Andrew Marsh of the Memorial Marauders watches the play during Cape Breton High School Hockey League action earlier this season. Marsh is currently going head-to-head with his former goaltending partner Darian MacInnis of the Glace Bay Panthers in the league's championship series.

Darian MacInnis of the Glace Bay Panthers looks for the puck during Cape Breton High School Hockey League action earlier this season. MacInnis will face some of his former Cape Breton Jets teammates, who are currently playing with the Memorial Marauders in the league final. JEREMY FRASER • CAPE BRETON POST - Jeremy Fraser

The Glace Bay Panthers and Memorial Marauders are no strangers to each other.

In a four-team Cape Breton High School Hockey League, the teams met seven times since October with Glace Bay winning the season series 6-1.

The two teams are currently playing in the best-ofthree league championship series with the Panthers leading the series 1-0 heading into Game 2 on Thursday night at 7 p.m. in North Sydney.

Aside from the season statistics, there's more to the league final than meets the eye.

Among the players on both rosters, 11 were teammates last season with the Cape Breton Jets of the Nova Scotia Under-16 'AAA' Hockey League.

Mason Chapman, Cole Jessome and Andrew Marsh are now members of the Marauders, while Jonathan Gallant, Brady Doucet, Tyler Cormier, Ethan Murrant, Khoner White, Matt Crane, Liam Peterson and Darian MacInnis are suiting up for the Panthers.

These players know each other better than anyone. They have gone from skating alongside each other and having each other's back in the 2019-20 season to now being rivals, representing their respective schools.

The biggest story of the series comes down to the goaltending battle between MacInnis and Marsh, who surprisingly didn't start Game 1. The two had a strong relationship between the pipes for the Jets last season and were able to learn from each other while having some healthy competition for minutes.

MacInnis and Marsh have arguably been the league's top goaltenders this season. Both gave their teams a chance to win every single night and were really a key part of their respective clubs success.

ELITE LEVEL

Those 11 players alone played at an elite level of hockey as did many of the remaining players on both teams who also played high-level hockey prior to joining their school programs. It speaks volumes for the talent in the Cape Breton High School Hockey League.

If you look at the regular season standings you may come to the conclusion that Glace Bay and Riverview had run away with the top two spots. However, the standings are misleading because the league itself has been one of the more competitive in recent years.

Glace Bay earned a welldeserved first place finish in the regular season. The team was led by Jarrett Hicks with 15 goals and 34 points as well as Connor MacIntyre and Logan Snow, who posted 26 points apiece.

Memorial was much improved from last season. The club lost more than five onegoal games and two two-goal contests during the regular season, while being led by Grade 12s Ian Jenkins and Nolan Ryan.

Although Glace Bay was almost a lock for the championship series, many anticipated the Panthers would be playing the Riverview Ravens in the league final. The Panthers did what they had to do in the double round-robin playoffs, while the Ravens struggled to play consistently following the departure of head coach Jimmy Smith in January.

Nobody should be overly surprised the Marauders were able to fight their way to the championship series. In fact, in this very column on Feb. 17, the Cape Breton Post indicated the Sydney Minesbased school could cause fits for top contenders. Were we wrong? Memorial opened the double round-robin playoffs on Feb. 26 with a 4-2 win over Riverview, which had finished 17 points ahead of them in the regular season. The Marauders would finish the round robin with a 3-2 record, securing their spot in the league final.

As for the 11 players who once called each other teammates, this series should be special for them. It's a series like this that makes lasting memories no matter who comes out on top.

Years down the road when these players are finished their high school careers and have families of their own, you can bet they will have stories from this unusual season and series to share with their loved ones and friends.