When Moose Jaw Minor Hockey product Jasmine Kohl decided to throw her hat in the ring for the Esso Cup Scholarship, it was more of a spur of the moment thing without much thought given to actually winning the prestigious award.
With so many players having spent so much time honing their game while also helping out in the community, the odds seemed long that the award would come her way.
But Hockey Canada felt differently, and on Saturday it was announced that the Prince Albert Northern Bears forward was the winner of the award for 2023.
“I talked to my team manager about it, and I went into it thinking ’you know what? I'll give it a shot, I'm super passionate about this sport',” Kohl told Shannon Coulter from hockeycanada.ca. “When I got the call from Hockey Canada [and was told] that I won, my first words to a tee were, “Oh my god, really?” I was absolutely stunned. I was blown away because it's kind of like a pat on the back. You worked so hard for so many years, and you finally like get something. It's a big deal. I was super pumped about it.”
The Esso Cup scholarship ‘recognizes individuals that demonstrate outstanding academic and athletic performance, as well as involvement in the community’, with the honour presented to players at each regional tournament throughout the spring.
In addition to her work on the ice -- Kohl had six goals and 19 points to finish fifth in team scoring during the regular season -- the 18-year-old third-year veteran was also involved in charitable work back home, including volunteering with Meals on Wheels, buying Christmas presents for seniors and working with youngsters coming up with Moose Jaw Minor Hockey.
The scholarship will be put to good use, too, as Kohl is off to Lake Forest College to play hockey and baseball this fall.
Things didn’t go as well for the Northern Bears on the ice as Esso Cup hosts, as they’d post an 0-5 record, falling 4-3 to the Northern Selects (Atlantic) in their opener before dropping a 10-1 decision to Fraser Valley (Pacific), losing 2-1 to Etoiles de Laurentides-Launaudier (Quebec), 5-2 to the Regina Rebels and 6-1 to the eventual champion Stoney Creek Sabres(Ontario).
Kohl finished the tournament with a goal in the five games.
Moose Jaw Minor Hockey product Brooklyn Nimegeers and the aforementioned Regina Rebels had a better time of things on the ice, as they’d go on to win the bronze medal.
Regina got off to a great start, winning their opener 3-1 over Laurentides-Launaudier, but ran into trouble in their next two games, falling 4-1 to Stoney Creek and 6-5 to Fraser Valley. That meant they’d need to win their final two games in order to have a shot at the playoffs, and the Rebels would do just that, with their win over P.A. keeping their hopes alive and a 7-3 victory over the Selects sending them into the medal round.
There, Regina would lose a heartbreaker 1-0 to Fraser Valley in the semifinal before rebounding with a 5-1 win over the Northern Selects in the bronze medal game.
Nimegeers -- who is off to play with Princeton University next fall -- capped her tournament with four goals and five points.
