The Debden Roadrunners celebrate winning their fourth straight national broomball championship at the end of March in Val-d'Or, Quebec. (Photo submitted/Dean Demers)

By Nick Nielsen

undefeated season

Debden Roadrunners claim fourth straight National Broomball Championship

Apr 10, 2025 | 10:25 AM

In 2022, the Debden Roadrunners showed up to the National Broomball Championships as ‘just another team from Saskatchewan’. In 2023, even as defending champions, the Roadrunners still weren’t getting the respect they thought they deserved. When they won for a third straight year in 2024, teams were starting to pay attention to them and plan around them. Again, the Roadrunners would finish on top.

Now, after winning their fourth straight title in 2025, the Debden Roadrunners juvenile women’s broomball team has a legitimate claim as one of the best teams of all time according to Head Coach Dean Demers.

“In the world of sports, when one team wins their league or their national title four times in a row? Well, that team gets put into the conversation of greatest team of all time. That’s exactly how these girls should be known as.”

On their way to the national championships in Val-d’Or, Quebec, the Roadrunners put together a nearly perfect season. In five tournaments this year in Saskatchewan, the Roadrunners played 31 games and never lost a single one. There were a few ties in there along the way, but still the team put forward an undefeated season despite already having a spot in the national championships as the defending champs.

“The first years (that started) our streak here, we were a very high-powered offensive team. We were winning our games, scoring four or five goals every game, but the last two years it switched. Now our strength is our defense and our goalie and our defensive play.”

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Their defensive play was so good in fact, that the Roadrunners went through their six games of the national championships without allowing a single goal.

“Has any team ever accomplished that before? You know, I doubt it, but the way all our forwards commit to help our defense and our own end, we knew we’d be very hard to score against. But did we think we would shut out the entire tournament? I don’t think so, but really I’m not too surprised it happened.”

The Roadrunners opened their national tournament with a 1-0 win over Eeyou Istchee, one of the Quebec teams, and then followed it up with a 1-0 win over Bruno, Saskatchewan, a 3-0 win over Kilsyth, Ontario, and they finished their round robin with a game that would go to overtime, but would end in a 0-0 tie against the Quebec Blizzard.

That would give the Roadrunners a bye through the first round of the playoffs into the semifinals, and that’s where they’d run into Kilsyth once again.

“I was worried about that bye. I don’t really like sitting around the whole day while the other teams are still playing, but our girls were still good enough that it didn’t matter.”

During their semi final game, Emry Price would score just 3:49 into the first period on the powerplay, and Peyton Turner would score with ten seconds left at the end of the game to give the Roadrunners the 2-0 win and a birth in the gold medal match.

In the rematch with the Quebec Blizzard, this time the Roadrunners scored early. Rhyan Amundson would score shorthanded 1:26 into the game to give the Roadrunners the lead, and Elizabeth Jean would score on the empty net at the end of the game to give the Roadrunners a 2-0 win and their fourth straight national championship.

“That first goal totally relaxed them when that goal went in because in tournaments, it just takes one bad game at the wrong time. If you lose the wrong game, you’re out and we hadn’t had a loss yet up to the final. So the girls were a little bit nervous about going into the final, but got hat goal so fast. Yeah, you could just feel the calm on the bench and they just played their own game after that.”

Seven players from the Roadrunners are graduating this year: Gracie Cyr, Aidyn Duret, Brooklyn Amundson, Kassie Wagman, Emry Price, Sabrina Bussiere, and Elizabeth Jean.

With 11 returning players next year when the broomball season starts again in December, it will be tough for the Roadrunners to repeat again. But just like in 2022, they will have something to prove once again when they show up to nationals.

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