NORTH SYDNEY, N.S. — Spencer Shebib would like nothing more than to win the annual Mae Kibyuk Memorial Green and Gold Hockey Tournament in his final year of high school.

The 17-year-old netminder is one of five Grade 12 players on this year’s Memorial High School Marauders hockey team, who will play in their final home tournament this weekend.

“The whole team is pretty excited about it, especially the guys in their final year,” said Shebib with a smile. “We had a good tournament last year, but we didn’t make the semifinals, but I’m really looking forward to this weekend —I think we’ll do better.”

The 2018 edition of the Mae Kibyuk Memorial Green and Gold Hockey Tournament will begin on Thursday at the Emera Centre Northside in North Sydney.

The event will feature six teams including the host Marauders as well as local representatives, the Riverview Redmen, Sydney Academy Wildcats and Glace Bay Panthers. Mainland teams including the Prince Andrew Panthers of Dartmouth and the J.L. IIsley Judges of Halifax.

Marauders head coach Terry Duff expects the tournament will provide local fans with a jam-packed weekend of hockey action.

“We have some good teams coming to the tournament and we’re looking forward to see how we stack up against them,” said the veteran bench boss. “We’re a young team with only five Grade 12s, so we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
 

Shebib joined the Marauders last season after spending his Grade 10 year playing midget ‘AA’ hockey with the New Waterford Sharks.

The Millville resident decided to play for the Marauders because he considered high school hockey as the “better path” for his career.

“I had a lot of friends on the team and I think it’s a pretty competitive league and one that’s great for local hockey players,” said Shebib.

“It means a lot to me to be able to represent my high school — it’s quite an honour.”

The Marauders last won the tournament in 2016 when they edged the Glace Bay Panthers 2-1 in the championship game.

“It would mean the world to me if we could win this tournament in my final year of high school,” said Shebib. “It would definitely be one of my best hockey memories.”

Memorial enters the tournament with an 0-2 record after losing its first two games of the Cape Breton High School Hockey League season last week.

The Marauders hosted the Panthers last Thursday at the Emera Centre Northside, a game which drew an estimated crowd of 700 people to the North Sydney venue.

“The tournament is all the boys have been talking about and I know there is some excitement among the students as well,” said Duff. “The students decorate the arena and they come dressed up with their face painted, so I expect the crowd will only be bigger this weekend.”

The Mae Kibyuk Memorial Green and Gold Hockey Tournament will open with the Redmen and Panthers squaring off at 6 p.m. on Thursday, followed by the Marauders and Wildcats at 7:45 p.m.

jeremy.fraser@cbpost.com

Twitter: @CBPost_Jeremy

Mae Kibyuk Memorial Green and Gold Hockey Tournament

Gold Division: Memorial Marauders (host), Prince Andrew Panthers and Riverview Redmen

Green Division: Sydney Academy Wildcats, Glace Bay Panthers and J.L. IIsley Judges
Thursday

6 p.m. – Riverview Vs. Glace Bay

7:45 p.m. – Memorial Vs. Sydney Academy

Friday

10:45 a.m. – Sydney Academy Vs. Riverview

12:30 p.m. – Glace Bay Vs. Prince Andrew

2:15 p.m. – J.L. IIsley Vs. Riverview

4 p.m. – Memorial Vs. Glace Bay

5:45 p.m. – Sydney Academy Vs. Prince Andrew

7:30 p.m. – Memorial Vs. J.L. IIsley

Saturday

9:30 a.m. – Prince Andrew Vs. J.L. IIsley

1 p.m. – Third place Vs. Sixth place (quarter-finals)

2:45 p.m. – Fourth place Vs. Fifth place (quarter-finals)

6:15 p.m. – Second Place Vs. Highest ranked quarter-final winner

8 p.m. – First Place Vs. Lowest ranked quarter-final winner

Sunday

1 p.m. – Championship Game

*All games at Emera Centre Northside in North Sydney

SYDNEY – The Glace Bay Panthers will host the Sydney Academy Wildcats on Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Canada Games Complex in Sydney.

The Panthers are coming off a 2-1 win over the Memorial Marauders on Thursday. As for the Wildcats, they enter the game after losing 13-0 to the Riverview Redmen on Wednesday.

sports@cbpost.com
Twitter: @CBPost_Sports

SYDNEY, N.S. — The Cape Breton High School Hockey League will begin its 2018-19 regular season on Tuesday.

This year’s league will feature four-teams including the defending league champion Riverview Redmen, Glace Bay Panthers, Memorial Marauders and the Sydney Academy Wildcats.
 

Each team will play an 18-game schedule — nine games on home ice and nine games on the road. The teams will face each other six times — three games at respective home arenas.

The Riverview Redmen were one goal away from winning the Nova Scotia School Athletic Federation provincial title last season, losing to the Charles P. Allen Cheetahs of Bedford.

Riverview will return eight players including forwards Blake Cox and Brady MacLean as well as goaltender Michael MacMullen.

“We have a good core coming back, but we did lose a lot of good kids, and also gained some,” said Redmen head coach Jimmy Smith.

“We have good goaltending, we have some real good defense and we have some good guys up front that are coming back bigger and stronger.”

Riverview will open league play Tuesday when they host the Memorial Marauders at 8 p.m. at the Cape Breton County Recreation Centre in Coxheath.

This year’s edition of the Glace Bay Panthers will be fairly young, with the team losing 11 players from last year’s lineup.

“It’s a big turnaround year for us, but we have some good young talent that came up, so we should be strong,” said Panthers head coach Dwayne Doucette.

“We’re well-balanced, our defense is pretty strong, we have six strong defencemen and we have three strong lines — as far as balance goes, we will be stronger than last season.”

Among the six returning players, two of those will be between the pipes.

“It’s huge to have returning goaltenders,” said Doucette. “It starts in goal and it goes from there — we’re pleased.”

Like Glace Bay, the Memorial Marauders will also have a young team this year, icing five Grade 12s and six Grade 10s in its lineup.

“For us to be successful, the players really have to support each other and do it by committee — work ethic will be a big thing,” said Marauders head coach Terry Duff.

“Hopefully no teams will outwork us, and I don’t believe that they will.”

Memorial will have two experienced goaltenders between the pipes. The team will return Grade 12 player Spencer Shebib and has also added Jonathan Dolomont, who spent last season with the Cape Breton Jets of the minor midget ‘AAA’ hockey league.

“It’s a balanced lineup, but I expect our goaltenders to be strong,” said Duff.

The Sydney Academy Wildcats will return to the league this season, one year after failing to ice a team because of low player numbers.

“We hope that we’re going to be competitive,” said Sydney Academy principal Kevin Deveaux, noting 26-28 players tried out for the team this season.

“We love to win provincial titles, but that’s secondary to providing the opportunities.”

The Cape Breton Post requested an interview with Wildcats head coach Sheldon Surette, however the Cape Breton-Victoria Regional Centre for Education denied the request, directing all questions about the Sydney team to Deveaux.

Sydney Academy will host Riverview on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Membertou Sport and Wellness Centre, while Memorial will play Glace Bay in its home opener on Thursday at 7:20 p.m. at the Emera Centre Northside in North Sydney.

The Panthers, who will host the Nova Scotia School Athletic Federation Division 2 provincials in March, will have its home opener on Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Canada Gamex Complex in Sydney.

Cape Breton High School Hockey League:

• The league will feature four teams: Glace Bay Panthers, Memorial Marauders, Riverview Redmen and Sydney Academy Wildcats
• Each team will play 18 games during the regular season – nine games home and nine games on the road
• The teams will each play each other six times – three at home and three on the road
• The league will begin its schedule on Tuesday with Riverview hosting Memorial
• The Glace Bay Panthers will host the Nova Scotia School Athletic Federation provincials, March 8-10, 2019, at the Canada Games Complex

jeremy.fraser@cbpost.com

High school hockey is back at Sydney Academy.

The once-powerful program -- dating back almost a century -- was sidelined a year ago because there were not enough players.

But a new generation of Wildcats is ready to rejuvenate the hockey program that has been part of the school’s fabric for generations.

“I've got records in our library back to the 1920s of a game played at that time, so it's a very, very long history of playing hockey in the school,” said principal Kevin Desveaux.

That tradition came to an abrupt end last year when not enough students wanted to play.

“This was my last hope of playing hockey, because I'm too old for midget now,” said Peter Googoo.

Although Googoo lost his chance at lacing them up one final time, his brother, Donnie, will now get the opportunity after the school announced the program is back.
 

“I feel privileged,” said Donnie Googoo.“My brother made it, my dad coached (Sydney Academy) for a few years, so I feel like I'm taking the mantle and hopefully have a good season.”

The Sydney Academy Wildcats will play their rival, the Riverview Redmen, in their first home opener in two years in Membertou on Wednesday.

“Everyone is hyped up for the home opener,” Donnie Googoo said. “Everyone is talking about being there, showing up and wearing blue and white to cheer on Sydney Academy.”

School principal Kevin Desveaux has been cheering from his office since he learned the program would be back.

He says not only does it gives students a chance to play organized sports, but also adds to the whole high school experience.

“Every sport is important. Every activity is important,” Desveaux said. “It gives students another reason for being here. It makes the school more fun and makes the atmosphere much more positive.”

Desveaux admits there's still a challenge when it comes to icing a team in the future because of enrollment numbers, but for now everyone here is just happy the Wildcats are back.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore.