The 42nd annual Red Cup Showcase high school hockey tournament will begin Wednesday at the Cape Breton County Recreation Centre in Coxheath.

The tournament will feature seven teams, including five local representatives as well as two mainland teams.

Joining the host Riverview Redmen in the tournament will be the Glace Bay Panthers, Memorial Marauders, Sydney Academy Wildcats, Dalbrae Dragons of Mabou, Dr. J.H. Gillis Royals of Antigonish, and Northumberland Nighthawks on Westville.

Riverview enters the Red Cup with a 15-1-0-0 record and is first overall in the Cape Breton High School Hockey League.

The Redmen are led offensively by Nathaniel Fuller, who currently leads the Cape Breton league with 16 goals and 18 assists for 34 points in 15 games. Kendall MacQueen (11 goals, 9 assists, 20 points), A.J. Ley (6 goals, 12 assists, 18 points), and Chase Sampson (8 goals and 8 assists, 16 points) are also in the league’s top 10 in points.

The team has two experienced goaltenders in Michael MacMullen and Josh Leudy. MacMullen will play in his third Red Cup, while Leudy joined the team this year after playing with the Cape Breton Unionized Tradesmen of the major midget league.

Riverview has won the Red Cup four times since 2010.

Glace Bay will look to win its third Red Cup title in six years this week.

The Panthers — who last won the Red Cup 2016 — have an 11-2-3-0 record and are second overall in the Cape Breton High School Hockey League.

Glace Bay has one of the top offenses in the league and is led by Xavier Johnson with nine goals and 24 points. He’s followed closely by Logan Snow (11 goals and 12 assists, 23 points) and Matthew MacIntosh (12 goals and 7 assists, 19 points).

Jarrett Hicks (12 goals and 7 assists, 19 points), and Connor MacIntyre (4 goals and 12 assists, 17 points) are also in the league’s top 10 in points.

Colton Boutilier and Owen Coombes are the team’s goaltending duo. Boutilier is 5-1 with a 1.40 goals-against-average, while Coombes is 5-2 with a 2.24 goals-against-average.

Memorial has had a difficult season in the Cape Breton High School Hockey League when it comes to the win column, but is not a team to take for granted.

The Marauders are 4-12-1-1 in the Cape Breton league and sit third overall in the four-team division.

Nolan Ryan leads the team in points with four goals and 12 assists for 16 points and is followed closely by Dovi Walker (7 goals and 6 assists, 13 points), and Jacob Fraser (5 goals and 8 assists, 13 points).

Another player who is on the verge of breaking out is Kody Groves. He has three goals and six points in 11 games, but always seems to be in on the action and could very well have a big tournament for the team.

Aiden Penny and Cole Pygiel manage the crease for the Sydney Mines-based school.

COMPETING TEAMS:

• Riverivew Redmen, Coxheath, N.S.
• Sydney Academy Wildcats, Sydney, N.S.
• Glace Bay Panthers, Glace Bay, N.S.
• Memorial Marauders, Sydney Mines, N.S.
• Dalbrae Dragons, Mabou, N.S.
• Dr. J.H. Gillis Royals, Antigonish, N.S.
• Northumberland Nighthawks, Westville, N.S.

The Sydney Academy Wildcats are in last place in the Cape Breton league, but have progressed fairly well in their second year back in the league.

The team is 4-11-1-1 through 17 games, but the record doesn’t indicate the team’s talent. The Wildcats have had some fairly close games with the big guns in Riverivew and Glace Bay this season.

Sydney Academy can’t be taken for granted, considering they surprised many last month at the City of Lakes tournament in Dartmouth, where they advanced as far as the semifinals in the 16-team event.

Dalbrae Academy is the top team in the Cape Breton West High School Hockey League with an 11-0-2-0 record.

The Dragons have plenty of offense, and are led by former Rimouski Océanic draft pick Matthew Ellis, who leads the league with 19 goals and 32 points in 13 games.

Other players to watch on Dalbare are Griffin Spears, Jayden Muise, Keith MacDonell and Luke Gould, all of whom are among the league’s top 10 in points.

Dr. J.H. Gillis play in the five-team Northern Nova Scotia High School Hockey League and is currently in fourth place with a 4-7-1-1 record.

Seth Mattie leads the Antigonish school in points this year with 10 goals and four assists in 13 games, while Craig Landry is averaging a point per game with eight goals and four assists in 12 games.

The Royals have allowed the second-most goals against (54) in the league, while scoring the third-most goals for (38) through 13 games.

Northumberland is first overall in the Northern Nova Scotia league with an 10-3-1-0 record.

The team has scored the most goals (65) in the league, while allowing the third-fewest goals against (41) with netminders Brayden Leblanc and Cody MacDougall between the pipes.

Jayden Hatchard powers the offense for the Westville school with eight goals and 19 points, while Connor MacLeod has nine goals and seven assists, and Joseph Mason has notched nine goals and five assists.

The Red Cup Showcase will begin with two games Wednesday. The host Redmen will face the Marauders at 5 p.m., while Glace Bay plays Sydney Academy at 7 p.m.

The tournament semifinals are slated for Saturday morning, while the championship game is scheduled for later in the day at 4 p.m. at the Coxheath venue.

PAST RED CUP SHOWCASE WINNERS:

• 2000 – Riverview
• 2001 – King’s-Edgehill
• 2002 – Millwood
• 2003 – Glace Bay
• 2004 – Riverview
• 2005 – King’s-Edgehill
• 2006 – Memorial
• 2007 – Dr. J.H. Gillis
• 2008 – Riverview
• 2009 – Glace Bay
• 2010 – King’s-Edgehill
• 2011 – Riverview
• 2012 – Riverview
• 2013 – Riverview
• 2014 – King’s-Edgehill
• 2015 – Glace Bay
• 2016 – Glace Bay
• 2017 – Cancelled
• 2018 – Halifax West
• 2019 – Riverview

*Winners since 2000

Kendall MacQueen netted a hat trick to lead the Riverview Redmen to a 5-2 win over the Sydney Academy Wildcats in Cape Breton High School Hockey League action at the Cape Breton County Recreation Centre on Friday.

Bryce MacKenzie and Chase Sampson also found the back of the net for the Redmen.

Zach Conn and Dante Basque replied with goals for the Redmen.

Riverview's Josh Leudy made 23 saves. Sydney Academy's Liam Collings stopped 30 of 35 shots.

Cape Breton High School Hockey League action resumes on Sunday with the Glace Bay Panthers hosting the Memorial Marauders at 7 p.m. at the Canada Games Complex in Sydney.

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The Glace Bay Panthers picked up a 5-1 road win over the Riverview Redmen in Cape Breton High School Hockey League action at the Cape Breton County Recreation Centre on Friday.

Logan Snow and Adam Hicks both had a goal and an assist in the game for the Panthers. Mitchell Hiscock, Matthew MacIntosh and Xavier Johnson also scored goals for Glace Bay.

Chase Sampson had the lone goal for the Redmen.

Glace Bay's Colton Boutilier made 30 saves. Riverview's Josh Leudy turned aside 29 of 34 shots.

The Panthers outshot the Redmen 34-31 in the game.

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The Sydney Academy Wildcats and Glace Bay Panthers will be part of the 42nd annual Red Cup Showcase high school hockey tournament after all.

The Cape Breton-Victoria Regional Centre for Education confirmed on Monday the two local teams will join the tournament after originally not being part of the Coxheath event.

The announcement comes as the fourth change to the Red Cup tournament since November.

According to the centre for education, all four local high school principals met on Jan. 13 and agreed with a proposed schedule change to the Red Cup tournament.

“The local schools support Riverview Rural High’s intent to ensure the safety of all participants and spectators who attend this event,” said centre for education spokesperson Michelle MacLeod in a press release on Monday.

The Cape Breton Post first reported in early December changes to the Red Cup Showcase format, which would see games played after school and during the weekday, instead of the traditional Thursday to Sunday event.

Sources told the Post the reason for the change was due to the possibility of underage drinking among students at Redmen evening games, which is still believed to be one of the reasons.

The tournament was first expected to feature only the four local teams — Riverview, Sydney Academy, Glace Bay and Memorial — but Sydney Academy and Glace Bay declined the format.

On Dec. 20, prior to the holiday break, the centre for education released further details about the Red Cup, confirming a six-team tournament featuring Riverview, Memorial, Dr. J.H. Gillis Regional High School of Antigonish, Northumberland Regional High School of Pictou County, Cole Harbour High School, and Strait Area Education Recreation Centre of Port Hawkesbury.

Following the break, Cole Harbour decided to drop out of the tournament and Dalbrae Academy of Mabou was then asked to join, with Glace Bay and Sydney Academy not participating unless both high schools were involved.

Since then, Strait Area Education Recreation Centre pulled its club from the tournament, which left only five teams, until Glace Bay and Sydney Academy agreed to join last week, making seven teams.

The centre for education also confirmed the schedule for the tournament, which includes the Redmen playing 5 p.m. games instead of the regular 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. start times at the Cape Breton County Recreation Centre.

The tournament will also run from Wednesday to Saturday and will not be played Thursday to Sunday as it has been in the past.

Because the tournament will have seven teams, Riverview will play an extra game at the event.

Prior to the semifinal game, all four of the Redmen games will be put into a hat and a game will be selected by the Red Cup committee. The selected game will not count towards Riverview’s record.

The Red Cup Showcase is scheduled for Feb. 5-8 in Coxheath. Riverview will open the tournament Feb. 5 against the Memorial at 5 p.m.

42nd annual Red Cup Showcase:

Teams:

• Riverview Redmen
• Sydney Academy Wildcats
• Glace Bay Panthers
• Memorial Marauders
• Northumberland NightHawks
• Dr. J.H. Gillis Regional Royals
• Dalbrae Academy

*Tournament is scheduled for Feb. 5-8 at the Cape Breton County Recreation Centre in Coxheath

Dante Basque and Connor Campbell both recorded five points to lead the Sydney Academy Wildcats to a 8-5 win over the Memorial Marauders in Cape Breton High School Hockey League action at the Emera Centre Northside on Thursday.

Basque had three goals and two assists, while Campbell notched two goals and three assists in the contest.

Zach Conn scored twice, while Graham Basque chipped in with a single marker for the Wildcats.

Ian Jenkins netted a pair of goals, while Kody Groves, Nolan Ryan and Dovi Walker added goals for the Marauders.

Liam Collings was kept busy between the pipes for Sydney Academy, stopping 44 of 49 shots. Meanwhile, Aidan Penny made 21 saves for Memorial.

Sydney Academy will be back on the ice Wednesday when they host the Glace Bay Panthers at 7 p.m. at the Membertou Sport and Wellness Centre.

As for the Marauders, the team will host the Riverview Redmen on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Emera Centre Northside in North Sydney.