Coming from a close hockey family in Warman, Sask., Kolbee Ashe grew up idolizing her siblings on the ice.
Her late brother Dylan suited up for a season with the SJHL’s Melfort Mustangs in 2019-20, followed by her brother Riley just a few years later in Melfort before closing out his junior career with the BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks.
As for her older sister Jordan, she was able to help the Prince Albert Northern Bears to a berth in the 2017 Esso Cup women’s U18 national championship.
“My sister eight years ago, she went all the way too,” said Ashe. “I remember being younger, watching her play through the seasons and I always looked up to her as a player. Her being able to go through the same thing and then me now being able to go through it, it’s really cool.”
Ashe and her Saskatoon AAA Stars teammates will get that same opportunity in just a few days, packing up their bags for Lloydminster and the 2025 Esso Cup.
Set to hit the ice against four other regional champions and the host Lloydminster Steelers.
“We’re a team that has deserved this and we’ve worked hard,” said Ashe.
“We’ve gone through ups and downs throughout the entire season and it’s just been really exciting. It gives you this incredible feeling that all the work I’ve put in, even as a little kid is finally proving [itself].”
The Stars will be making their return to the Esso Cup for the first time since 2019, seeking to win the only trophy that has eluded the program over its history.
Guiding the Stars to a national championship tournament in her first year at the helm of the team, head coach Alana Serhan said the team has made huge strides together over the last few months.
“We did a bit of reflection with the group after winning provincials and then going on to westerns,” said Serhan. “Just about how far we’ve come.”
Winning their first Saskatchewan Female U18 AAA Hockey League title in six years in late March with a Game 3 victory over the Battlefords Sharks, the Stars bested the Eastman Selects out of Manitoba in a three-game western regionals series to advance to the Esso Cup.
In the process, the Stars were able to stave off elimination in three times over a span of less than three weeks including back-to-back wins in Games 2 and 3 against Eastman.
“It was almost kind of an upspoken thing that we knew what we had to do,” said Stars captain Maggie Freeman. “We treated it like a business trip, honestly. We knew what we had to do and we did it.”
Leading scorer Halle Duchene was a force over the series against the Selects, leading the way with five goals and seven points in three games to help the Stars advance.
According to Serhan, the team has been able to lock in when the biggest moments present themselves this season.
“The girls decided that they want to keep playing hockey and they weren’t ready to be done,” said Serhan. “I think you see that commitment, that desire, that willingness, that hunger to win. That’s really what propelled us through in all of our elimination games.”
Saskatoon’s success this year is all being done with one of their youngest rosters in years, with nine rookies dotting the lineup including 15-year-old star Sadie Green.
Finishing second in team scoring with 17 goals and 36 points in 30 games, she said it’s been a progression to have the team gelling as well as they are this spring.
“The start of the year was a little bit rough,” said Green. “Then everyone started laying into their positions. It was like, ‘OK, Esso [Cup] is actually going to be a goal for our team to go to.’”
Coming on the heels of the Regina Rebels’ Esso Cup victory last year, the Stars will be aiming to keep the national championship trophy in Saskatchewan as they battle the best Canada has to offer.
That will mean a strong start to the week will be key for Saskatoon, to get them in the best position possible towards the playoff round.
“You got to play your heart out for those five first games,” said Ashe. “You have to put everything into it, no matter what.”
The Stars will open up the 2025 Esso Cup in the first game of the tournament on Sunday at 11:00 a.m., facing off against the defending national silver medalists in the North York Storm out of Ontario.