SYDNEY, N.S. —
The Riverview Redmen and Glace Bay Panthers were the top two teams in the Cape Breton High School Hockey League this season.
So it's no surprise the two teams will represent Cape Breton at the Nova Scotia School Athletic Federation Division 1 hockey provincials this weekend in Westville.
The Redmen finished the regular season in first place in the Cape Breton league with a 16-1-0-0 record. The team finished second in goals (76), while allowing the fewest goals-against (29) in 17 games.
Riverview will enter the tournament as the Cape Breton champions after they captured their third straight league title, sweeping the best-of-three series with Glace Bay last week.
“We want to go up there and show well,” said Redmen head coach Jimmy Smith. “We’re going to be in tough, we have a tough road ahead of us, but we have to take it one game at a time and see what happens.”
The Redmen will be in Pool ‘A’ along with the Auburn Drive Eagles of Cole Harbour, Northumberland Nighthawks of Alma and the Halifax West Warriors.
Riverivew, who will lose half of its roster to graduation, has played Auburn Drive three times this season and Smith considers them the team to beat.
“Auburn Drive is really tough this year, they have a really solid team,” said the veteran coach. “I think they’re the top team in the province — they won four tournaments and I think 46 of 50 games this year.”
Forward Nathaniel Fuller led the Redmen in the playoffs with six goals and 11 points in five games. The Sydney River product was also the league’s regular season scoring champion.
Kendall MacQueen (2 goals, 8 assists, 10 points), Sam MacKinnon (3 goals, 7 assists, 10 points), Josh MacAskill (8 assists, 8 points) and Chase Sampson (5 goals, 2 assists, 7 points) round out the team’s top five offensive producers in the playoffs.
The Redmen will open the tournament today at 12:20 p.m. against Halifax West, before facing the host Northumberland at 7:20 p.m. The team will finish the round robin Saturday at 9 a.m. against Auburn Drive. All games will be played at the Westville Miners Arena.
“Hopefully we’ll have our semifinal ticket booked before we get to Auburn Drive,” said Smith. “We will see where the chips fall, but we only worry about one game at a time.”
Glace Bay secured their spot at the provincial tournament when they defeated the Lockview Dragons of Fall River in a qualifying game at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre last Monday.
“The boys are pretty excited,” said Panthers head coach Dwayne Doucet. “It’s what we’ve been talking about all year, we’ve wanted to make it to the provincials, so we can’t wait to get things started.”
The Panthers finished second in the Cape Breton league with an 11-2-3-0 record. The team scored the most goals (79) and allowed the second-fewest goals against (32) in 17 games.
Doucet said his team was thankful to play in the provincial qualifying game, giving the players a chance to redeem themselves after losing in the Cape Breton final.
“They were disappointed with how they played in the championship series, so to be able to still get to provincials is very important to us,” he said, noting half of his roster is graduating this year.
“They played well against Lockview, so hopefully we can build off that going into provincials.”
Forward David Beaton powered the offence for the Panthers in the playoffs, scoring seven goals and adding four assists in six games. Matthew MacIntosh also finished with 11 points in six games.
Logan Snow (2 goals, 7 assists, 9 points), Xavier Johnson (5 goals, 3 assists, 8 points) and Brayden Boutilier (2 goals, 6 assists, 8 points) round out the club’s top five playoff producers.
Glace Bay will be joined in Pool ‘B’ by the Horton Griffins of Wolfville, Dr. J.H. Gillis Royals of Antigonish and Charles P. Allen Cheetahs of Bedford.
The Panthers begin the tournament today at 2 p.m. against Dr. J.H. Gillis, before playing Horton at 5:40 p.m. The team will finish the preliminary round Saturday at 2 p.m. against Charles P. Allen. All games at the Westville arena.
The tournament semifinals are scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m. and 7:40 p.m. The championship game will be played Sunday at 1 p.m.
In Division 2 hockey provincials this weekend, the Dalbrae Dragons of Mabou will be in the Halifax Regional Municipality for their tournament.
Dalbrae opens the tournament today at 8:30 a.m. against École du Sommet of Halifax, before facing Clare at 1:30 p.m. The team’s final round robin game is Saturday at 1:45 p.m. against Central Kings of Berwick.
The Division 2 semifinals are Saturday at 6 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. The final is slated for Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Eastern Shore Community Centre in Musquodoboit Harbour.
Twitter: @CBPost_Jeremy
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