Cochrane, the Blaze were able to hang onto the lead and bring home the gold.

The Zone 2 U16AA Blaze team will now go on as Team Alberta to compete in the Canadian Ringette Championships in Ottawa from April 4 to 11.