LOUISDALE: The championship of the Cape Breton West High School Hockey League will be decided on March 5 with the Richmond Hurricane hosting the SAERC Saints at the Richmond Arena. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
“We have lots of depth, and that’s been our success this year,” said Hurricane coach Robert MacDonald. “We’ve got 15 great skaters and two great goalies we can depend on.
“SAERC has been our kryptonite this year. We’ve had some really tough games with them. Three went to overtime, and one was decided with 28 seconds left. It’s been that tight between our two teams all year.”
The Hurricane finished first place in the league with a 10-1-2-2 record (win-overtime win-loss-overtime loss). As MacDonald said, the team has depth but the squad also has serious firepower from the number two scorer in the league, Thomas MacNeil (10 goals and 14 assists in 15 games); the number four scorer in the league, Cameron Britten (10 goals and 10 assists in 15 games); and the number seven scorer in the league, Adam Sampson (10 goals and 8 assists in 14 games). Goalie Luke Sampson was the number one regular season backstop, with a goals against average of 2.05.
“It’s been a long time coming to reach the goal of finishing first in the league,” MacDonald said. “We did that, and our goal setting was three-fold. That was the first thing, and now we’re focused on the regional and league banners after that.
“We see a chance with this team to do something special. They want it, and I think we really do have the group that can do it. We’ll keep pumping them up before the game.”
In order to earn a place in the league championship, Richmond beat Dalbrae 6-0 and 7-3 in their two game semi-final outings. For SAERC’s part, the Saints beat the Inverness/Baddeck Rebels 4-1 and 2-1.
The Rebels (9-1-5-1) were the odds-on favourite to take that series, as they locked down second place in the league. SAERC (5-3-4-3) was third.
SAERC coach Stan MacNeil said he and the guys are happy to have the chance to vie for the league championship.
“We’re probably the youngest team in the league right now, so we’re ahead of the game thinking we’d have an opportunity to play in the finals,” he said, nothing that SAERC is made up largely grade 9s and 10s, and getting past Inverness was a real gut check. “It’s usually the team with the most grade 12s that wins, so we’re the underdog going in.”
He added the two schools have a good rivalry, and that usually brings out the best in both squads. The one-game championship will make for an exciting three periods of hockey, he said.
“It only takes one mistake, one power play, in a close game to make the difference,” he said. “We’re not going in with guns blazing; we’re going in giving our best effort, and the boys are prepared.
“We’ve had some success over the last few weeks, and we play a certain way,” he said. “And we know how they play. We’ve seen them enough over the last two seasons to know what they have. We match up well against them.”
SAERC aren’t without snipers of their own, as Saint Bradley Kersten won the scoring race with 9 goals and 18 assists in 15 games. His teammate Harrison MacFadyen (9 goals and 10 assists in 11 games) was seventh in league scoring, and Brady White (10 goals and 5 assists in 14 games) finished at tenth.
SAERC goalie Chase MacPherson had the third best goals against average in the league at 2.33.
“The boys are playing as a unit, and we’ve had a good opportunity to iron out some stuff we needed to work on,” MacNeil said.
SAERC and Richmond are set to meet for the league banner, but there’s still hockey action coming up for the other teams in the league. Dalbrae is hosting the Division III Highland Regionals, and action starts February 27 in Port Hood.
All games will be played at the Al MacInnis Sports Centre in Port Hood, and the schedule is as follows:
Wednesday, February 27
4:30 p.m., Eskasoni vs. Richmond
6 p.m., SAERC vs. Inverness/Baddeck
7:30 p.m., Dalbrae vs. Eskasoni
Friday, March 1
1 p.m., Inverness/Baddeck vs. Eskasoni
2:30 p.m., Dalbrae vs. Richmond
4 p.m., Eskasoni vs. SAERC
5:30 p.m., CBWHSHL awards
6:30 p.m., Richmond vs. Inverness/Baddeck
8 p.m., Dalbrae vs. SAERC
Saturday, March 2
12:30 p.m., SAERC vs. Richmond
3:30 p.m., Inverness/Baddeck vs. Dalbrae
Sunday, March 3
2:30 p.m., semifinal 1st vs. 4th
4 p.m., semifinal 2nd vs. 3rd
7 p.m., championship
In terms of the league championship, should there be bad weather on March 5, the championship will be rescheduled to Wednesday, March 6 (7:30 p.m. at the Richmond Arena).