The Tyne Valley Tornadoes will host the O’Leary Maroons at the Tyne Valley Community Sports Centre. Game time is 8 p.m.
Tyne Valley team manager Adam MacLennan is hoping the home-and-home series between the Tornadoes and the Maroons will be enough to restore interest and passion for senior hockey in western P.E.I. He said there is already tremendous interest in the series.
O’Leary will host Tyne Valley on Saturday, March 19.
“Whether you’re in Summerside or up west, the talk around the community is about these two games,” he commented.
Player interest is also strong, he added.
Reached out
MacLennan reached out to Barry Cooke and not only gained support for the concept but also a manager for the O’Leary team.
“I guess you could call this an experiment,” said MacLennan. “We are hoping to attract interest in the other western communities to pique their interest in attempting to have a full season next year of senior hockey.
“If a season does not end up working, a series every year would still make for great hockey.”
MacLennan is optimistic of a big crowd for Friday’s series-opening game.
“It has been a long time since that rink has been full,” he added. “The community rinks need a calibre of hockey like this,” he said.
