SYDNEY, N.S. —
Dylan MacDonald has made lasting memories and friendships during his time with the Glace Bay Panthers.
Although his high school hockey career will soon come to an end, a chapter still remains unwritten for the 18-year-old Glace Bay forward — one he hopes will write itself this weekend.
MacDonald and the Panthers will host the Nova Scotia School Athletic Federation Division 1 high school hockey provincial championship this weekend at the Canada Games Complex on the Cape Breton University campus.
"We have a good team and we have a few tough games to start the tournament, but I think we're going to do good," said MacDonald, the Panthers alternate captain. "It's my last year of hockey and to get to host the provincials and being able to represent my school, it' s a good feeling."
Glace Bay, who will make their second straight appearance in the provincial tournament, finished in second place in the Cape Breton High School Hockey League with a 13-4-1-0 record, finishing behind only the Riverview Redmen (17-1-0-0) who will also play in the provincial tournament.
In the league playoffs, the Panthers knocked off the Memorial Marauders of Sydney Mines in four games in the league semifinal, before being swept by the Redmen in the league final 3-0.
Despite not winning the league championship, Panthers head coach Dwayne Doucet sees some positives from the series with Riverview.
"I know we lost in three straight games, but even in that final game it was 2-1 in overtime, our team played really well, and we were one bounce away from getting the victory," said Doucet. "We took a lot of positives out of that series and I think from that we're going to grow and bring that to this tournament."
MacDonald, who finished the regular season with 15 goals and 14 assists for 29 points, has already put the championship series loss behind him and is focusing his attention on the task at hand — winning a provincial title.
"As a team, we realize that what happened in the league championship series doesn't matter and that this is the biggest tournament of the season and something we've worked for all season," said the veteran player. "We're hopeful that all our hard work will pay off this weekend."
Glace Bay will be joined in Pool 'A' of the tournament by the Park View Panthers of Bridgewater, Citadel Phoenix of Halifax and Charles P. Allen Cheetahs of Bedford.
Pool 'B' will include Riverview, Cobequid Educational Centre (CEC) Cougars of Truro, Auburn Drive Eagles of Cole Harbour and Sir John A. Macdonald Flames of Upper Tantallon.
The three-day tournament will get underway Friday with both Glace Bay and Riverview in action.
Riverview will open the tournament at 9 a.m. against Auburn Drive, followed by the Glace Bay and Park View at 10:50 a.m. The Redmen will also play Friday at 4:20 p.m. against Sir John A. Macdonald while the Panthers will face Citadel at 6:40 p.m. at the Canada Games Complex.
The tournament will continue on Saturday with Riverview playing CEC at 10:50 a.m., followed by Glace Bay and Charles P. Allen at 12:40 p.m.
The semifinals are slated for Saturday at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. The championship contest is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. at CBU.
"Our expectations are high for the tournament," said Doucet. "We do have a young team, but at the same time we've come together as a team, the guys are playing really well and playing for each other, so you never know where a team can go when they buy into the system."
The last Cape Breton Division 1 high school hockey team to capture a provincial title was the Memorial Marauders, who took home the championship banner during the 1987-88 season.
Meanwhile, the last hockey championship for Glace Bay High School came during the 2015-16 season when the Panthers girls' hockey team captured the NSSAF Division 2 title.
MacDonald admits the weekend will bring lots of emotions for the graduating players but would like nothing more than to win a high school hockey provincial title to finish his career.
"Winning a provincial championship would be something that I would remember for the rest of my life and sharing it with these guys on the team would be special," said MacDonald. "The last three years have been the best years of my hockey career, I've met a lot of great people and winning would be special."
Nova Scotia School Athletic Federation Division 1 Hockey Provincial Championship
Canada Games Complex, Cape Breton University Campus
Pool 'A': Glace Bay Panthers, Park View Panthers, Citadel Phoenix and Charles P. Allen Cheetahs
Pool 'B': Riverview Redmen, CEC Cougars, Auburn Drive Eagles, Sr. John A. Macdonald Flames
Friday
- 8:45 a.m. - CEC vs. Sir John A. Macdonald *
- 9 a.m. - Riverview vs. Auburn Drive
- 10:50 a.m. - Glace Bay vs. Park View
- 12:40 p.m. - Citadel vs. Charles P. Allen
- 2:30 p.m. - Auburn Drive vs. CEC
- 4:20 p.m. - Riverview vs. Sir John A. Macdonald
- 6:10 p.m. - Opening Ceremonies
- 6:40 p.m. - Glace Bay vs. Citadel
- 8:30 p.m. - Charles P. Allen vs. Park View
Saturday
- 9 a.m. - Auburn Drive vs. Sir John A. Macdonald
- 10:50 a.m. - Riverview vs. CEC
- 11:45 a.m. - Park View Vs. Citadel **
- 12:40 p.m. - Glace Bay vs. Charles P. Allen
- 6 p.m. - Semifinal - 1st Pool 'B' vs. 2nd Pool 'A'
- 8 p.m. - Semifinal - 1st Pool 'A' vs. 2nd Pool 'B'
Sunday
- 1 p.m. - Championship Game
* Game to be played at the Dominion and District Community Centre
** Game to be played at Centre 200
GrayJay Sports